Category Killer

Category killer sounds like something out of CSI or Law and Order. A mad killer who picks people out of a category.

But that's not what we're talking about. Here, it’s a retail term.

It's a product, or a brand, or a company that becomes so dominant that it destroys the category.

Amazon killed the book sales category (and then most of everything else). Apple killed the smartphone category. Usually, these companies eventually go from killer to victim, though. Best Buy was a category killer at one point, and then got the other end of the treatment from Amazon. To everything, turn, turn, turn...

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)