Deputy Category Manager - Plants/Flowers

Assistant Category Manager – Plants & Flowers

Experience: 2–5 years

About the Role

We are looking for an Assistant Category Manager – Plants & Flowers to manage and grow the Plants & Flowers category at FNP. The role will be responsible for driving category growth through the right assortment, pricing, merchandising, promotions, inventory planning, and customer-focused product strategy.

The ideal candidate should have a strong understanding of e-commerce/D2C category management, commercial metrics, consumer behaviour, and product merchandising, along with the ability to work closely with internal and external stakeholders.

This is a hands-on role that requires a combination of analytical thinking, commercial acumen, execution excellence, and strong ownership.

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Management & Growth

• Own the day-to-day management and growth of the Plants & Flowers category on FNP's digital platforms.
• Track category performance and identify opportunities to drive revenue, orders, margins, and customer penetration.
• Develop and execute category plans aligned with business objectives and seasonal demand.
• Identify gaps in the category and recommend new products, sub-categories, price points, and assortment opportunities.
• Monitor category trends, consumer preferences, competitor offerings, and emerging opportunities.

2. Assortment & Product Management

• Build and manage an optimal assortment of indoor plants, outdoor plants, flowering plants, planters, bouquets, flower arrangements, gifting combinations, and related products.
• Analyse product-level performance and optimise the assortment based on sales, margin, conversion, availability, and customer demand.
• Identify products that need to be introduced, scaled, repositioned, or discontinued.
• Work with relevant teams to ensure accurate product information, images, descriptions, pricing, and merchandising.

3. Commercial & P&L Management

• Monitor key category metrics including:
• Revenue and GMV
• Orders and AOV
• Gross margin / contribution margin
• Conversion rate
• Product-level profitability
• Discounting and promotional performance
• Inventory availability
• Support category-level P&L management and identify opportunities to improve profitability.
• Analyse pricing and discount structures and recommend actions to improve both growth and margins.

4. Merchandising & Promotions

• Plan and execute category merchandising across website/app and other relevant channels.
• Identify products and collections to be promoted during key occasions and seasonal periods.
• Work with marketing, content, and creative teams to develop compelling category campaigns and product visibility.
• Analyse promotional performance and optimise campaigns based on commercial outcomes.

5. Inventory & Availability

• Work closely with supply chain, procurement, operations, and fulfilment teams to ensure product availability.
• Monitor stock levels, availability, ageing, sell-through, and inventory health.
• Identify potential stock-outs and excess inventory and take corrective actions.
• Factor in seasonality, occasions, regional demand, and product shelf life while planning category requirements.

6. Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Coordinate with vendors, nurseries, florists, suppliers, and internal stakeholders to ensure availability, quality, pricing, and timely execution.
• Support vendor negotiations and commercial discussions where required.
• Work closely with Supply Chain, Procurement, Operations, Marketing, Technology, Content, and Finance teams.
• Ensure category initiatives are executed within agreed timelines.

7. Data & Competitive Analysis

• Regularly analyse category dashboards and identify trends, gaps, and growth opportunities.
• Conduct competitor benchmarking across assortment, pricing, promotions, product presentation, and customer proposition.
• Develop actionable insights from category data and present recommendations to senior stakeholders.
• Track category KPIs and prepare periodic performance reviews.

8. Customer & Market Understanding

• Understand customer needs and buying behaviour within the plants and flowers category.
• Analyse customer feedback, reviews, search behaviour, and product-level performance to identify opportunities.
• Identify emerging trends in home décor, indoor gardening, gifting, flowers, plants, and lifestyle products and translate them into commercial opportunities.

Key Performance Indicators

The role will be measured on:

• Category Revenue / GMV growth
• Order growth
• Gross / Contribution Margin
• AOV
• Conversion Rate
• Assortment productivity
• Product availability
• Sell-through
• Inventory health
• New product contribution
• Promotional ROI
• Category customer growth and repeat purchase

Desired Candidate Profile

• 2–5 years of experience in Category Management, E-commerce, Merchandising, Buying, Business Management, or a similar role.
• Experience in e-commerce, D2C, retail, consumer internet, lifestyle, gifting, home décor, or related categories is preferred.
• Strong understanding of category metrics, commercial levers, and product performance.
• Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets; familiarity with BI tools is an advantage.
• Ability to work with large datasets and convert insights into actionable business decisions.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment.
• Strong ownership mindset with the ability to manage multiple priorities and drive execution.

Preferred Experience

Candidates with experience in any of the following categories will be preferred:

• Plants & Gardening
• Flowers / Floriculture
• Gifting
• Home Décor
• Lifestyle
• Beauty & Personal Care
• FMCG
• E-commerce / D2C
• Retail / Marketplace
• Consumer Internet

Prior experience specifically in Plants & Flowers is an advantage but not mandatory, provided the candidate demonstrates strong category-management and commercial capabilities.