NACS Category Definitions & Number Guide
Version 8.0 reflects new product transition, diversification and innovation
Convenience is evolving—so are the definitions
Common category definitions are the building blocks in developing marketing strategies and category management plans. They allow retailers to lower inventory levels, reduce out-of-stocks, build a clearly differentiated offering and more quickly pivot offers when customer behaviors and preferences quickly change, which has become commonplace in the era of COVID-19.
Now available for download, the latest release of the NACS Category Definitions & Number Guide (Version 8 released in early 2021) was developed by the NACS Research & Technology Committee and reflects significant updates to the last broad iteration (Version 7.0 released in 2010) and landmark release of Version 1.0 in 1998. Since then, industry sales have grown from $186 billion to $648 billion and pretax profits have shown a similar growth curve. Version 8.0 also comes at a critical time, after more than 30,000 new products were introduced into the convenience retailing channel in 20201—nearly 100 new products a day. The new definitions and guide:
- Provide a framework for data collection and benchmarking the industry's category performance
- Simplify the terminology
- Clarify and add descriptions to reduce the misalignment of products across our industry
- Provide retailers, suppliers and manufacturers with a common language to have meaningful discussions about operations, store-level benchmarking, and market and category performance comparisons
- Adequately capture product transition, diversification and new innovation
Download Version 8.0 Now (PDF)
Contact
For questions on category classification:
Chris Wise
Research Analyst
NACS
(703) 518-4247
Chris Wise brings his attention to detail and precise writing style to the NACS Research team to help craft the reports and analysis that NACS Research is known for. He manages the Talent Insights Dashboard, the HR focused metrics benchmarking tool from NACS. Chris started working for NACS in the Products and Services department selling and managing products such as reports and training before moving over to the Research team over a year ago. By combining meaningful data with insightful analysis, Chris helps the NACS Research team provide the industry benchmarks that many rely on.
Chris enjoys biking and exploring the historical monuments and institutions of the Greater Washington DC area in his free time.
For questions on mapping and CSX integration:
Chris Rapanick
Managing Director, NACS Research
NACS
(703) 518-4253
Chris Rapanick is the managing director of research at NACS. Chris’ team produces, the NACS State of the Industry Report, The State of the Industry Summit, SOI Compensation Report, Convenience Voices Shopper Insights Program, the CSX Benchmarking Database and thought leadership whitepapers published by NACS.
Chris came to NACS from Coca-Cola Enterprises with a love of data and the convenience channel. In his 14-year career with NACS, he has dedicated himself to helping retailers make better decisions by using data analysis and suppliers “speak the retailers’ language” by understanding the details of their business model.
Chris started his career in retail managing grocery stores for a prominent retailer in the southeast. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.
