Planner / Sr. Planner

The job holder will be responsible for merchandise planning process to achieve department /category sales, margin, stockholding, and flow objectives under the guidance of Planning Manager. Responsible for maximizing sales and profitability in the business by providing effective merchandise strategies to achieve the strategic and financial objectives of the concept. 

For any queries on this role, please feel free to contact - Chintan Dholakia at chintan.dholakia@landmarkgroup.com. 

Merchandise Financial, Strategic and Assortment Planning 

• Maximise Sales and profitability for the department/category
• Support in determining high-level financial goals including pre-season financial plans, in-season projections, open-to-buy management and new store budgets 
• Prepare and maintain department/category merchandise MIS analytics based on actual sales, sales forecasts, company order parameters, inventory checks, forth coming events, replenishment needs etc 
• Assist in the creation of merchandise plans for the category based on insights gained from merchandise analytics, customer preference, historical trends and  future outlook projected by the buyer
• Assist in discussing, deciding and freezing the department/category merchandise strategic plans around the following factors 
• Communicate the merchandise strategic plan to buying team for necessary execution
• Ensure effective in season management across territories (stock balancing, markdown management,stock analysis, stock vs sales performance)
• Help review the merchandise plans on a periodic basis to ensure profit is maximized and maintained to reach target levels
• Ensure that the standards of Merchandise procedures and Methodologies are maintained and kept Uniform 
• Financials 
• Store 
• Assortment 
• Sales,Stock, OTB, Margins, Forward Cover etc
• Subgroub level Sales, Order Quantity, Allocation, Replenishment etc
• Style, Price, Brand, Supplier etc

Inventory Stock Optimization

• Ensure optimum category inventory levels are maintained at Concept/Territory  keeping in mind store requirements as well as working capital constraints
• Ensure that no instances of category stock outs occur on account of any discrepancy on part of merchandise planning
• Ensure excess category inventory is not maintained at the warehouses or the stores and there is proper adherence to the concept/territory ageing policy

Pricing & Markdown Management 

• Provide inputs on the expected margins, possible price points and other parameters for promotions within the product category
• Analyse the existing stock levels and liaise with the Marketing/VM/Buying team for timely roll out of promotional campaigns to maintain the territory / warehouse inventory holding norms as well to achieve targeted sales
• Monitor competitor pricing, promotions, and market trends to adjust pricing models dynamically.

In-Season Management

• Ensure performance is monitored against plan for the assigned category/department, regularly supported by exception reporting
• Ensure effective in-season management through regular analysis and action planning across stores based on the performance around the following anchors 
  1. Sales vs Stock
  2. Inflows/OTB 
  3. Stock analysis 
  4. Stock balancing 
  5. Margin analysis 
• Graduate degree in commerce or business administration / Post Graduate degree in Business Administration / Diploma in Retail discipline
• 3-7 years with 2-3 years in retail industry in planning or inventory control role
•  The position will require someone has the following: 
• Good knowledge of Merchandise planning and an analytics
• Good knowledge of Retail Industry and products 
• Planning and organizing skills
• Analytical skills
• Good knowledge of MS Office