headhunter for Head of Category Management Positions

In Category Management (CM), manufacturers and retailers work together. It is an independent department that is assigned to purchasing in retail, and more often to sales for manufacturers. 

As the name suggests, category management is about grouping products into categories and positioning them. A Head of Category Management leads the team and is also the contact person for stakeholders when it comes to pricing and disposition.

Choosing the right Head of Category Management for Innovation 

As digitalization increases and shopping channels multiply (multichannel, omnichannel), an experienced and innovative candidate is needed for a Head of Category Management. CareerTeam offers an international network of more than 690,000 contacts to find the perfect match for your company.

Furthermore, our employees can accurately determine the profiles of candidates using personality tests. Finally, we can take over the entire recruiting process as an RPO (Recruiting Process Outsourcing) team. This way, you can set new standards with innovative category management.

Planning the shopping experience 

The aim of CM is to provide the shopper with a clear shopping experience. The shopper, in turn, will be encouraged with additional incentives to impulsively buy other goods as well. A planogram is created for this purpose and the inventories are managed.

In order to use the appropriate marketing tools, it is essential for the CM to study the buying behaviour in the categories (insight analyses).

Point of Sale

One example is the PoS (Point of Sale), which is set up in the right place at the right time of day to encourage people to buy and at the same time advertise. This is not only true for stationary PoS in retail. Equally, digital and mobile advertising can be used for banks or services. Category management is essential for many companies and remains flexible in the industry.

Shopper-Journey

A shopper is not always a consumer. Finding out who exactly buys the products is very important for CM. There are various techniques for understanding purchasing behaviour, including neural measurement and eye tracking. 

In any case, the concept of the shopper journey is indispensable, which covers the following points: Awareness of a need is awakened, whether through advertising, friends, PoS or regular purchases. This is followed by the decision to buy (consideration) coupled with the choice of sales channel. Then comes the purchase, the experience with the product and the sharing of this experience (advocacy).

These steps are not linear and often elliptical. However, the principle always forms the basis for the shopper marketing measures in product group management.

A Head of CM uses also other analyses of shopping behaviour. These include the shopping mission (the goal of a shopper when they enter the shop) or a conversion funnel (also known as a sales funnel, which measures the steps to purchase). It is important to look at the total cost and measure the success of a category.

ROI analysis for products in categories

Another example is the ROI analysis (Return on Investment), which measures the "traffic" of a category, for example. That is, how often a customer has passed by the category, looked at it and bought a product. This can be used to indicate the return on sales and the capital turnover for each product.

Category Vision is the desired growth and success that a category should achieve in a predetermined time. Micro and macro trends are incorporated into the reorientation of a category and new product conception. For instance, if after the Covid crisis the category fails to rise again, it is up to the Head of CM to find a new strategy for the category.

So are new distribution channels. Heads of CM recognize and set new trends. They makes recommendations for action based on the insights gained.

Benchmarking (performance measurement with comparable companies) is permanently achieved in comparison with other manufacturers or products. As well as a correlation matrix that shows which variables have which effect depending on each other. From all analyses, a precise matrix can be created in each case, which secures daily business and increases turnover. 

Multichannel and omnichannel as an extended sphere of influence

As mentioned before, the sphere of influence of an experienced Head of CM is not only in retail shops, but also in online shops and multi- or omnichannel. On the one hand, this applies to the offer, the personalized user experience and also the analysis of buying behaviour that can be achieved through it.

Multichannel means that there are several sales channels that are used separately. Cross channel means that various channels are offered for the same purchase (e.g. click and collect). Omnichannel refers to several channels at the same time, that can be accessed simultaneously for a purchase. This can be, for example, the use of a mobile phone in a shop or online marketplaces that collect data in such a way as to display new advertisements on the mobile phone.

Big Data is the challenge for future category management to evaluate these complex amounts of data.

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Multichannel search for your category management

At CareerTeam we use a multichannel search and a modern algorithm to identify suitable candidates for your company. In this way, we also track down the "hidden candidates" who precisely fit your needs. With our Executive Search, we find your Head of CM quickly and internationally, thus increasing the profitability of your company. Our experienced recruiters advise you professionally and at eye level.