MCKINSEY
PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
Lauren Winkler, Vice President of Category Insights, adds:“ Category management is no longer just about planograms and shelf space, it’ s about strategic foresight, data fluency and omnichannel agility.”
Retailers first flagged category definition challenges in omnichannel environments back in 2021, and this pain point endures. Kantar’ s roadmap emphasises treating category leadership as a growth engine through advanced analytics and flexible partnerships.
AI category agents: McKinsey perspective McKinsey partners Luca D’ Avino and Deepanshu Chawla describe AI category agents as intelligent systems combining generative AI, data aggregation and analytics. These“ virtual partners” deliver 15-30 % efficiency gains and up to 20 % cost savings by
MCKINSEY
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elevating data quality, accelerating decisions and supporting execution from RFPs to performance tracking.
“ The real question is not if procurement organisations will adapt, but how quickly they will embrace this change,” say the duo in an article. Client examples include 4-6 % cost savings for a metal manufacturer.
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