Job closed
Ref: SP724-02
Job description / Role
Retail category specialists ensure that the correct product assortment is provided to the consumer at the right price and at the right time. This is achieved through thorough data analysis of market and shopper behavior to define and implement a strategy to increase the speed of inventory turnover in the category. They also consider different suppliers and decide which products to add to a range.
Category Management main responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Assortment planning:
- Introduce, maintain, & regularly review the company’s’ product ranges within his/her category
- Planning the product range and deciding which products should be added and/or eliminated from the range. This can be for an individual store or for different clusters.
- To be integral in the strategic development & planning of assigned category business & to increase the direction of groups growth in our core ranges strategy.
Floor Planning
- Planning the layout of the store while considering the store flow, aisle spacing and creation of hot spots.
- Space Allocation and Management: using data to allocate shelf space and ensuring that there is enough space allocated to top-performing products.
Visual Merchandising
- Through the use of planograms, displays products in a way that is visually appealing to the customer.
Product Price Planning:
- The target market of each store must be analyzed to ensure that the correct product range is chosen to suit their price needs.
Inventory Control
- Days of supply are considered to ensure that a product has enough facings on a shelf to avoid out of stocks and overly stocked products.
- Promotion Planning: the planning and implementation of promotions and marketing strategies.
Job Requirement
- Responsible for a major product group including cataloguing, pricing, technical knowledge, & project management.
- Manage marketing activities such as promotions, campaigns & development of digital streams to influence demand with the marketing department.
- Ensures promotional activities remain locally relevant and plan a GTM strategy for the country
- To be integral in the strategic development & planning of assigned category business & to increase the direction of groups growth in our core ranges strategy.
- Manage relationships with Strategic Vendor Partners, negotiates terms & prices to improve Gross Margins and NP.
- Work with field Store Directors to collect category performance feedback & lead merchandising development for assigned categories based on store clusters & direction from HOD.
- Increase profitability, store participation & product mix in conjunction with our key suppliers.
- Manage entire forecasting/ forward order cycles to further enhance business development & ensure product sustainability, customers, & supplier satisfaction.
- Building relationships with suppliers to ensure they are aligned to our buying strategy & are performing consistently, evaluating new sources of supply & establishing processes & KPIs
- Negotiating with suppliers on cost prices, rebates & service terms
- Ensuring our ranges reflect customer requirements & expectations
- Providing general maintenance of the range; additions, deletions, price changes
- Analyzing past sales figures/trends to anticipate & forecast future product needs
- Assessing product performance & drive commercial actions through regular trade analysis
- Owning new product development & growth of bespoke products & ranges from concept to launch
- Working with bespoke suppliers to ensure products fall within required quality standard, margin requirements & launch timings.
- Instructing the Merchandising Assistant’s in the product & price system recording & update, national/international collated orders (N/ICO’s) & all other day to day administrative tasks in a timely manner.
- Provide clear communication & regular updates internally via the groups intranet to stores & other teams.
- Provide support & assistance to stores, cross functional teams & management as required.
- Provide business reports & presentations as required & or requested.
- Any other duties as required & or requested & not limited to the above.
Supervisory Responsibilities
- Hierarchy
Mission
- Manage the Groups strategic growth direction of the category business.
- Work with Groups assigned category & management to select core ranging of products, forecasting/forward ordering of products, marketing initiatives, catalogue planning etc.
- Facilitate photographic shoots as & when required & or requested.
- Responsible in the planning, preparation, attendance, & successful execution of category exhibitions & trade shows.
- Maintain business relationships with retailers, suppliers, freight forwarders & external stakeholders.
- Analyzing data or insights to determine industry & consumer trends
- Devising long-term development strategies for product categories
- Developing exit strategies for unsuccessful product.
Requirements
Knowledge / Skills / Experience
- Preferably have at least a minimum 5-year Industry experience in purchasing & procurement, marketing, ranging, logistics & administration of living/bed/bath/accessories.
- Experience in living mart events/trade show
- Experience in bedding mart events/trade show
- Experience in bath mart events/trade show
- Experience in accessories mart events/trade show
- Experience in stock management, analysis & action planning.
- 5-7 years’ experience as a Buyer, Senior Buyer or Merchandise Manager within the Home industry for Specialty Stores. Department Stores, Big Box Retailers or Ecommerce
- Background in Fashion categories of Home including Soft Home, Bed & Bath, Home Textiles, Home Accessories, & Soft Home products
- Ecommerce, Digital, & Catalog experience a plus
- Proven track record of success in building new avenues of business in the soft home environment for private brands including product development
About the Company
A home textiles and accessories retail brand based in Saudi Arabia. Products include: beddings, bath textiles and accessories, curtains and table covers. Branches located in the cities: Jeddah, Madina and Yanbu.