How To Become An Associate Category Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is an associate category manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

As an associate category manager, you will place an order to suppliers noting the products you need for a store and for storing in a warehouse. You will set up different categories and select products for each category to be showcased.

You will be in charge of the products in your category and use your skills to market and scale the profit index for your store. Most associate category managers need a bachelor's in retail management, marketing, or a business-related course. You should be experienced in working in the retail environment with about one to five years of experience.

You can also work your way up to associate category manager by having experience in retail or grocery stores. As you manage the store and showcase multiple products that fall under the same category, you will need to keep your section of the store stocked, clean, and up-to-date. Doing all this work is busy and fulfilling, and you could make a median salary of $48,000 per year.

ScoreAssociate Category ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.0

Avg. Salary $76,432

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 57.37%

male 42.63%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an associate category manager

Explore associate category manager education requirements

Most common associate category manager degrees

Bachelor's

81.9 %

Master's

10.5 %

Associate

5.1 %

Start to develop specific associate category manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Analysis	8.26%
Category Strategies	7.74%
Category Performance	7.20%
Vendor Relations	4.54%
PET	4.34%

Complete relevant associate category manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New associate category managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an associate category manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real associate category manager resumes.

Research associate category manager duties and responsibilities

Manage relationships with primary suppliers including monitoring and purchasing commodities, forecasting, marketing initiatives and quality control.
Conduct RFP, analyze data, recommend consolidation of items.
Create and analyze RFP's to determine cost structure and desk profitability.
Coordinate and execute all online promotions with e-commerce partners.

Apply for associate category manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an associate category manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do associate category managers rate their job?

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Associate category manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2022

Pros

Reviewing Brand Performance and competitive information. Also, I enjoying identifying the white space and opportunities to grow.

Cons

Super tight deadlines.

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019