Dominant, Complimentary, Auxiliary

Much of my recent work is coalescing around a common theme when measuring the interaction between customers and merchandise. Every brand has items/styles/skus ... the items/styles/skus belong to a Merchandise Category ... and customers interact with the Merchandise Category in differing ways ... ways that can be segmented and acted upon.

The segmentation outline?

• Dominant
• Complimentary
• Auxiliary

What is a Dominant Category?

• The category is at the top of your categories for rebuy rates back into the category. In other words, your customers go back to this category after buying from it previously.

What is a Complimentary Category?

• The category is in the bottom 67%-90% of your categories for rebuy rates back into the category ... however, the category is in the top half for repurchase into other categories. In other words your customers might go back to the category, but the customer is likely to maintain a relationship with the brand regardless.

What is an Auxiliary Category?

• The category is in the bottom 67%-90% of your categories for rebuy rates back into the category ... however, the category is in the bottom half for repurchase into other categories. In other words, your customers might go back to the category, but the customer might also move away from the brand.

Chew on the definitions tonight. Tomorrow, we'll explore and expand this relationship.