BUYING & MERCHANDISING MANAGER -GARMENT
CITY CENTRE
Total years of experience :19 years, 9 Months
Buying, Planning, Merchandising, Operations, Staffing, Visual merchandising for all categories -Men’s, Ladies and Kids.
Sourcing from manufacturing hubs like Turkey, China, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Srilanka and Bangladesh.
Responsible for the creative vision and direction of the store's visual displays.
Increased work efficiency of sub-ordinates by providing the standard format of reports and time lines
Purchase merchandise from suppliers for resale
Perform market research for better understanding of consumer interest and to further develop marketing strategies.
Buying: Sourcing from manufacturing hubs like China, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Bangladesh
Managing buying cycle for Ladies, Kids and Accessories.
Trend forecasting, Range Selection and Assortment Planning.
Work on seasonal story/collections with the Design team- Hit wise.
Responsible for the Product Development, Designing, T&A planning & Quality Standards and Vendor Management.
Work closely with the Planning Team for right stock mix and SWOT analyses
Visit stores to evaluate merchandise mix, observe competition, weight individual store needs and translate findings into executable product plans.
Worked closely with the Logistics department regarding the shipment clearance, to ensure on time availability of the merchandise and to avoid loss of opportunity
Responsible for leading the purchasing and planning of garments and footwear.
Responsible to establish the process flow and plan of action for new brand.
Responsible for plan OTB, Operation, Budgeting, continuity stock requirement, supplier business relationship, supplier on-time delivery, part pricing, and new product introduction.
Supervise a team of buyer/ merchandiser including hiring, managing and developing the team to support the stores, financial objectives for inventory turns, continuity of supply, and supplier on-time delivery each year
Oversee the negotiating, writing, review, and awarding of contracts of various types, as well as the execution of complex sourcing projects in support of private label launch.
Category Management - Manage country specific product requirements relating to import regulations
Inventory Management -- Ensure optimum category inventory levels are maintained at Concept/Territory keeping in mind store requirements as well as working capital constraints
Range Planning -- Plan and select the range, type, quality and quantity of merchandise according to customer demand, trends, store policies and set prices and sell through targets in conjunction with the Buying Manager/GM to ensure they are in line with the budget.
Customer Understanding-- Analyse market trends, consumer preferences, sell through, seasonal demands etc to formulate a buying practice in line with consumer /store demands
Product Performance -- Ensure effective in season management of the assigned category/department through regular analysis and action planning across concept and territory, based on the performance around the following anchors
Sales vs. Stock, Inflows/OTB, Stock analysis and Stock balancing
Generate Profit -- Provide inputs on the expected margins, possible price points and other parameters for promotions within the product category
Representing and communicating on behalf of the franchisee in relation to the end to end ordering process of respective department.
Allocation strategies of products
Monitor trainee development and facilitate complaint resolution and Responsible for the management of IT -Projects
Representing and communicating on behalf of the franchisee in relation to the end to end ordering process of respective department.
Ensure optimum category inventory levels are maintained at Concept/Territory keeping in mind store requirements as well as working capital constraints.
Manage country specific product requirements relating to import regulations and Allocation strategies of products.
Ensure effective in season management of the assigned category/department through regular analysis and action planning across concept and territory, based on the performance around the following anchors.
Sales vs. Stock, Inflows/OTB, Stock analysis and Stock balancing.
Responsible for the management of IT -Projects.
Key deliverables:
Responsible for financial and Merchandising planning process and supporting the Buying Group
Merchandise Plan by delivering the OTB for Brand
Responsible for seasonal Analysis-Pre and Post sales
Allow buyers to purchase the stock
Preparing analysis of performance at departments and product level
Responsible for the management of IT -Projects
Highlights
Increased market share by 2% (exceeding sales goal of 2 million for 2008) on a slow moving product line by winning a new customer.
As part of an 11 member team, increased efficiency of Forecasting Process cycle from 10 to 7 months and delivered a high quality product on time and $50, 000 under budget, despite a last minute change in the project specifications
Received a management award “GOLD STAR” for a decrease in the lead-time of season product from 10 months to 7 months and increased the work efficiency in the brand by implementing concept “Critical Path Analysis” resulting in yearly cost savings of $ 50K and a quicker identification of process errors
Key deliverables:
Responsible for independently buying a category of business & managing financial components to include creating a compelling, well-balanced assortment of product to reflecting a good/better/best strategy
Identified emerging trends: industry, category, consumer, etc
Responsible for Range Planning and Budgeting
Played a key role in Vendor Management
Co-ordinated with Marketing, IT, Account, Retail and Warehouse Team
Understood and communicated season performance through metrics
Highlights
Generated 14% additional income to the business from Initiative brands rationalization & revenues from Shop-in-Shop, Promotions and in store Marketing.
Increased work efficiency of sub-ordinates by providing the standard format of reports and time lines
Bagged appreciation for ‘excellent performance’ from management for successfully Managing and Organized kid’s promotions with the Cartoon Network
Responsible for Stock Planning and Replenishment, Played a key role in Vendor Management
Worked on all components of Visual Merchandising, Analyzed data, performed GAP Analysis, anticipated issues, and forecasted results.
Highlights
Suggested new products ranges and two tier system to the company and increased the profit margin by 12%.
Increased department sales contribution by 3% and independent managed Category