The Category Manager is responsible for managing the product category, ensuring product availability, maximizing sales, and driving category growth. This role involves developing and implementing category strategies, managing supplier relationships, and collaborating with internal teams to achieve business objectives.
II. Key Responsibilities
- Category Strategy Development:
- Develop and execute category strategies for products to achieve sales and profitability targets.
- Conduct market analysis to identify trends, customer preferences, and competitive activities.
- Define product assortment, pricing, and promotional strategies to maximize category performance.
- Supplier Relationship Management:
- Build and maintain strong relationships with OTC product suppliers and manufacturers.
- Negotiate terms, pricing, and promotional support with suppliers to ensure competitive positioning.
- Collaborate with suppliers on product launches, marketing initiatives, and joint business planning.
- Inventory Management:
- Monitor inventory levels to ensure product availability and minimize stockouts and excess inventory.
- Collaborate with supply chain and logistics teams to optimize inventory flow and reduce lead times.
- Implement inventory management best practices and tools to improve efficiency.
- Sales and Performance Analysis:
- Analyze sales data and category performance metrics to identify growth opportunities and areas for improvement.
- Prepare regular reports on category performance, highlighting key insights and recommendations.
- Monitor and assess the impact of promotional activities on category sales and profitability.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration:
- Work closely with purchasing, supply chain, marketing, and sales teams to align category strategies with overall business objectives.
- Participate in cross-functional projects and initiatives to drive category growth and innovation.
- Provide category expertise and support to internal stakeholders as needed.
III. Qualifications
a) Pharmacist/Business Management background
B) Experience working with a distributor &/or a pharmacist degree will have an added advantage.· C) Experience in one or more areas asuch as Category Management, Product Manager, Sales/Area Sales Management or in a similar role. Candidates dealing with pharmacy retail/OTC products in pharmaceutical industry will have advantage.