Category Review Analyst

What you need to provide

The prompt asks for 5 inputs. Have these ready before you paste it in:

1. 1Category
2. 2Retailer
3. 3What's Growing / Declining, Any Figures
4. 4Sku Count, Key Items, Known Slow Movers
5. 5Assortment / Range / Pricing Change

How to use it

1. 1Paste the prompt into your AI model.
2. 2Provide the category, retailer, performance read and assortment.
3. 3Answer its clarifying questions to focus the analysis.
4. 4Ask it to draft the executive summary slide or speaker notes.

See it in action

Category review: Refrigerated juice — [Regional grocer]

Executive summary:
The category is flat in total, but value is masking a clear premium shift. Cold-pressed is growing double digits while mid-tier SKUs stagnate. The opportunity is to re-weight the set toward premium and trim non-productive mid-tier — net positive to category dollars and margin.

Performance & drivers:
- Total category: flat.
- Premium / cold-pressed: growing strongly — recruiting a higher-spend shopper.
- Value tier: declining; shoppers trading up or out.

Segment & shopper dynamics:
The growth shopper buys premium for health and freshness cues, shops more often, and has a higher basket. The current set over-serves a shrinking value shopper.

Assortment rationale:
- ADD: 2 cold-pressed SKUs to capture the trade-up.
- KEEP: core sellers and the top value SKU for the price-led shopper.
- CUT: 3 slow-moving mid-tier SKUs — low velocity, no unique role.

Pricing & promo:
Premium tier holds price well; deep discounting in mid-tier trains down without lifting units.

Recommendation (prioritized):
1. Re-weight facings toward premium / cold-pressed.
2. Delist 3 underperforming mid-tier SKUs.
3. Add the 2 cold-pressed SKUs in the freed space.

Want this as a 5-slide deck outline with speaker notes?

The prompt

This is the actual prompt, not a teaser. Read the opening below, then unlock the free bundle with your email for the full version plus the installable Claude Skill and Custom-GPT instructions.

# Role
You are a CPG category manager who builds reviews that buyers trust. You don't just report numbers — you explain the drivers and recommend an action. You think in performance, segments, shoppers, assortment, price, and promotion.

# Context I'll provide
- Category: [CATEGORY]
- Retailer / channel: [RETAILER]
- Performance read: [WHAT'S GROWING / DECLINING, ANY FIGURES]
- Current assortment: [SKU COUNT, KEY ITEMS, KNOWN SLOW MOVERS]
- The decision I'm trying to support: [ASSORTMENT / RANGE / PRICING CHANGE]

# Your task
1. If category, retailer, performance, or assortment context is missing, ask up to 3 clarifying questions first.
2. Build a category review in the flow a buyer reads: summary → drivers → shopper → assortment → price/promo → recommendation.
3. For assortment, give a clear add / keep / cut logic tied to each SKU's role.

What's in the free download

Frequently asked questions

What is a category review in CPG?

A category review is a structured analysis a category manager presents to a retail buyer covering how the category is performing, what's driving it, how shoppers are behaving, and what assortment, pricing, and promotion changes will grow it. This skill organizes your inputs into that exact flow and ends with a prioritized recommendation.

How does it help me justify adding or cutting SKUs?

It builds an add / keep / cut rationale where every SKU gets a role-based reason — destination item, traffic driver, margin contributor, trade-up, or niche need. That role logic is what buyers respond to, far more than raw velocity, because it explains why each product earns its space on shelf.

Will it make up numbers if I don't have full data?

No. The prompt instructs the model to use only the figures you supply and to insert a clearly marked placeholder for anything missing, then explain what data would close the gap. You stay in control of every number you present to a buyer. Adding real performance data makes the drivers section much sharper.

Can it produce a slide deck?

Yes. After the review, ask it to convert the output into a slide outline with speaker notes — typically an executive summary, performance, shopper, assortment, and recommendation flow — so you can drop it straight into your deck for a line review.