Retail Buyer

Job Title: Retail Buyer: Color Café & The Authorised Fragrance & Cosmetics Outlet store

Reporting To: Retail Operations Senior Manager

Main Purpose:

Responsible for the buying and planning of ASCO Retail ventures. To ensure that all retail stores achieve the desired revenue and profit target.

Key Results Area:

• Buying Management
• Product Management
• Portfolio Management
• Assortment Management
• Inventory Management
• Retailer sales and data analysis
• Operations
• Sales Performance by Store against Annual Target

Job Specific Requirements

• Designing and generating weekly and monthly statistical forecast reports.
• Continuously improving forecasting techniques, method, and approach.
• Relating and measuring the impact of forecast accuracy.
• Evolving and maintaining documentation and standard operating procedures for demand planning processes and systems.
• Conduct current and future forecasting analysis, insuring forecasting processes and methods are followed.
• Assemble and analyze all data pertinent to creating the sales forecast (historical sales, market trends, seasonality and promotions).
• Sales performance of all Company Owned retail stores (Color Café – Levy & EPM, Skins – Sandton, V&A and Menlyn and Outlet Store)
• Buying assortment Analysis and range planning.
• Newness, Promotions and Novelties Management.
• Discontinuation and SKU rationalization Management.
  Margin, Pricing, Currency and Gross Profit percentage Management.
• Development of Buying Plan.
• Stock Inputs, receipts and forecast management.
• Stock turns target achievement.
  Stock cover.
• Redundancy Management.
• Inventory Planner development and Management.
• Establish and utilize best methods (statistical models and software tools) in creating forecasts and respective inventory targets.
• Make recommended adjustments to forecast and inventory targets based on changes in demand and market trends.
• Lead forecast and inventory planning meetings with General Manager reviewing recommended sales forecasts and inventory goals (emphasis on brand transitions, new product introduction, and promotions).
• Prepare, report, and communicate forecast and inventory measurements to management (forecast accuracy, inventory plan vs. targets).
• Monitor SKU levels and recommend SKU rationalization initiatives in the future.
• Proactively facilitating, re-engineering, best practices & consensus between functional experts (Demand Planning, Inventory Planning, Purchasing, Sales & Marketing, Operations, Finance, and IT).
• Ensure attainment of financial goals for sales, inventory, maximizing profitability while giving customers best value options in the relevant categories.
• Development of supplier base to support merchandise strategy.
• Negotiation with supplier in terms of cost of product, payment terms, quality, packaging and deliveries.
• Maintain good supplier relationships.
• Monitor competition to ensure best merchandise offering and pricing.
• Development of seasonal offerings and merchandise programmes.
• Understand current trends and opportunities and use this knowledge to develop the categories.
• Ensure products are loaded onto Syspro and Purchase Orders are processed.
• Update master file with all relevant product information as well as product copy.
• Liaise with warehouse teams to ensure products are received and quality controlled.
• Liaise with digital and IT team to ensure product information is loaded onto the backend.
• Work closely with digital marketing team to provide merchandising vision to email, search and social campaigns.
• Drive product results through merchandise management including product promotions, upsell & cross sell opportunities, online and print presentations, marketing and search.
• Regularly review and analyze supplier/category/product results, communicating findings to management & recommending reloads, template revisions, merchandising standards, product additions and price changes.
• Consistently driving high levels of operational excellence across the stores.
• To promote a customer care approach within the retail business, investigating complaints or issues of poor customer care, both timely and efficiently.
• To take responsibility for personal and professional development.
• To develop, implement, review and monitoring the retail operating plan and budget.
• To ensure all stores are efficiently and effectively managed, visiting them regularly, and monitoring their compliance with policy, procedure and standards.

Attributes Required

• Team Player
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• High attention to detail
• Excellent relationship building skills
• Self-motivated
• High initiative
• Leadership skills
• Motivational
• Problem solving skills
• Assertive
• High energy levels
• Proactive

Requirements:

• Related Diploma or Degree
• Minimum 7 to 8 years retail experience.
• With a minimum of 3 years in leading & managing retail sales teams
• Luxury brand experience
• Product Management
• Must be aware of promotion and act proactively in terms of stock control
• Familiar with merchandising guidelines
• Strong commercial acumen combined with good marketing skills.
• Role requires frequent domestic and occasional international travel
• Multinational experience
• Experience gained within a matrix management reporting structure
• MS Office
• Typically, role follows normal working hours, however, at times there will be requirements to work on week-ends.
• Accordingly, a flexible approach is required.