Category Pricing & Commercial Specialist: WCellar

Woolworths; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 300 000 - 600 000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Category Pricing and Commercial Specialist to drive profitable growth in the liquor category. In this pivotal role, you will analyze market trends and consumer behavior, providing insights that will inform pricing strategies and enhance category performance. You will work closely with buying teams to leverage data analytics, ensuring that pricing decisions align with market dynamics. This position offers the opportunity to make a significant impact in a competitive environment, supporting the introduction of new products and optimizing pricing strategies. If you are passionate about data analysis and the liquor category, this role is perfect for you!

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in category management and data analysis.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret complex data and make recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Analyze market trends and consumer behavior to identify opportunities.
• Advise buying teams on leveraging pricing and market analytics.

Skills

Data Analysis

Commercial Strategy

Market Analysis

Problem Solving

Stakeholder Management

Education

3 Year Degree in Business, Economics, or Mathematics

Tools

JDA

Nielsen

Data Orbis

NextGen POG

Qliksense

QlikView

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Main Purpose

As a Category Pricing and Commercial Specialist, you will play a key role in providing proactive commercial data analysis, synthesis into insights & advisory to optimise profitable Category growth for the WCellar strategy. As an integral member of the WCellar team, you will be a custodian for data inputs into the WCellar Pricing Strategy and the point of contact for pricing reporting & analytics, customer and market data and insights to and from the Category team. You will be responsible for tracking price execution and reporting against defined commercial case/s for category pricing shifts. Your insights and recommendations will directly inform buying, revenue growth management and WCellar leadership, driving profitability and value in a highly competitive market.

Key Responsibilities

• Analyse market trends, consumer behaviour, consumer trends, competitor products and competitor activity to identify opportunities within the liquor category and help the department make informed decisions.
• Advise and equip buying teams to leverage pricing, market and customer analytics to shift customer perception on price and grow their categories.
• Integrate price and market share analytics into the WCellar Category Assessment Process.
• Integrate price and market share analytics to support the team in the Value Delivery Process.
• Track price execution and report against defined commercial case/s for the liquor category pricing shifts.
• Closely monitor and manage pricing strategies across normal, peak, and promotional periods.
• Build capabilities of buying and matrix teams to leverage pricing and promotions tools and methodologies.
• Competitor tracking, analysis and reporting (NPD, market share, customer insights, promo and pricing strategy).
• Conduct regular store visits, review and analyse sales trends, internally and vs competitors, and implement tactical selling strategies to optimise in-season trade performance.
• Support the introduction of new liquor products to the market.
• Manage supplier and brand performance reviews and highlight opportunities to the buying team.
• Provide category performance reports and recommendations working closely with the buying and revenue manager.
• Develop and sustain mutually beneficial stakeholder relationships.
• Conduct regular promo After Action Reviews (AARs).

Requirements

• 3 Year Degree in business, economics, or mathematics, or equivalent educational qualification.
• 5+ years’ experience in category management, data analysis & interpretation, and planogram design and execution.
• Experience in the liquor category & adjacent categories is advantageous.
• Experience using JDA, Nielsen, Data Orbis or NextGen POG.
• Able to work to demanding timescales whilst maintaining high standards.
• Able to analyse complex data, select and shape a story leveraging key data insights to create a commercially sound case for change, to make recommendations that support the WCellar strategy, minimise risk, drive profitable growth and financial KPIs.
• Advanced MS suite proficiency – Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel.
• Solid grasp of category management principles, inventory optimisation, pricing strategies, and experience working cross-functionally.
• Strong resilience and an ability to work in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment.
• Exceptional problem-solving ability and strong solution orientation.
• Highly entrepreneurial and passionate about the liquor category.
• Qliksense or QlikView experience beneficial.

As a proud South African brand, Woolworths is committed to transformation. Meeting our employment equity goals will be taken into account in our recruitment decisions.