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.

Deputy Category Manager - Plants/Flowers