Circana highlights AI’s role in category management

CHICAGO — Circana is highlighting new uses of artificial intelligence in category management as retailers and suppliers seek ways to sift through growing volumes of sales, shopper and competitive data and identify the opportunities that merit attention.

The company’s Liquid AI technology is designed to automate parts of the analysis that category teams traditionally handle manually. It reviews retail sales, shopper, and competitive data to identify changes in category performance, assortment gaps, pricing opportunities, and emerging trends.

Category managers can also ask the system business questions about the data and receive an analysis of what is happening and the factors behind it. Circana said the approach can reduce the time teams spend pulling information from multiple reports and systems before buyer meetings and category reviews.

For example, Liquid AI can monitor category performance and identify when a product format is gaining momentum, when an assortment lacks a pack size or price point, or when competitors are gaining ground.

Circana said that one leading Australian retailer using the technology reported more than 50% time savings in gathering data and conducting ad hoc investigations.

The company identified three factors that can help turn an assortment opportunity into a recommendation for a retail buyer: the size of the opportunity, its relevance to shoppers, and the urgency of acting on it. Liquid AI can consolidate data on those factors to help category teams evaluate potential assortment changes.

The platform can also automate routine category reviews and compare performance across brands, categories, and retail accounts. It can convert findings into written summaries, charts, and presentation materials for category teams.

Circana said the goal is to help category teams identify changes earlier and determine which opportunities warrant greater attention before buyer meetings and line reviews.