A Day in the Life of a Category Manager with Sanchit Goyal

A Day in the Life of a Category Manager - 60 min Masterclass

Most people think a CM is in back-to-back meetings all day. Truth: ~60% of a CM's day is spent staring at category dashboards, deciding what to push, what to fix, and what to ignore.

This masterclass walks you through exactly that — using real Flipkart Home BU data (₹7,479 Cr annual GMV, 4 categories, 750+ verticals).

You'll see how I open my dashboard every morning, what metrics I check first, what triggers me to drill down, and how I decide what action to take.

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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN?

📈 12 core CM metrics decoded with real numbers (GMV, ASP, Impressions, CTR, CVR, Ads ROI, Ads %, OOS, Pricing, FBF, Returns, Transacting %, NS metrics)

🎯 14 Thumb Rules — operating principles I use every day

🧠 HouseHold deep-dive synthesis — connecting all metrics into one diagnostic story

🔢 A live demand planning example for June 2026 (HomeImprovementTool category) — see how a CM forecasts next month's target by stacking 6 quantifiable levers

💡 Vertical-level examples for every metric — GasStove, Bedsheet, Flask, ShowPiece, EarMuff, and more

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WHAT WE WILL DISCUSS -- 5 THINGS?

1. DEMAND METRICS — Did we hit target?

GMV vs Target, ASP trends, ASP buckets, category mix shifts

2. TRAFFIC FUNNEL — Are people seeing & clicking?

Impressions, Impression Share Mix (Search/Merch/Reco), MoM trends, How to grow each bucket, CTR & CVR

3. ADS — Are ads working?

ROI, Ads % to GMV, HouseHold vertical drill-down, Seasonal vertical examples, MoM ads patterns

4. HYGIENE — Is the foundation healthy?

OOS %, Pricing health, FBF Share (speed-sensitive vs not), Return rate by fragility

5. SELECTION — Are new launches working?

Transacting %, NS GMV/Unit/Imp/PPV %, NS MoM stories across categories

PLUS: The final slide - How a CM does demand planning. A complete worked example with formulas you can apply to your own category.

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WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

✅ Aspiring CMs preparing for interviews at Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho, Blinkit, Zepto, Nykaa, Myntra - see how the role actually looks day-to-day

✅ Junior CMs / ACMs (0-2 years) who want to learn how senior CMs think across all metrics

✅ Mid-level CMs (2-5 years) who want a structured framework to upgrade their daily routine

✅ Fresh MBAs joining e-commerce, q-commerce, or D2C in category roles

✅ Cross-functional folks (product, analytics, marketing) working with CMs and want to understand their world

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ABOUT ME

I'm Sanchit Goyal - worked in Flipkart as a Category Manager, MDI Gurgaon batch of 2022, ex-Zomato. I've been a CM across e-commerce and q-commerce, and I run Category Decoded - a 5,000+ member WhatsApp community for CMs and aspiring CMs in India.

Everything in this masterclass is the stuff I wish someone had taught me when I joined.

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Do Join!