Category Manager

Category Management & Planogram Specialist Company: INS Market Department: Merchandising & Category Management Position Overview INS Market is seeking a detail-oriented, analytical, and commercially minded Category Management & Planogram Specialist to support the development, execution, and ongoing optimization of product assortments, planograms, and merchandising strategies across our retail network. This role will focus on maximizing category performance, improving product assortment, optimizing shelf space, and ensuring stores are merchandised effectively based on sales trends, customer demand, and individual store requirements. The successful candidate will work closely with senior management, distributors, franchisees, and field operations teams to support category initiatives and ensure consistency across the INS Market network. Key Responsibilities 1. Planogram Management & Development Create, update, maintain, and optimize planograms based on sales performance, approved product assortments, and store requirements. Evaluate shelf space allocation to maximize sales productivity and category performance. Identify opportunities to improve product placement, visibility, and merchandising effectiveness. Support the development of an in-house planogram management process. Ensure planograms are accurate, current, and aligned with approved merchandising strategies. 2. Category & SKU Performance Analysis Analyze category and SKU-level sales data to identify top-performing products, underperforming items, and assortment opportunities. Evaluate product performance using sales, margins, inventory movement, and space productivity. Recommend new listings, delistings, and assortment adjustments based on performance. Develop regular category performance reports with clear findings and actionable recommendations. Identify opportunities to increase average transaction value and overall store sales. 3. Assortment Optimization Regularly review product assortments to ensure an effective balance of high-performing products, customer demand, and category variety. Recommend adjustments to SKU counts and shelf space allocation based on sales performance. Identify duplicate, slow-moving, and low-performing products for potential rationalization. Support consistent core assortments while accommodating store-specific requirements. 4. Vendor & Distributor Coordination Maintain ongoing operational communication with approved vendors and distributors regarding product availability, launches, promotions, and merchandising execution. Monitor distributor fill rates, out-of-stocks, discontinued products, and warehouse availability. Identify and escalate recurring supply issues affecting approved assortments and planograms. Coordinate product information, availability updates, and implementation requirements with suppliers. Support the execution of approved vendor programs and product launches. 5. Merchandising Strategy & Store Layouts Review merchandising breakdowns and store layouts to ensure effective category placement. Analyze how product placement and category adjacencies impact store performance. Recommend layout adjustments based on sales trends, store demographics, and customer shopping behaviour. Evaluate category space allocation to ensure high-performing categories receive appropriate visibility and shelf space. Support merchandising improvements in existing stores and new store openings. 6. Store Format Development Assist in developing standardized merchandising templates for different store sizes, locations, and formats. Recommend category placement, space allocation, and equipment requirements. Adapt merchandise assortments to suit mall, street-front, transit, and other retail environments. Support the development of consistent merchandising standards across the network. 7. Data Analysis & Reporting Maintain accurate category, SKU, pricing, margin, and product performance information. Prepare sales reports, category rankings, SKU rationaliz…

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