Key Accounts Manager -Modern Trade

Company Profile A fast-growing, premium D2C lifestyle brand in the gardening, home dcor, and botanical gifting space. Part of a well-established parent group and headquartered in Bengaluru, the brand operates across leading e-commerce platforms, quick-commerce, and an active D2C website. The company is now building a curated, high-margin offline presence through Modern Trade to support its ambitious growth targets (scaling toward a 12 Crore overall revenue benchmark by FY27).

Role Overview The Key Accounts Manager (KAM) Modern Trade will own the offline retail channel end-to-end. This involves prospecting and onboarding high-fit premium accounts, negotiating sustainable commercial terms, securing optimal visibility, and driving profitable sell-through. This role requires a balance of business development, commercial execution, and brand stewardshipensuring Modern Trade remains margin-accretive rather than volume-driven at all costs.

Channel Strategy & Account Scope The brand targets shoppers and retail environments aligned with a premium, design-led, gifting-oriented portfolio. High-velocity, mass-grocery formats (e.g., value hypermarkets) are explicitly out of scope to protect brand equity and unit economics.

The KAM will focus on building and managing accounts across six priority clusters:

• Premium & Gourmet Grocery / Food Halls: High-end food retail and gourmet stores where consumers trade up on lifestyle items.
• Lifestyle, Home & Dcor Retail: Dedicated home dcor destinations and studios where products fit as aspirational home accessories.
• Premium Department Stores: Home and gifting zones within major department store chains, especially for seasonal and occasion-led traffic.
• Experiential & Specialty Retail: Organised garden centres, flagship concept stores, and experiential retail environments.
• Gifting & Seasonal Channels: Corporate gifting distributors, premium gifting chains, and curated festive pop-ups.
• Travel & Airport Retail: Selective impulse-gifting doors with strong margin profiles and brand alignment.

Key Responsibilities

• Channel Strategy & Planning: Define and maintain the target Modern Trade account universe based on contribution margin and cost-to-serve. Build rolling channel and SKU plans mapped to annual revenue goals.
• Account Acquisition & Onboarding: Manage the end-to-end sales cyclefrom prospecting and pitching to vendor registration, listing, and securing initial purchase orders.
• Commercial Negotiation & JBPs: Negotiate trading terms (margins, listing fees, payment terms, returns, trade spends) and build Joint Business Plans (JBPs) covering ranges, visibility, and growth targets.
• Assortment & Range Planning: Curate SKU assortments per account type, balancing core lines, gifting ranges, and price points. Manage seasonal and festive listing cycles.
• In-Store Merchandising & Visibility: Secure prime display space (including shop-in-shops and end-caps) and maintain visual merchandising compliance in line with brand standards.
• Promotions & Demand Generation: Execute account-specific activations and seasonal campaigns while tracking return on trade spend.
• Supply Chain & Operations Sync: Oversee demand forecasting per account to ensure high order fill rates, timely deliveries, and minimal returns for fragile/perishable items.
• P&L & Analytics: Track revenue, gross margins, trade spends, and channel net contribution using sell-in, sell-through, and inventory dashboards.

Key Result Areas (KRAs)

• Channel Revenue & Account Acquisition (30%): MT revenue vs. target; number and quality of new premium accounts onboarded.
• Sell-Through & Same-Store Growth (20%): Secondary sales velocity; like-for-like store growth.
• Gross Margin & Trade-Spend ROI (15%): Channel gross margin; return on promotions and trade spends.
• Distribution, Listings & Assortment (15%): Active listings, store count, and assortment width in priority accounts.
• Fill Rate & Supply SLA (10%): Order fill rate, on-time delivery, and returns/rejection control.
• Visibility & Merchandising Compliance (10%): Planogram, display, and POSM compliance across stores.

First 90 Days Success Milestones

• First 30 Days: Map out the target premium Modern Trade universe, validate unit economics per channel, and outline the prioritized growth strategy.
• First 60 Days: Initiate negotiations and Joint Business Planning with target anchor accounts; finalize trading terms and initial product assortments.
• First 90 Days: Go live with first anchor accounts, establish in-store visibility, and operationalize the reporting and P&L tracking cadence.

Candidate Profile

• Education & Experience: Graduate degree required (MBA/PGDM in Sales or Marketing preferred). 4–8 years of experience in Modern Trade or Key Account Management within premium FMCG, home dcor, lifestyle, gourmet, or gifting sectors.
• Commercial Acumen: Strong understanding of retail math, margins, trade spends, and channel P&L.
• Execution & Negotiation: Proven track record of negotiating commercial terms and managing account relationships without sacrificing profitability.
• Analytical Skills: Proficiency in Excel and dashboard-based reviews (sell-through data, inventory turnover).
• Brand Sensitivity: Eye for in-store display quality, merchandising aesthetics, and premium positioning.
• Adaptability: Comfort operating in a fast-paced, growth-stage environment.