The Category Manager leads the development of planning, sourcing, purchasing, negotiating, merchandising and promoting products to maximize sales and gross margin within the allocated inventory levels. The Category Manager is accountable for meeting their financial objectives, quarterly and yearly and for reporting on these financials monthly for KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). The Category Manager should employ “Category Management” techniques (category reviews, vendor negotiations, advertising and promotional programs, pricing, inventory planning and management and merchandising) to effectively manage to meet their financial objectives. The Category Manager is also responsible for supporting the strategic direction by purchasing products that enhance our business strategy and are relevant to our customer and for creating a point of difference.
· Develops and manages financial plans and adjusts business programs and strategies as needed to meet objectives (KPI’s).
· Identify and prioritize category growth opportunities.
· Prepare recommendations for new product additions and deletions, while maintaining a first to market strategy.
· Gather and analyze market, industry and customer data to formulate category reviews and develop Category plans and strategies.
· Using fact based data and market trends, develop market-leading assortments that create a point of differentiation.
· Conduct analysis on promotional windows and planograms to determine effectiveness of products/offers and change accordingly.
· Update planograms frequently (based on schedule) to optimize assortment while providing customers with “new” in trend products.
· Provide objective, fact based industry and category insights to keep Management apprised of market trends and opportunities.
· Review, select and manage vendors and products based on in-depth knowledge of vendor base, retail competitors, consumer trends and market opportunities.
· Maintain good working knowledge of products available from domestic and offshore suppliers through attendance at Trade Shows Domestic and Abroad.
· Monitor competitive activities and conduct regular competitive pricing surveys on commodity products such as media cards.
· Develop exclusive or private label products that create a point of difference.
Forward Resume to: info@entpartners.ca
