Syed Zoheb Rehman

Managing a strong portfolio of clients across FMCG, pharma and produce, I’m responsible for developing a strong understanding of my client’s strategies and business priorities for establishing long-term business plans, developing and maintaining high level executive client relationships, conducting contract negotiations and developing and delivering on revenue, budget and forecast plans for the account.

Head of Category Management and Analytics for Colgate Palmolive, Middle East Hub, also known as Retail Category Development, internally. Most important KPI’s include Category Advisory for key retailers, 5P development and training for internal & distributor sales, key accounts and merchandising teams, advanced analysis to increase Market Share, Weighted Distribution and ROI growth on 5P activities.

Responsible for implementing Category Management across all key clients in Modern Trade, PS and SS .
Range assortment and Must Stock List by channel by region as per company strategy .
Win and maintain Category Captaincy projects in all key clients . Prepare a roll out model to logistics to minimize Out Of Stocks, optimize outlet trips and selling stock.
Prepare AOP for 2014 with budgeting and forecasting for profitability, sales and new launches
POSM and shelf enhancement for improved visibility and branding .
Implement Model Store to tackle possible cross merchandising, shopping occasions across channels varying from 2 to 7 possible secondary display points .
Revenue Management .
In depth Market Research analysis periodically for opportunity and potentials both from retail audit and consumer studies to enhance shopper behavior trends and Consumer Decision Tree studies .
Liaise with H.O and obtain best practices and customize it as per local requirements .

 Heading up the Merchandising Department for Azizia Panda United reporting to the VP of Commercial
 Managing a team of 3 sub departments - Space Planning, Merchandising Operations and Auditing comprising of 38 employees across Kingdom
 Responsible for space planning for all store formats ( Hyper, Supers and Convenience ) total of 47 Hypers, 130 Supers and Convenience Store
 Follow the complete Cat Man process right from Category Role to Range Rationalization to Plan-o-grams to Audit
 Interact with Commercial on the range refinement and optimizing space as per company strategy
 Ensure that availability is always above 90 % and growth is above the YOY target growth both in terms of sales and profitability
 Interact with suppliers and engage in Category Captaincy projects
 Ensure that all the outlets comply and adhere to plan-o-grams
 Category Affinities, adjacencies and layout uniformity as per customer preferences
 Organize focus groups and research studies for Consumer Decision Tree studies

 Responsible for Merchandising Services Department in KSA & North Africa
 Responsible for all Category Management, Plan-o-gram Projects and workshops in these countries
 Responsible for tapping new business opportunities and providing innovative solutions for improving sales and client image
 Responsible for providing solutions to key clients to maximize their shelf efficiency, improve profits and reduce Out Of Stock
 Responsible for selling Nielsen’s Space Planning Software - KSA
 Acts as a negotiator in between retailer and supplier to provide the desired shelf space for the Category
 Develop and maintaining key client relationships.
 Assortment modeling and shop segmentation projects for Nestle, Coke - MAGHREB
Member of the following Management Committees of the department:
 APIMEA Champions for Merchandising Services
 Business Improvement Team, Merchandising Services MENAP

 Responsible for providing analysis on retailer’s performance in the market at a category level
 Working closely with retailers and tracking their promotion effectiveness on the market
 Provide reports and presentations on an ongoing basis to retailers
 Train and educate retailer clients on I sights software and its functionality
 Answer queries and resolve issues pertaining to their Market Share
 Annual contract negotiations with retailers
Key Projects & Clients
 Vendor Analysis Portfolio
 Category Reviews
 Ramadan Effect and implication on categories
 Retailer annual report - Category
 All Commodity Value (ACV) analysis
 CAGR analysis

 Plan-o-gram creation and analysis using Apollo Software
 Image Capturing and database creation - Images
 Category Management presentation and suggestions to clients
 Using retail audit data for additional analysis
Key Projects & Clients
 Beiersdorf database creation and data cleansing
 Master Foods Plan-o-gram Scenario presentations - Ongoing basis
 Emarat Stores Chocolates plan-o-gram
 Master Foods plan-o-gram booklet creation for merchandisers
 Braun plan-o-gram project in Lulu Hypermarket