Category Management in eCommerce: what changes and what stays the same

Category management has long been one of the key pillars that retailers use to organise, understand, and evolve their value propositions. It’s taught us to look at each product group as a strategic business unit, with its own role, objectives, and tactical plans.

But as eCommerce continues to become more pervasive, a natural question arises: do the same rules still apply? Or do we need to look at category management itself through a different lens? In this article, we’ll look at how category roles and growth levers shift (or not) in a digital environment.

Should category roles be the same across channels?

It’s a simple enough opening question, but one that opens up a broader discussion too: should we define category roles in the same way for both physical and online stores? The answer depends on two key factors - the maturity of the online channel, and the contribution it makes to the overall business.

When eCommerce is still developing or has low penetration, maintaining a single role per category across channels can help with both consistency and strategic alignment. As the digital channel becomes more relevant, however, customer behaviour often diverges. A category that drives traffic online might not be the one that drives sales in-store, for instance. In these cases, defining channel-specific roles can create clarity, and allow for more targeted planning.

How should we rethink traditional category levers in the online world?

The classic category levers - assortment, pricing, promotion, innovation, and private label – all still matter in digital channels. At the same time, the impact they have can change significantly in an online setting. Take in-store variety, for instance, which typically relates to the number of products available. Online, it’s more about how easily that variety can be filtered, or whether the customer even sees it at all.

On top of that, the digital world brings in new levers that can strongly influence performance: customer reviews, SEO, product content, delivery speed, and shipping costs, to name but a few. These factors need to be considered within the category strategy to truly drive growth.

What drives category performance in e-commerce?

In digital retail, strong category performance goes far beyond offering competitive prices or a wide assortment. The customer journey is different, and so are the factors that influence decision-making.

For some categories, customer reviews and star ratings make or break the sale. For others, free shipping or next-day delivery is the game-changer. Sometimes, clear product information or high-quality images are what seal the deal. These levers are unique to the online channel and can be decisive - but they don’t have the same degree of influence across all categories.

That’s why the challenge here isn’t about listing every possible lever, it’s about identifying which ones truly matter for each category and to what extent. Is variety important? Maybe. Is it as critical as visibility in search results, though? Or the trust conveyed through customer feedback?

The answer lies in the data. Analysing the impact of each lever helps teams focus on what really moves the needle. And that lens should be adjusted depending on the channel, the category’s role, and the business’s maturity.

From insight to action: using levers to drive results

Understanding what influences category performance is just the starting point. The real value comes when you turn those insights into action - whether through assortment planning, product presentation, or investment decisions.

If reviews and ratings play a big role in a category, for example, it’s worth encouraging customers to leave feedback. If delivery time is a key differentiator, negotiating logistics terms might be your next move. And if search visibility is crucial, then maybe it’s time to optimise titles, attributes, and SEO tags accordingly.

The core idea here is simple: once you know which levers matter most, you can prioritise your efforts and drive greater impact. That applies to both long-term strategy and daily operations; each category has its role, each channel has its own logic, and each lever has its own weight. The real magic happens when we connect the dots with data and a clear purpose.

Final thoughts and next steps

Building category strategies for eCommerce means more than just adapting what already works offline. It requires the ability to recognise digital as a space with its own dynamics, where customer behaviour is more traceable, more demanding, and more fluid.

Category roles can be redefined by channel. Traditional levers remain important but are now joined by digital-specific ones like search visibility, reviews, delivery terms, and product content. The challenge is to understand the full mix, and calibrate the weight of each factor in a realistic and actionable way.

What’s the next step? Put it all into practice. Map out the most relevant levers per category, assess their influence, and translate that into clear direction for teams - from category managers to marketing, from trade to digital experience.

This isn’t a plug-and-play framework. It’s a new lens. One that aligns with customer behaviours and channel realities. One that respects the unique essence of each category, while acknowledging that success in eCommerce often requires new questions, and new answers.