Ralph Laurent

Responsibilities:

1) Support the development of the range within brand DNA and financial target:

• Analyze past sales to support the development of the new season strategy
• Work with division manager to determine the optimum way to invest OTB by class
• Build the range based on past season best seller, full price trends & regional needs
• Identify new opportunities and work with the Corporate merchandising & sourcing to include new product in the range
• Work closely with the US & the EU teams to leverage on their buy strategy and their experience
• Present the range to the management to validate the buy
• Post-buy, develop and present a seasonal hand-off to communicate the seasonal strategy to the retail and visual merchandising team

2) Ensure smooth and timely execution of the buy:

• Upon range confirmation take the lead on buy execution
• Determine pricing based on full price pricing structure
• Analyze and determine size curve by market
• Ensure orders are place accurately and on time
• Manage relationship with the sourcing department

3) Manage business in season in collaboration with planning & allocation:

• Track receipt to ensure that seasonal deliveries will arrive in the store on time
• Produce and analyze selling reports and provide markdown recommendations
• Present a business summary on a weekly basis to the Buying and Planning management to discuss key business highlights, risks and opportunities, product best and worst performance and propose any required action
• Work with key partners to ensure the execution of the sales strategy
• Work closely with the retail team in order to understand the business trends and customer expectations
• Collaborate with visual merchandising team to build seasonal guidelines and ensure that the assortment is present on the floor as planned.
• Work closely with planning team to build seasonal strategy, invest OTB and determine markdown and promotional strategy
• Communicate with allocation to ensure assortment is delivered on time and that key items are always on the floor with sufficient depth

Responsibilities 

• 1+ years retail merchandising buying related experience
• Strong analytical skills and ability to identify commercial opportunities based on analysis produced
• Highly organized and the ability to prioritize team work schedule based on broader business requirements
• Curious, willing to develop and solution-oriented
• Computer proficient in Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• Good communication skills in English both upwards to Senior Management and laterally to business partners both internal and external
• Remain driven when faced with challenging trading positions and/or directives from senior management
• To demonstrate an ability to operate independently within set business goals, working closely with senior business partners
• Candidates with more experience will be considered as Associate Buyer