Product Management In 5 minutes (Part 9)

Types of product managers

In the previous parts of this collection, we have learned about key principles that guide a product manager but in this article, we would look into the two major types of product managers namely the Retail and Technical product managers, their respective responsibilities, similarities, differences, and requirements.

Retail Product Managers

According to a google search, you would find a definition like “responsible for overseeing the development of new products or managing the marketing and enhancement of existing products.” for a retail product manager.

Well, let’s truly break this down. What do the so-called Retail product managers really do? Just as the name implies “Retail”, marketing which means the core responsibility of the role is in sales, and one can say they would be most needed in the b2c aspect of product management and the E-commerce industry. True, but they are needed just as much in every other industry and in the b2b aspect of product management.

Based on my experience as an associate retail and retail product manager for two e-commerce platforms I have come to realize that one needs to be more grounded in the industry-specific knowledge compare to the technical PMs, you need to be more grounded in design theory compare to a technical Pm, why? Because you would mostly be concerned about how the product is appealing to the customer or consumer and on this cause you would consult market research team almost every time to ensure the product is market fit.

The Retail product manager makes the negotiations with the distribution firms and retailers. The retail PM sits with the in-house sales force team to ensure that excessive quantities of a product that are unlikely to be sold are not produced or pushed, the Retail PM manages the budget by comparing production costs with projected sales data this way they can come about the right pricing for the product.

The Retail PMs are mostly responsible for scaling the business where it exists and expanding the business operations to where it does not exist.

Technical Product Managers

According to a google search, you would find a definition like “A technical product manager is someone who’s responsible for the success of the product. They do this by working cross-functionally with the teams building and supporting it. Unlike a traditional product manager, technicals ones possess advanced engineering and design skills.”

Yes! Emphasis on the Advanced Engineering skills as a Technical PM one is majorly concerned about the technicality of the product or the technology behind the product (if working in the SaaS industry) as a Technical PM.

Based on my experience as a Technical Product Manager for a SaaS platform, as a Technical PM, one would work more closely with the engineering team and sometimes design teams on product features and capabilities.

The Technical PM regularly communicates with the product owner and scrum master throughout development. They provide updates, ask questions about the product vision, and ensure the product team is on the same page regarding timelines and task prioritization.

Technical product managers barely interview customers when conducting market research. Instead, they connect with the engineering and design teams to collect feedback on the existing products. they relate to the suggestions that these teams have and can translate their value to other stakeholders who may not work as close to the product. Because they have a technical background.

The technical PM role is more unique in my opinion because they get to work with both customers and product development teams, this way they often have to find a middle ground that appeases both sides. For instance, in a scenario where the product team suggests removing a feature that customers would miss, it’s up to the technical product manager to determine whether it should be removed or not. These judgment calls play a major role in the success of the product.

The Technical PMs are mostly responsible for ensuring the development and operational delivery of the product is market-fit.

Similarities

As product managers both technical and retail there are some duties and tasks they both would fulfill such as;

Manage the product vision.

Provided the product vision by the product owner, the product managers are both responsible to bring that vision to life both on the production and marketing end. They would both address any concerns they have about the blueprint and assess the product backlog.

Conduct market research.

A big part of the product manager’s job is to conduct market research. However, the Retail PM would see more to the Marketing and sales of it while the Technical PM would see to the development aspect of it.

Creation of product roadmaps.

One of the most important jobs that a product manager has is to create the product roadmap. This means both the retail and technical would make one for their respective game plan for building and marketing the product, which is based on the product vision.

Risk management.

In product development and product marketing, there are always risks that pose a threat to the product. during these moments it is the product manager's job to assess risk and steer the team away from roadblocks.

Collaboration with the product team.

The product managers would regularly communicate with the product owners and scrum masters throughout the product lifecycle during production and post-production. providing updates, asking questions, and ensuring the team is on the same page regarding timelines and task prioritization.

Requirements

With all that has been listed as the duties of these types of product managers, one might wonder what are the most important skills required for both roles well according to my little experience in both roles here are my opinions on the skills required.

For Retail Product Manager:

knowledge of business and sales development and marketing is very essential.
Having industry-specific experience and knowledge is a plus and provides an edge.
Knowledge of Design Theory.
Knowledge of Finance as they (the PMs) would be responsible for the business revenue generation.
Being a linguist is a plus because overseeing operations across international borders one may need to possess second language skills.

For Technical Product Manager:
The need to have a background in computer science or software engineering is very essential. Sometimes hardware engineering depends on the industry.
In-depth knowledge of the technologies used for building the product.

Conclusion

Retail Product Managers are mostly External-facing while Technical Product Managers are internal-facing about the product affairs just like a Front-end Developer and a Backe-end Developer.

I served as a retail product manager for FazsionNG and WearHighstreet.
I served as a technical product manager for IntechCloudHosting.

B2C — Business to consumer, B2B — Business to business.

You don’t have to be a product or UI/UX designer to be grounded in design theory and be a retail PM. If interested in design theories I recommend getting this course by Derrick Mitchell

For Retail PMs pricing decisions should be made after carefully reviewing the production and distribution costs.

Industry-specific knowledge or experience means if the business is in e-commerce the Retail PM should understand the enterprise-wide E-commerce Business Life Cycle or if the business is in pharmaceuticals knowledge of chemistry is key.

Technical product managers are not just product managers who carry out technical tasks, it is a specific person in a product management role with a technical background, versus a cross-functional business background.

The scale at which the business, product, or company operates is what determines whether a Retail or Technical product manager is what is needed so they have one manager focused on coordinating the business around the product, and one manager focused on coordinating the technical side of building the product. Or whether to have one product manager accountable for the what, why, and how of building and bringing a new product to market (which is both the retail and technical role). Latter is usually the case.

For both roles, the basic essential principles of product management do apply to them.

I expect questions for clarification. Kindly criticize and make corrections as well. Share Thank you.