About the position
The Sales Manager will be responsible for managing, developing and growing relationships with major South African retail groups, with a specific focus on strategic key account management and commercial performance
The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of managing major retail accounts such as Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay, Woolworths, SPAR and Massmart, Amazon and will have established relationships and a strong understanding of the South African retail buying environment
The role will have significant responsibility for annual trading term negotiations, pricing, rebates, promotional agreements, ranging, category growth and account profitability.
This is a commercially focused role requiring an experienced retail sales professional who is comfortable with managing Key Accounts Managers, targets, budgets and profitability for each key account.
Key Responsibilities
Major Retail Key Account Management
- Take full ownership of strategic relationships with major retail groups
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with senior buyers, category managers, procurement teams and other key decision-makers
- Develop individual strategic account plans aligned to each retailer's commercial objectives
- Manage the complete customer relationship from annual planning and negotiations through to execution and performance reviews
- Conduct regular customer business reviews and present sales performance, category insights and growth opportunities
- Identify opportunities for increased ranging, distribution, market share, product penetration and revenue growth
- Understand each retailer's buying cycles, category strategies, promotional calendars and commercial requirements
- Resolve customer issues and commercial disputes effectively while protecting the company's interests
Annual Trading Terms & Negotiations
- Lead annual trading term negotiations with major retail customers
- Negotiate annual pricing, rebates, discounts, promotional contributions, marketing spend, listing fees and other trading agreements
- Develop detailed negotiation strategies and commercial proposals prior to customer negotiations
- Negotiate directly with senior retail buyers and commercial decision-makers
- Ensure negotiated trading terms support both revenue growth and sustainable profitability
- Review existing customer agreements and identify opportunities to improve commercial returns
- Monitor compliance with agreed trading terms, including rebates, promotional funding, claims and deductions
- Work closely with Finance to ensure customer profitability and commercial agreements are accurately tracked
- Escalate significant commercial risks and negotiate appropriate resolutions
Sales & Account Growth
- Develop and execute strategic sales plans for each major retail account
- Deliver agreed revenue, volume, gross margin and profitability targets
- Drive new product listings and increase existing product ranges
- Identify opportunities for category expansion and increased distribution
- Develop customer-specific promotional and growth strategies
- Analyse account performance and implement corrective actions where required
- Prepare accurate sales forecasts and communicate customer demand to internal stakeholders
Retail Category & Commercial Management
- Monitor category performance, competitor activity, pricing and market trends
- Use customer and market data to identify commercial opportunities
- Work with retail customers on range reviews, new product launches and category development
- Negotiate promotional activity and ensure promotions deliver an acceptable commercial return
- Monitor pricing and competitor positioning across major retail channels
- Develop strong knowledge of retailer-specific systems, processes and commercial requirements
Internal Stakeholder Management
- Work closely with Supply Chain, Planning, Production, Finance, Marketing and Customer Service to ensure major retail customer requirements are met
- Communicate customer forecasts, promotions, ranging requirements and volume expectations
- Ensure agreed pricing, promotions and trading terms are correctly implemented internally
- Proactively manage supply and service-level issues with customers
- Provide senior management with regular reporting on account performance, commercial negotiations, risks and growth opportunities
Minimum Requirements
- Relevant tertiary qualification in Sales, Marketing, Business Management or a related field
- Minimum 5-8 years' proven sales management experience within the South African retail environment
- Direct experience managing major retail accounts
- Proven experience negotiating annual trading terms with major retail groups
- Established understanding of the South African retail buying environment
- Experience dealing directly with retail buyers, category managers and senior commercial stakeholders
- Strong track record of growing major retail accounts
- Demonstrated experience negotiating pricing, rebates, promotional spend, discounts and commercial agreements
- Strong understanding of retail buying cycles, category management, promotions and ranging
- Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to understand account profitability and margins
- Excellent negotiation, influencing and relationship-management skills
- Strong analytical and reporting capabilities
- Experience working with ERP/CRM systems and customer sales data
Advantageous Experience
Preference will be given to candidates who have:
- Managed multiple national retail accounts simultaneously
- Existing relationships with senior buyers and category managers within major South African retail groups
- Successfully negotiated multi-million-rand annual trading agreements
- Managed national promotional programmes and retailer-specific pricing structures
- Experience with range reviews, new product listings and category negotiations
- A demonstrated history of growing revenue while improving or protecting gross margins.
Key Competencies
- Major Retail Key Account Management
- Annual Trading Terms Negotiation
- Commercial Negotiation
- Retail Buyer Relationships
- South African Retail Market Knowledge
- Commercial & financial acumen
- Strategic account planning
- Category management
- Pricing & margin management
- Business development
- Customer relationship management
- Strong influencing and negotiation skills
- Analytical and data-driven decision making
- Results driven
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
Key Performance Areas
- Revenue and volume growth across major retail accounts
- Gross margin and account profitability
- Successful annual trading term negotiations
- Growth of key retail accounts
- New product listings and increased ranging
- Market share and category growth
- Promotional performance and ROI
- Customer retention and relationship strength
- Achievement of commercial and sales targets
- Forecast accuracy
- Effective management of customer claims, rebates and deductions
- Delivery against agreed customer service levels
Desired Skills:
