Position Title: BuyerPOSITION OBJECTIVE:Support the Buyer/Senior Buyer on developing strategic buying plans for the assigned department/category and ensuring smooth buying operations through vendor, well defined pricing architecture, proper assortment planning and timely OTB utilization.Key ResponsibilitiesMarket Research & Product Development
Conduct market visits for R&D within territories and secure the required information for competition benchmarking in a defined format
Conduct competition benchmarking across all territories for all the defined UDAs and identify So What for each UDA
Attend Trade fairs in order to assess trends and be abreast with the current market scenario
Conduct customer home visits or stores to secure Customer / Retail feedback and incorporate revisions in the assortment accordingly
Identify new products of international retailers through online research in order to assess trends and be abreast with the current market scenario
Ensure that the product development / sourcing process is as quick and efficient as possible, in order to ensure extremely fast time to market
Prepare and maintain newness tracker for respective category
Ensure newness is reviewed and ordered on time
Ensure all columns in the Product Launch Pack (PLP) are filled correctly for all new products especially features and benefits to customer.Category Management, Growth & Profitability
Prepare data for UDA analysis and conduct initial level of checking to ensure no data entry gaps
Prepare price ladder for key UDAs across all territories
Support senior category management to prepare assortment and pricing architecture by analyzing UDAs, competition benchmarks and Price ladders
Prepare parts of assortment presentation together with other team members
Identify and react quickly to trends in the business to maximize sales, test emerging trends for selling viability
Analyze weekly and monthly sales, margins and inventory with the goal of optimizing sales and minimizing markdowns
Liaise with cross functional teams- VM, Marketing, eCom, L&D and Retail teams to develop strong story lines for digital marketing as well as in-store experience delivering omni-channel synergies
Conduct Product by Product (PBP) analysis along with Planning to ascertain monthly buys as per spend plan
Ensure management and ordering of Good Loose Components
Take timely action on current / potential aged items to ensure the ageing stock remains within the defined target
Vendor Management
Work directly with the supplier to ensure that the products are perfectly chosen, engineered and manufactured to ensure the best possible cost price, retail price and margin, following company policy and targets
Own sourcing KPIs for key categories, especially product margin & quality KPIs
Maintain strategic relationships with suppliers across continents, including negotiations and building optimal supply chain set ups
Identify new suppliers and provide documents and assistance to register them in the vendor database
Co-ordinate with suppliers to secure samples
Key Requirements
4+ years of product development and sourcing experience, for furniture and home furnishing products preferred
Ability to thrive in a high growth, entrepreneurial and ambiguous environment
Strong analytical, commercial, and problem-solving skills, with a hands-on attitude and a focus on fast execution
Good sense for trends, creativity and a thorough understanding of customer needs
Strong communication skills and ability to clearly communicate with different stakeholders
Ability to prioritize tasks and to balance immediate and long term needs of the business while retaining agility to pivot as needed
Ability to recognize a new trend, item, look, technique, early in its life-cycle and deliver quickly