Brand Consultant
Rayat Brands
Total years of experience :7 years, 2 Months
Saudi Automotive Service Company owns and manages more than a hundred gas station. On which there are more than 60 convenience stores with a plan to open another 60 in the coming three years. I’m responsible for buying merchandise as well as equipment for new stores.
Brand Partners is a marketing agency that sells merchandising promotional materials to other companies including Johnson & Johnson, Gillette, Unilever, Black & Decker, for distribution throughout S. Arabia. Already planning to pursue my MBA at this stage, I took on this contract while researching my course. Managing a team of five distributed throughout the country, my main role was to set up new procedures for the sourcing and delivery of merchandising materials, and to produce a merchandising plan or ‘blueprint’ for the future. This I did successfully before leaving to pursue my MBA
Savola’s management took the decision to embark on an ambitious expansion plan involving 30-40 new sites in 2010, and I was promoted to join the HQ purchasing team managing the expansion.
• Had particular responsibility for the sourcing and purchase of all non-merchandise requirements and equipment required to refurbish every new store.
• Negotiated with suppliers for all retail store equipment, fixtures and fittings from shelving to check-out equipment, to trolleys to lighting. Also liaised with the IT and Engineering teams who drew up the specs for equipment required, converting them into requirements and briefs for suppliers.
• Reduced fixed asset costs by negotiating with vendors, and getting feedback from new store managers.
Savola is a large conglomerate in S. Arabia whose businesses comprise sugar, oil refineries, real estate and retail. Its retail business is the largest national retailer in S. Arabia. I joined the retail business as a management trainee, and was quickly offered a role as assistant category manager within FMCG.
• Managed the ‘grocery foods’ category that included the category leader, the economic alternative plus our own private label. I was responsible for ensuring that the product mix and promotions were in line with the overall company’s strategy, and for monitoring performance of all product lines within the category.
• Devised, proposed and implemented promotional and cross-promotional campaigns. For instance, spotting the success of a similar campaign in a competitor retailer, I created a cross-promotional campaign for Coca-Cola and Champion crisps. This involved approaching and ‘selling’ the campaign internally to another category manager as well as Internal Marketing, gaining both suppliers’ support, and then implementing the campaign, which went on to generate £200k revenue in one week alone.
• Negotiated directly with suppliers on a day-to-day basis, repeat purchases, and promotions design to achieve the best deals and budget allocation.
• Worked closely with store managers to identify, track and report on the top and lowest performing lines, overall sales, margins, rebates and stock control.
• Also supported the whole private label team across all categories, liaising with suppliers on their behalf, and advising them on product positioning, promotions and pricing.
• Set up a new electronic database for supplier records that resulted in fewer errors, less paperwork, reduced time spent updating records, and more consistently up-to-date records. This I did by setting the system automatically to self-populate with the details of each supplier every time a change request was made.
KFUPM is the top university in Saudi Arabia. Also worked voluntarily alongside my studies in a part-time role as a web developer designing, administering and providing technical support on an e-learning/WebCT system for the College of Industrial Management within the University.
