A RELAÇÃO ENTRE O GERENCIAMENTO POR CATEGORIAS NO VAREJO DE AUTO-SERVIÇO E A PRÁTICA DO MARKETING DE RELACIONAMENTO

Abstract

The retail, mainly the self-service retail (specifically hypermarkets, supermarkets and discount stores), has been suffering deep changes in the last years in Brazil and the world, in search of bigger competitiveness and customer focus.  In this context, it appears, in the nineties, the ECR - Efficient Consumer Response, as an effort integrated between manufacturers and retailers to improve processes and organizational performance, propitiating, in this way, benefits to the consumer.  In this direction, Category Management, one of the techniques that composes the ECR, becomes essential to its success, since it is mentioned to the ability in commercializing, in efficient forms, products and/or services that satisfy the expectations of the consumers.  Recognizing the importance of the Category Management for the self-service retail, this paper develops a theoretical and reflexive analysis, including  Relationship Marketing as one of its theoretical pillars.  This if because of the relations that exist between Relationship Marketing and Category Management, because this one considers questions related to partnerships, trust, commitment, cooperation, joint profits and long-term vision.  Thus, some theoretical proposals are presented, which take in consideration dimensions of Relationship Marketing, Category Management and its function in the self-service retail.