The strategic advantages of Category Intelligence in 2025

In 2025, procurement leaders will need to continue navigating complex challenges such as economic uncertainty, geopolitical shifts, and fast technological change. That’s why real-time, trusted category intelligence is essential for making strategic decisions that align with business goals. As we covered in our previous article, “Why You Need Trusted Verified Category Intelligence in 2025”, clear visibility and foresight are critical in today’s rapidly shifting business climate.

Real-World Impact: How Category Intelligence Drives Smarter Procurement

Category intelligence gives procurement teams a clear advantage in tackling market challenges and making smart decisions. Here are some practical examples of its impact:

• Responding to trade policies: In 2024, U.S. trade tariffs raised material costs, pushing businesses to explore suppliers in Southeast Asia and Africa. With category intelligence, companies quickly identified reliable suppliers and stayed compliant. As the new administration has announced plans to raise U.S. trade tariffs further, such disruptions may continue, making proactive insights essential for navigating future challenges.
• Smarter forecasting: Relying on data models alone often means missing out on key trends. Take materials like plastics, for example, where factors such as China’s recent increase in exports are affecting global markets. A combination of AI tools and expert input ensures predictions are accurate and relevant to the real world.
• Staying ahead of risks: In September 2024, Hurricane Beryl disrupted petrochemical supplies, creating a risk of price spikes. Insights provided a two-week early warning, allowing organizations to secure inventory and adjust supply chains in advance, safeguarding their bottom line. Forecasts predicted a 10-15% price increase for materials like propylene and PP, which proved accurate as prices surged.
• Strategic decision-making: Strategic decision-making is key to optimizing costs and streamlining operations. Using regional intelligence, a company for example assessed costs for a new warehouse in Malaysia. AI insights and expert guidance enabled informed decisions, effective stakeholder engagement, and a successful warehouse establishment with reduced operational costs.
• Improving indirect procurement: Improving indirect procurement can drive significant savings and operational efficiency. A major pharmaceutical company simplified its global media buying supplier setup using recommendations, saving $12M annually while boosting efficiency and increasing procurement's influence within the business.

The Growing Complexity of Category Management

As procurement becomes more complex with diverse supplier networks, rising costs, and ESG requirements, leaders need deep, category-specific insights to identify risks and opportunities. Beroe Category Watch meets this need by providing up-to-date data on thousands of categories, making it easier to stay informed and make better decisions. Its cross-industry, scalable approach means procurement leaders at any level of an organization can access insights that support their specific needs, streamlining decision-making without the need for multiple tools.

The Importance of Real-Time, Reliable Data for Decision-Making

Timely, reliable data is key for quick decision-making in a fast-moving environment. Beroe’s Category Watch combines AI-driven insights with the knowledge of 450 human experts, ensuring the data is both accurate and relevant. This unique mix of technology and human expertise helps procurement teams make better decisions, especially when facing supply chain disruptions or sudden market changes. With both speed and context, teams can stay ahead and make smarter, more informed choices.

Risk Mitigation through Category-Specific Insights

Mitigating risks requires a deep understanding of each category’s unique supply chain, pricing trends, and geopolitical factors. Beroe’s Category Watch enables proactive risk management by providing tailored insights and specific risk indicators for each category. These insights help procurement teams identify vulnerabilities early and take action to ensure supply continuity.

• Category health score: This index-level view allows category managers to evaluate the performance of their portfolio and quickly identify areas that need attention, enabling faster response to potential risks.
• Category Beige Book: A comprehensive overview of the factors driving category health, including pricing trends, supply and demand fluctuations, costs, and potential risks. This feature combines macro and micro-level insights, offering a complete picture of category health.
• Category intelligence reports: These reports provide procurement leaders and teams with an in-depth understanding of each category, offering actionable intelligence to make well-informed decisions at both strategic and operational levels.
• Proactive category alerts: Real-time, early warning signals flag potential issues or disruptions, enabling teams to address problems before they escalate. For example, a sudden surge in raw material prices could trigger an alert, giving teams time to negotiate better contract terms or explore alternative suppliers.
• 360° category monitoring: Beroe’s tiered monitoring approach provides procurement teams with ongoing insights into category performance. This continuous cycle of analysis and action ensures that teams can stay ahead of trends, manage risks, and improve sourcing outcomes.

By providing detailed, current insights into the health of each category, Beroe Category Watch enables procurement teams to make smarter, more proactive decisions, protecting their organizations from potential disruptions and ensuring supply chain continuity.

Driving Cost Management and Strategic Value through Intelligence-Driven Procurement

Category Watch delivers focused, category-specific intelligence to help procurement leaders make smarter decisions, manage risk, and achieve cost efficiency. Beyond cutting costs, it supports cost avoidance and strategic savings through benchmarking, supplier assessments, and negotiations. By equipping teams with actionable insights, Category Watch supports organizations to limit price hikes, secure long-term supplier value, and stay competitive in 2025. Ready to enhance your procurement strategy? Explore Category Watch to gain the insights you need for smarter, more resilient sourcing decisions.