Episode 3:

If there's one concept you need to understand before entering German retail, it's Category Management. It's not just a process — it's the operating system of the entire shelf, and it's a power structure that determines everything.

In this episode, Jan Wapelhorst goes deep: the gap between the official win-win narrative and the reality of data control, the four category roles that change how buyers evaluate your product, how REWE, EDEKA, ALDI, and Lidl each interpret Category Management completely differently, and why the Category Captain position is both an opportunity and a trap.

Topics covered: Category Management, category roles (profiling, mandatory, impulse, complementary), REWE vs. EDEKA vs. ALDI vs. Lidl, co-creation vs. presentation, data as currency, Category Captain dynamics, EDEKA regional coalition model.

Connect with Jan Wapelhorst on LinkedIn for weekly insights on German retail.

Website: wfr-advisory.com

Email: [email protected]