Merchandise Planner

Job Purpose:

The Merchandise Planner will be responsible for driving category sales, profitability and inventory productivity for the region and its individual markets while ensuring that regional merchandising and pricing strategies are aligned with global brand standards. Besides working with various internal departments to identify key issues and develop effective solutions, the Planner will also align Franchise partners and cooperate closely to ensure seamless local execution of strategy.

The Merchandise Planner will monitor market trends and performance, providing timely insights to global teams to address business gaps and forecast merchandise performance based on historical data and current fashion trends.

Responsibilities:

Drive Market Performance with Data-Driven Decisions

• Deep dive into market data for both offline and online channels to produce actionable insights to drive market performance.
• Ensure completeness and accuracy of data flow from markets.
• Collaborate with the internal BI team to create insightful dashboards in PowerBI that will support the Merchandise Planning team to make strategic business decisions.
• Create strategy decks and pitch ideas to stakeholders to gain buy-in.

Lead Merchandise Planning, Pricing and Inventory Management Efforts

• Manage Country Open-To-Buy (rolling budget plan); maintain category sales projections and optimize inventory flow to fulfil retail targets.
• Lead seasonal buying and drive sell-through KPIs. Forecast appropriate purchase quantities at SKU level by analysing historical performance and market trend projections.
• Ensure that collection plan meets branding and visual guidelines and business expectations. Work with Operations, Marketing and Visual Merchandising teams to ensure appropriate store merchandise mix, fulfil stock requirements and maintain global brand image.
• Review and execute pricing strategies to ensure profitability KPIs are met.
• Execute in-season activities with Franchisees regarding product launch, repeat orders, mark downs and stock movement to manage product life cycle.
• Anticipate potential inventory liabilities and take timely actions to maintain stock holdings at desired levels in accordance with seasonal calendar.
• Conduct consumer, product and competitor research to keep abreast of global industry and international market trends.

Others

• Lead or participate in department projects to improve systems or merchandising efficiency.

Requirements:

Degree in Business, Fashion Merchandising, Retail Management or related disciplines

2 - 5 years’ of relevant experience

Proficient in Office 365 tools, with high proficiency in Excel

Experience using PowerBI is desirable

Keen interest in fashion and retail

Able to plan, prioritize and multi-task to deliver results in a fast-paced environment

Able to breakdown and analyse complex issues to implement effective solutions with business partners

Pleasant disposition with excellent interpersonal skills