SALES & MARKETING - CATEGORY MANAGER 6 5 SALES & MARKETING Category Manager All the dairy products are together in the fridge area, the middle of the store holds all the dry goods while the produce aisle has the all the fresh fruit and vegetables. Grocery stores are strategically set up this way to help consumers. Could you imagine how fast a store would go out of business if they scattered the cookies all around the store? Stores are set up categorically to help consumers decide what they want to purchase. However, even with this organization there is still many options (like cookies) that a consumer can purchase from. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the number of choices available however situations like this are not ideal for companies because they want the decision to purchase from them easy. How is a company supposed to stand out with all of the possible products in a single grocery category? Well, they entrust this task to professionals known as Category Managers. 1. Category Managers Drive Sales Category managers manage a group or category of products for companies. How big their category or group is depends on the size of the company they work for. For example, a category manager at a large company could be responsible for ‘artisanal breads’, whereas a category manager in a smaller company may work a broader category like ‘baked goods’. Overall, a category manager oversees the management, pricing, sales, and in some cases distribution of a particular product. A key component of their job is building relationships with clients and ensuring that their relationship is mutually beneficial. For example, a category manager may give a client a discount if they purchase multiple products from the same category. Category managers know that building these relationships take time and strategy. This results in them developing long term strategies that drive company sales up. Strategies are built on the analysis of data collected from a variety of sources and translated into meaningful information which could include the performance of individual products, retailer inventory levels and customer demand. Category managers may also update category reports, inputting information into databases so it can be extracted later. These professionals work with staff across departments including pricing, marketing and procurement. These departments help with pricing and the promotion of their product category. Overall, the job of a category manager is to drive customer/shopper satisfaction by increasing category sales. 2. Category Managers Commonly Have Degrees in Business The tasks that category managers take on will differ fromcompany tocompany. Somecompanies may require managers to spend more time analyzing data while others are more customeroriented, focusing on building relationships and negotiating. To reflect this category managers have a variety of educational backgrounds. Some of the most common bachelor’s degrees and college diplomas include marketing, finance, analytics or business. Many companies accept both university and college graduates. However, in most cases, an Category Manager Managing product categories for company success All these products make up a category that a category manager would be responsible for managing: 1. Cookie. 2. Cookie in snack size packaging. 3. Another variety of cookie. 4. Holiday themed cookie. Photo by Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels
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