Populating Demand Group Structures

Demand Groups are groups of highly substitutable products.

Demand Groups are groups of highly substitutable products. The price and promotion of one item in the group directly affects demand for the other items. Demand Group names can be up to 50 characters long. Examples of Demand Groups include LARGE EGGS, EGGS SUBSTITUTE, and DIET SOFT DRINKS. In the PIF, you assign Demand Groups in the Demand Group column.

Before populating Demand Groups with products, consider the following:

• Seasonal products should be in their own Demand Group
• Products should have similar size: Trial sizes and industrial size (really large) products should be in their own Demand Group
• Products should have similar price points since they are HIGHLY substitutable
• Think: How are the products merchandised on the shelf – what does the customer see when making a purchasing decision?
• Think: What products will be cannibalized if I put one product on promotion?
• Always keep in mind how your average customer shops your category at your store

Here are some best practices as you populate the Demand Groups in the PIF:

• Fill in Demand Groups in the “Demand Group” field
• Use custom filters to help
• Use your REF Level Fields (product hierarchy) information
• Move or hide columns on the PIF to put valuable information side by side

These are some rules for entering Demand Group names:

• Up to 50 characters long
• Alpha-numeric characters only
• Demand Group names should be ALL_CAPS
• Opt for smaller Demand Groups:

• As a general rule of thumb, Demand Groups should contain between 15-50 products
• Avoid single-product Demand Groups if possible

• Use suffixes to separate Demand Groups:

• PRM = Premium (for example, LOTION_PRM)
• ECON = Economy (for example, LOTION_ECON)
• TS = Trial sizes (for example, LOTION versus LOTION_TS)
• IND = Industrial or large sizes (for example, TOMATO_SAUCE versus TOMATO_SAUCE_IND)