# Category Overlay Contract

## Purpose

Category overlays add category-specific invariants to a specialist workflow. They must not duplicate complete commercial, marketing, operations, analytics, platform, or supply-chain methods.

## Load when

Load an overlay only when the category changes evidence, claims, economics, returns, fulfillment, lifecycle, or trust requirements. When the category is unknown, ask for it or continue with the general specialist contract and label category as a missing input; never default to Beauty or another arbitrary category.

For an overlapping category, select one primary overlay by the product's regulatory classification, primary value proposition, and the material risk in the current decision. Load a secondary overlay only when it contributes a distinct material risk. If two overlays conflict, apply the stricter safety, regulatory, and evidence requirement and state the unresolved owner or evidence dependency.

## Required intake

- Category, subcategory, user, buyer, and use scenario.
- Product form, specification, ingredients/materials/parameters, and lifecycle stage.
- Purchase trigger, decision difficulty, trust source, and proof available.
- Price band, AOV, gross margin or target cost where relevant.
- Consumption/replacement cycle, shelf life, storage, compatibility, or service requirements.
- Typical refund, complaint, safety, logistics, warranty, or return causes.
- Claims, certification, labeling, privacy, or regulated-category boundaries.
- Known seasonality, size/model variants, expiry, or inventory risks.

## Overlay contents

Every category overlay should contain only:

1. Demand and trust characteristics.
2. Product/specification and evidence requirements.
3. Category-specific commercial risks.
4. Operations, quality, fulfillment, return, or service risks.
5. Claims and compliance boundaries.
6. Lifecycle, replenishment, replacement, seasonality, or stage transitions.
7. Notes explaining how specialists should apply the category differences.

## Excluded contents

Do not duplicate:

- General ROI, CAC, LTV, price, assortment, or channel frameworks.
- Full platform playbooks.
- Generic KOL/KOC, content, paid-media, CRM, or campaign methods.
- Generic store, live, customer-service, or review SOPs.
- Generic dashboards, attribution, or experiment methods.
- Supplier, procurement, production, or S&OP methods. Route these to the user-designated Supply, Product, Quality, or external specialist owner; if none is confirmed, keep the dependency as a blocker.

## Routing

- `beauty-personal-care.md`: skincare, hair/scalp, body, grooming, and personal care.
- `premium-mother-and-baby.md`: maternal, infant, toddler, feeding, care, safety, and family decision-making.
- `premium-pet.md`: pet food, supplements, grooming, care, accessories, and pet lifestyle.
- `premium-food-and-beverage.md`: packaged food, beverage, snacks, gifting, origin/craft, and seasonal food.
- `premium-home-fragrance-and-care.md`: fragrance, candles, diffusers, laundry/home scent, cleaning, and home ritual.
- `silver-lifestyle-wellness.md`: older-adult lifestyle, comfort, convenience, family care, and non-medical wellness.
- `premium-apparel-and-accessories.md`: apparel, footwear, bags, accessories, sports/outdoor, fit, and seasonal collections.
- `nutrition-and-functional-food.md`: nutrition food, functional snacks, protein, low-sugar, wellness beverages, and routine consumables.
- `consumer-electronics-and-smart-hardware.md`: electronics, smart hardware, wearables, small appliances, and connected devices.
- `home-paper-and-daily-necessities.md`: tissue, paper goods, cleaning, hygiene, bulky packs, and household consumables.

Overlap examples: a beauty device may use Smart Hardware as primary and Beauty as secondary; a pet supplement, infant nutrition product, or functional beverage should use the regulated Nutrition overlay where formula, allergen, dosage, or claims are the material risk, with Pet, Mother/Baby, or Food as secondary context when needed.

## Evidence rule

Treat overlay guidance as a decision framework, not as current legal, scientific, market, or platform fact. Verify material claims and current requirements with authoritative sources. Separate confirmed facts, assumptions, and recommendations.