Role Overview

The Deputy Category Manager (DCM) for the Indian Wear category is responsible for driving category growth, profitability, customer experience, and operational excellence. The role involves end-to-end management of brand relationships, sales performance, site merchandising, seller operations, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver business targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Target Achievement & Growth
• Deliver topline and bottom-line performance against monthly, quarterly, and annual targets.
• Monitor sales trends, growth rates, and conversion metrics, initiating interventions to improve performance.
• Track:
• Topline Target vs Achievement (%)
• Bottom-line Target vs Achievement (%)
• Conversion Target vs Achievement (%)
• Identify assortment gaps, pricing opportunities, and growth levers to maximize revenue and margin.
• Marketing
• Achieve and exceed monthly marketing income targets.
• Drive brand-funded campaigns, ensure timely collections, and optimize marketing ROI.
• Generate income through:
• Brand contributions for campaigns, coupons, and internal schemes
• Additional income pools (visibility, exclusives, launches, etc.)
• Brand Relationship Management
• Maintain strong, strategic relationships with key brands in the Indian Wear portfolio.
• Drive brand growth through weekly/monthly reviews, sharing performance insights and action plans.
• Manage brand expectations through quick responses to queries, operational concerns, and escalations.
• Lead initiatives on exclusive launches, collections, and brand-led activations.
• Site Merchandising
• Own the customer journey on the category pages, ensuring visual quality and zero merchandising errors.
• Continuously review the site for QC, broken links, wrong listings, incorrect pricing/discounts, and fix them swiftly.
• Refresh and optimize wireframes, banners, landing pages, and CTAs.
• Track and improve key metrics: Visits, CTR, ATC%, bounce rate, and conversion through targeted interventions.
• Collaboration & Cross-functional Alignment
• Work closely with internal teams including Marketing, Customer Service, Site Merchandising, Operations, Finance, Catalogue & Content.
• Ensure seamless execution of campaigns, pricing changes, new brand onboarding, and operational processes.
• Maintain proactive communication to ensure task alignment, faster turnaround, and timely closures.
• Daily Seller Operations
• Monitor seller performance to ensure timely order fulfilment and adherence to customer delivery promises.
• Resolve inventory issues, pricing errors, and technical challenges that impact order processing.
• Coordinate with stores and warehouses to minimize:
• Order delays
• Seller cancellations
• Breach of delivery timelines
• Track seller metrics such as fulfilment rate, cancellation rate, delayed dispatch %, and QC failures.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong analytical thinking and data-driven decision-making
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management
• Deep understanding of Indian Wear trends and customer behavior
• Proficiency in MS Excel, analytics dashboards, and merchandising tools
• High ownership, agility, and problem-solving mindset
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Fashion Management, Retail, or a related field
• 5–6 years of experience in Category Management, Buying, Merchandising, or E-commerce
• Experience in Indian Wear or Fashion category preferred