Enabling long-term category growth: IGD’s Category leadership blueprint

In June 2026, at IGD’s sell‑out Future of Category Leadership conference, we exclusively shared the early release of our Category leadership blueprint. It marks a pivotal moment in an 18‑month journey, during which IGD’s Category Leadership Group of 30 industry experts from 17 leading suppliers came together to define what true Category Leadership must be in future.

An inflection point for category

The starting point for the blueprint is a clear tension: suppliers and retailers have managed and optimised categories by looking backwards, but shoppers have moved on. They no longer shop in curated, structured categories; they think and act in terms of missions, occasions and fluid environments, including emerging channels, such as Agentic AI.

This creates an inflection point for our industry. To stay relevant and unlock growth, we collectively must shift from small ‘c’ category management, rooted in historic performance and executional tasks, to big ‘C’ Category Leadership, which focuses on shaping demand, anticipating change and stewarding long‑term category health.

That shift raises many practical questions, including:

• How do we move from backward‑looking optimisation to forward‑facing leadership?

• What skills and behaviours must category teams build to succeed?

• How does the industry spot and serve new shopper needs in a fast‑changing non-linear environment, missions and occasions?

• What new partnerships and technologies are required to make this real?

Five actions to lead, not manage

To answer these questions, the blueprint proposes five actions that intend to move the industry from incremental evolution to category revolution. Each action reflects a distinct change in mindset and practice.

1. Partnering for a four‑way win

Enhancing shopper outcomes by building on the Triple Win with service providers.

This extends the traditional shopper-retailer-supplier ‘triple win’ to include service partners, which creates shared accountability for better experiences and sustainable category growth.

2. Pioneer unmet shopper needs

Using innovation and disruption to unlock needs the category hasn’t served yet.

Rather than only optimising for existing demand, leaders are challenged to seek out emerging shopper needs, which are often ignored or unseen by backwards-looking organisations. Consider shoppers’ missions, occasions and pain points, then use innovation to serve needs currently invisible in the data.

3. Build tomorrow’s capability

Equip teams with foresight, critical thinking and influencing skills critical for leadership.

This action recognises that access to data is no longer the differentiator; the edge comes from new capability and skills: the judgement, analysis and cross‑functional influence that turn insight into confident, long‑term decisions.

4. Organise around how people shop

Shift from aisle‑led thinking to flexible strategies built around missions, occasions and touchpoints.

Categories are re‑anchored in the way shoppers actually navigate stores, channels and occasions, breaking legacy silos and designing propositions around journeys rather than fixtures.

5. Use AI and data to lead, not react

Use technology to free time for higher‑value decisions and leadership.

Deploy AI and advanced analytics not just to produce more reports but to automate low‑value tasks and surface sharper insights. This will give leaders the time and confidence to focus on strategic choices instead of reactive responses.

Together, these five actions redefine the role of category teams: from optimising the past, to shaping future demand, partnerships and shopper experience.

Mark Walker, Head of Consulting

A living blueprint, not a finished product

The blueprint was launched as a deliberate work in progress. Its strength lies in ongoing challenge and refinement, not in being a final answer to the category challenge. To ensure you have access to the latest thinking, the updated blueprint reflects the discussions and conversations held at the conference.

How to get involved