Plan Impuls
Plan Impuls is a Munich-based German B2B consultancy founded in 2003 that combines market research and consulting expertise at the point of sale, providing Shopper Marketing, Category Management, and trade research services to leading consumer goods manufacturers and retailers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersMünchen, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Plan Impuls does
Plan Impuls (legally: plan + impuls Gesellschaft für Marktforschung und Beratung am POS mbH) is a Munich-headquartered, privately held German B2B consulting firm founded in 2003 that specializes in Shopper Marketing and point-of-sale (POS) advisory work for leading consumer goods manufacturers and retailers. Its offering integrates two traditionally separate disciplines — market research and consulting — into a single Shopper Marketing methodology spanning Shopper Research, Category Activation, Brand Activation, and Sales Activation, with additional capabilities in trade-specific research (Handelsmarktforschung) and Category Management training. The underlying technology stack is methodology- and tool-centric rather than platform-centric: a portfolio of proprietary research techniques (Price Sensitivity Meter, FIRE for packaging, tachistoscopic promotion testing, visual shelf placement tests) is anchored by FlächenplanerLIVE, a configurable placement-concept rollout tool that delivers category-specific shelf-share recommendations and supports field sales execution.
The firm employs 11-50 staff led by managing partners Manfred Frisch and Alexander Ehrl, with partners Levin Deymann (Category Management) and Erkko Nurvala (POS Launch Check), plus research specialist Dr. Claudia Franke. Revenue is generated through quote-based professional services engagements (Shopper Marketing consulting, Category Management support, Academy training, interim management) sold via direct enterprise relationships; no pricing or revenue figures are publicly disclosed. Customer concentration is meaningful: named enterprise accounts include Pernod Ricard Deutschland, Red Bull Deutschland, Molkerei Alois Müller, Bel Deutschland, Essity, and EDEKA Vertriebsgesellschaft Nordbayern-Sachsen-Thüringen, several with documented multi-year relationships. Recent strategic activity is partnership-led rather than capital-led: a March 2023 cooperation with Hoffrogge broadened the firm's Category Management footprint, and earlier productization moves (POS Launch Check in April 2019, CM-Umsetzungsstrategie Workshop) point to incremental scaling through productized methodology rather than headcount expansion. The firm is privately held with no external investors, no parent entity, and operates primarily in Germany with DACH exposure.
Plan Impuls firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Plan Impuls
- Legal name
- plan + impuls Gesellschaft für Marktforschung und Beratung am POS mbH
- Website
- https://planundimpuls.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Plan Impuls is a Munich-based German B2B consultancy founded in 2003 that combines market research and consulting expertise at the point of sale, providing Shopper Marketing, Category Management, and trade research services to leading consumer goods manufacturers and retailers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Plan Impuls industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Shopper Marketing Consulting
- NAICS
- Marketing Consulting Services (541613), Advertising Agencies (54181)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising (7310)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Shopper Marketing Strategy & Planning (MPAAAJAA)
Keywords
Where Plan Impuls is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- München
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Plan Impuls business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Shopper Marketing Consulting: Core consulting services for manufacturers and retailers including Shopper Research, Category Activation, Brand Activation, and Sales Activation. Services are tailored to specific client needs and product categories.
- Academy Training Services: Category Management trainings and workshops for clients, including interim category management services and customized training programs for sales teams.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Plan Impuls product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Plan Impuls is a B2B consultancy that combines market research and consulting expertise around the point-of-sale (POS) for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers. It delivers an integrated Shopper Marketing portfolio covering Shopper Research, Category Activation, Brand Activation, and Sales Activation, supported by proprietary tools (FlächenplanerLIVE), training (Academy), and launch diagnostics (POS Launch Check).
Product overview
Plan Impuls is a full-service shopper marketing consultancy founded in 2003, operating as a Gesellschaft für Marktforschung und Beratung am POS mbH (market research and consulting at POS). The company offers an integrated portfolio of consulting services organized around Shopper Marketing as the core umbrella, supported by five interconnected service pillars: Shopper Research (fundamental research and panel expertise), Category Activation (shelf optimization and placement concept implementation), Brand Activation (brand performance at POS), and Sales Activation (sales support and trade argument development). The company also provides specialized services including Handelsmarktforschung (retail market research covering pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase phases) and the FlächenplanerLIVE digital tool for space planning. Additional offerings include the Plan und Impuls Academy (professional training in Category Management), and the POS Launch Check diagnostic service for product introductions. The company serves leading manufacturers and retailers across diverse retail sectors including food, beverages, cosmetics, and specialty retail.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Shopper Marketing Comprehensive shopper-focused marketing consulting that integrates research and consulting around the POS for manufacturers and retailers, including tailored solutions for trade marketing, category management, and sales.
- Shopper Research Fundamental research services providing shopper insights through panel expertise and specialized research methodologies to inform strategic and operational retail decisions.
- Category Activation Strategic activation services for category management, implementing placement concepts and shelf optimization to drive category performance at POS.
- Brand Activation Brand-focused activation services to drive brand performance and visibility at the point-of-sale for leading manufacturers and retailers.
- Sales Activation Sales-focused activation services including category- and shopper-oriented arguments, sell-in stories, and annual meeting presentations to strengthen trade partner relationships.
- Handelsmarktforschung (Retail Market Research) Trade-specific research services covering pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase phases. Includes cross-channel strategy, customer segmentation, POS benchmark, store concept studies, customer satisfaction analysis, and mystery shopping for retail companies.
- Plan und Impuls Academy Training and professional development offerings including Category Management trainings, philosophy-based educational programs, and certified trainers for upskilling trade marketing and category management professionals.
- FlächenplanerLIVE Digital space planning tool for pragmatic rollout of placement concepts at retail POS, providing individualized placement recommendations customized for specific product categories and objectives, with field sales execution support.
- POS Launch Check Diagnostic service for product launches analyzing four pillars: Pricing (Price Sensitivity Meter), Packaging (FIRE method), Placement (visual shelf testing), and Promotion (display variant evaluation). Combines online surveys with implicit and explicit approaches.
- CM-Umsetzungsstrategie Workshop Workshop-based consulting service helping manufacturers define optimal implementation strategies for placement concepts, covering Top-Down (retail HQ), Influencer (independent retailers), and Manpower (field sales) approaches.
Quantifiable outcome
- Clients report successful implementation of placement concepts that secure market-appropriate shelf shares
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Plan Impuls
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Plan Impuls technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Plan Impuls partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Hoffrogge & plan + impulscoreStrategic cooperation announced in March 2023 combining 40 years of CM experience. Hoffrogge brings additional Category Management expertise while plan + impuls contributes Shopper Marketing and Research capabilities. The partnership aims to deliver comprehensive solutions across two core disciplines with a unified goal.
- Uplift NetzwerkcorePartnership network for point-of-sale excellence. Uplift is a network of specialized companies focused on comprehensive POS solutions. Plan Impuls participates as a partner, contributing expertise in Shopper Marketing and Category Management to deliver integrated client solutions.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Plan Impuls competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- IFH Retail Consultants: Cologne-based retail consultancy focused on shopper behavior, category management, and POS optimization for German retailers and manufacturers. Closely comparable scope and client base to plan + impuls's Handelsmarktforschung and Shopper Research services.
- BBE Handelsberatung (BBE Media): German retail and trade consulting firm advising manufacturers and retailers on category, POS, and shop concepts. Directly comparable as a Germany-based trade marketing and category consultancy addressing the same buyer group as plan + impuls.
- Hoffrogge: German Category Management consultancy with 40+ years of experience. Direct peer in trade and category management consulting and a formal strategic partner of plan + impuls since March 2023, making it the most directly comparable competitor and collaborator.
Others
- Uplift Netzwerk: Network of specialized POS solution providers in Germany of which plan + impuls is a partner. Adjacent ecosystem participant that connects plan + impuls with complementary POS execution and merchandising firms rather than competing with it.
- Category Management Association (CMA Germany): Industry body that certifies Category Management professionals and runs training programs in Germany. Adjacent rather than competitive, but operates in the same CM training and credentialing space as the plan + impuls Academy.
- GS1 Germany: German standards body for barcodes, category management, and retail data standards. Adjacent rather than competing, but influences the frameworks and standards that plan + impuls's category and POS consulting practices are built around.
Broad incumbents
- Circana (formerly IRI): Global provider of retail measurement and shopper insights, including POS and category analytics. Overlaps with plan + impuls's Shopper Research and Category Activation offerings, but as part of a much broader, data-led portfolio rather than a POS-specialized practice.
- Accenture Song (Accenture): Global consultancy with a large retail and consumer goods practice covering trade marketing, category management, and shopper experience design. Competes with plan + impuls for large enterprise engagements, but as part of a much broader transformation portfolio.
- NielsenIQ: Global market research and shopper insights incumbent serving CPG manufacturers and retailers worldwide. Comparable because it competes for the same category management and shopper insight budgets that plan + impuls serves, but at much greater scale and with broader portfolio offerings.
- Kantar: Global insights and consulting firm with deep retail and shopper research practices. Competes with plan + impuls for Shopper Marketing and category advisory mandates among large manufacturers, but operates at significantly larger scale across multiple research disciplines.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Plan Impuls social profiles
Digital presencePlan Impuls financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Plan Impuls leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Plan Impuls funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Plan Impuls M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Plan Impuls
What does Plan Impuls do?
Plan Impuls is a B2B consultancy that combines market research and consulting expertise around the point-of-sale (POS) for consumer goods manufacturers and retailers. It delivers an integrated Shopper Marketing portfolio covering Shopper Research, Category Activation, Brand Activation, and Sales Activation, supported by proprietary tools (FlächenplanerLIVE), training (Academy), and launch diagnostics (POS Launch Check).
Is Plan Impuls a public or private company?
Plan Impuls is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Plan Impuls founded?
Plan Impuls was founded in 2003. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Plan Impuls based?
Plan Impuls is headquartered in München, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Plan Impuls make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Shopper Marketing Consulting is the primary driver. The others are academy Training Services.
Who are Plan Impuls's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are IFH Retail Consultants, BBE Handelsberatung (BBE Media) and Hoffrogge. Others are Uplift Netzwerk, Category Management Association (CMA Germany) and GS1 Germany. Broad incumbents are Circana (formerly IRI), Accenture Song (Accenture), NielsenIQ and Kantar.
Does Plan Impuls have an API?
No public API is recorded for Plan Impuls.
What industry is Plan Impuls in?
Plan Impuls's product category is Shopper Marketing Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAJAA, Shopper Marketing Strategy & Planning. Its NAICS code is 541613 and its SIC code is 7310.