INTRODUCTION

Pantaloons Fresh Fashion, is a part oI Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd., a leading retailer, the
Ilagship company oI the Future Group. Pantaloons is among India's largest chains oI Iashion
stores, with 42 stores across 24 cities. Pantaloons Fresh Fashion, with its Iocus on 'Iresh look,
Ieel and attitude' oIIers, trendy and hip collections that are in sync with the hopes and aspirations
oI discerning young and 'young-at-heart' consumers.
Pantaloons provide products to a potentially large number oI customers at aIIordable prices, it
Ialls under High Turnover Low Margin category.
Pantaloons was initially positioned as a Iamily store, it Iinally veered towards becoming a
Iashion store with emphasis on youth and clear Iocus on Iresh Iashion. They are targeting youth
and even women, since they are the ones deIining most purchase decisions.
Pantaloons Fresh Fashion stores have presence not only in metros but also in smaller towns.All
stores have a wide variety oI categories like casual wear, ethnic wear, Iormalwear, party wear
and sportswear Ior Men, Women and Kids.
Pantaloons have applied the concept oI category management in its day to day merchandising
Iunction as against the traditional brand management merchandising practices Iollowed by most
retailers.
Category managers look at sales and margins oI each brand in a category. The whole idea oI
category management is to create products across length and breadth oI a category at diIIerent
price points, Iabrics, design, shape, seasons, colour and size.
The core assumption pantaloon makes is that customers are more product driven than brand
driven when they go Ior shopping. A retail study conIirms that out oI every 100 consumers that
enter a retail store to buy a speciIic product, are not very particular about the brand. This is
primarily because there are various Iactors like price, quality oI the garment, texture, colour and
so on that inIluence the customer choice oI merchandise. So the customers choice Ior a particular
brand get overshadowed by these other aspects, which lead to his ultimate decision. Thus
managing a category oI merchandise is a more eIIective tool than managing individual brands.
IMPLEMENTATION OF PRODUCT CATEGORY AT PANTALOONS
Pantaloons ,merchandising team is divided into the category management team and the
merchandise management team. There is also a special design team. The pantaloon model diIIers
Irom the others on category management, especially Ior the apparel segment.Most other models
start with category management and end up with an individual selection oI products across
various classes, subclasses and brands. Thus brands do play an important role in the
merchandising Iunction oI the store in other models. This is also due to the Iact that most other
stores deal with multiple brands and not with own store labels.
For example: Jhon Miller is a brand oI Iormal and semi Iormal shirts, Bare is denim and casual
wear brand, the pantaloon brand represent only trousers, Dreamz is an evening wear, Annabelle
is western wear Ior women over 25, while Jealous 21 is western wear Ior women aged between
18 and 25. Thus the signiIicance oI brands is limited and even at the stage oI brand management,
the company deals mainly with a product category.











CATEGORY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES
Category management is a retailing concept in which the range oI products sold by a retailer is
broken down into discrete groups oI similar or related products; these groups are known as
product categories (examples oI grocery categories might be: tinned Iish, washing detergent,
toothpastes). It is a systematic, disciplined approach to managing a product category as a
strategic business unit.
Category Management 8-Step Process:
The industry standard model Ior category management is the 8-step process, or 8-step cycle. The
eight steps are shown in the diagram on below; they are:
1. DeIine the category (i.e. what products are included/excluded).
2. DeIine the role oI the category within the retailer.
3. Assess the current perIormance.
4. Set objectives and targets Ior the
category.
5. Devise an overall Strategy.
6. Devise speciIic tactics.
7. Implementation.
8. The eighth step is one oI review
which takes us back to step 1.
The 8-step process, whilst being very comprehensive and thorough has been criticized Ior being
rather too unwieldy and time-consuming in today's Iast-moving sales environment; in one survey
only 9 oI supplier companies stated they used the Iull 8-step process. The current industry
trend is Ior supplier companies to use the standard process as a basis to develop their own more
streamlined processes, tailored to their own particular products.

Scheme of Categorization:
As the Iirst step in the category Management process, the categories are deIined. At this point,
the categories are deIined and the product assortment is determined Irom the consumer
perspective. The roles oI sub categories and or individual stock keeping units are considered
within the category. The category deIinition leads to the Iormation oI departments and sections
in the store. At the core oI the category management concept is a Iocus on a better understanding
oI consumer needs as the basis Ior retailers and suppliers strategies, goals, and work processes.
The Categorization is done based on the Irequency oI purchase and penetration oI the brands.
The categories are mainly Iormed by dividing the brands into Niches, Staples, Variety Enhancers
and Fill-ins.
Assigning Roles to Categories:
The most commonly described roles oI categories are:
O Destination: This category consists oI products and services Ior which the retailer is the
primary provider.
O Preferred: Categories within this role are used to induce the customers to preIer the store
to its competitors.
O Convenience: Categories assigned this role add the value oI convenience in shopping.
O Occasional/ seasonal: These categories are oIIered by the retailer to cater to the seasonal
and occasional needs oI its customers. E.g.: Summer collection.
Category Strategies:
The retailer develops appropriate strategies Ior each oI the categories on the basis oI their
roles and perIormance objectives. Theses strategies also need to be cascaded to subcategories
and other levels to which the retailer wants to extend the control. These strategies entail the
retailer to plan, to purchase and sell merchandise category. The strategies are developed on
the basis oI how each oI these categories are perIorming how they relate in delivering values
to the customers, and how they derive competitive advantage.