Category Manager - Lifestyle & Essentials Products

Job Title: Category Manager - Lifestyle & Essentials (Home, Kitchen, Sports, Travel, Toys)

Location: Bangalore, India

Experience: 2+ years

Function: Category Management / Buying

Employment Type: Full-time

Role Overview:

We are looking for a Category Manager with prior experience in Buyer/Category roles across segments like Home & Kitchen, Sports, Travel Accessories, Luggage, Toys, or Stationery. The candidate will be responsible for end-to-end category ownership, assortment planning, supplier negotiation, sales performance, and customer experience for assigned sub-categories on Swiggy Instamart or Minis.

Key Responsibilities:

- Own and grow specific lifestyle & essentials categories (Home, Kitchen, Toys, Stationery, etc.) through structured buying, merchandising, and pricing strategies.

- Build and manage relationships with key brands, suppliers, and distributors to secure the best assortment, margins, and service levels.

- Analyze category performance and consumer trends to identify assortment gaps and new opportunities.

- Drive key KPIs such as GMV, fill rates, stock health, pricing hygiene, and inventory turns.

- Collaborate with planning, supply chain, marketing, and product teams to drive operational and promotional excellence.

- Execute merchandising strategies for seasonality, new product launches, and promotions aligned with customer preferences.

- Monitor competition, pricing trends, and assortment benchmarking to ensure category leadership.

Requirements:

- 2-4 years of hands-on experience in Category Management or Buying, preferably in e-commerce, modern retail, or consumer brands.

- Prior exposure to Home & Kitchen, Travel, Luggage, Toys, Stationery, or similar lifestyle categories is a strong advantage.

- Excellent negotiation skills and commercial acumen.

- Strong analytical skills; proficiency in Excel, Google Sheets, and data analysis tools.

- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, startup-like environment.

- Bachelor's degree in Business, Commerce, Economics, or a related field. MBA preferred but not mandatory.

Preferred Backgrounds:

- E-commerce marketplaces (Amazon, Flipkart, BigBasket, etc.)

- Offline retail (Lifestyle, Reliance Retail, Croma, Decathlon, etc.)

- D2C brands or distribution companies in the lifestyle or essentials segment