Merchandiser

Product is at the heart of everything we do and we’re looking for an experienced, passionate and driven individual to join Laura James Merchandising Team. This data-enabled team will control our supplier relationships, purchasing commitments, stock cover levels and everything in between to ensure our customers always have the right product, whilst achieving gross margin and working capital targets.

Job Title: Merchandiser

Reports to: Head of Product & Merchandising

Role objective: ownership of the forecast for all channels, ensuring availability & intake metrics and that customers’ expectations are met. Your role will involve forecasting and keeping optimum availability on both continuity and seasonal lines.

Key accountabilities:

Strategy

• Compiles the history and recommendations based on analysis for the building of the product strategy for each season.
• Assists the HP&M in providing the Merchandising input into the financial budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Operates within the product critical path to protect availability.

Range planning & selection

• Provides analysis and recommendations that actively contribute to the building of the range framework for each season.
• Conducting SWOT analysis on product performance to inform future development and purchasing.
• Validates and extracts data for analysis.
• Ensures selling price data and intake margin data is accurate and up to date on all systems.
• Together with the Channel Data Administrator, marketing and product development, ensure that the product information is accurate for all sales channels.

Forecasting & Planning

• Working to deliver the planned sales and profitability of your department through effective planning and in-season trading.
• Regularly analysing department performance to maximise commercial opportunities.
• Working alongside Buying to ensure a commercial range is offered to the customer while ensuring both Laura James and B&M strategy are adhered to.
• Through strategic planning and trading of the department, managing the intake, BTA and OTB to deliver the stock requirements of the business.

Intake management

• Performs the administration of Purchase Orders (inc. payments) for ALL product areas.
• Manages the intake flow across the supply chain to ensure the availability targets are met.
• Administrates the management of the generic product forecasts and call-offs.
• Communicates issues and time to resolve clearly & accurately to the wider team.
• Working closely with the PD team, ensures that the new ranges are ordered and any issues solved in a timely fashion to ensure that all range achieves the season launch dates.

Suppliers Management

• Providing an appropriate level of data analysis and insights that can be shared with relevant teams to aid decision making.
• Regularly communicate to suppliers to ensure that key messages and movements in forecast are communicated clearly.
• Working collaboratively with supply base to innovate solutions and processes within production planning and critical path management.
• Driving, adapting and adjusting department strategy in season based on trade performance.
• Reviews KPIs regularly to ensure that the BTA is realistic, highlighting changes to team and management.

Team

• Managing and developing a high-performing team of MA/MAAs through regular 1:1s, honest and constructive feedback.
• Works pro-actively as a co-ordinator within the wider merchandising and product development teams.
• Builds positive Supplier relationships.

Trade and Analytics

• Ensure team review products to ensure we identify reasons for poor performance and put plans in place to fix those issues with appropriate stakeholders.
• Provide detailed reporting and insight on trade performance trends and opportunities using analytical tools such as GA, Power BI.
• Manage and coordinate promotional campaign launches, new product launches across imagery, product set up, pricing, managing campaign dates.

Other

• Projects as agreed to support the profitable growth of the LJ business.
• Demonstrating a global mindset, discussing and sharing opportunities and risks with other depts to influence global strategy and drive divisional performance.

Key skills

• Is aligned with the LJ Brand.
• Has a proven track record in Merchandising within a fast-paced and rapidly changing global business.
• Demonstrates the ability to drive the success of a department through creative and commercial thinking.
• Shows a great understanding of the LJ customer and customer segmentation and reflects this in decision making.
• Demonstrates a commercial and analytical mindset, using data and insights to leverage opportunities that successfully contribute to the department and wider LJ strategy.
• Has strong systems skills, including advanced Excel and relevant trading systems.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Claremont, Western Cape: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Experience:

• Merchandise: 5 years (Required)
• Garden Furniture: 5 years (Required)