Merchandise Planner

Key Responsibilities

Merchandise & Sales Planning

- Develop seasonal, monthly, and weekly merchandise plans in line with Nysaa's sales and commercial objectives.
- Prepare sales, stock, intake, and inventory forecasts by category, brand, store, and channel.
- Analyze historical sales trends, market trends, seasonality, and promotional activity to support merchandise planning.
- Monitor performance against budget, forecast, and business targets and recommend corrective actions.
- Support the development of assortment and range plans based on customer demand and commercial performance.

Inventory & Stock Management

- Maintain optimal inventory levels and ensure effective stock availability across stores.
- Monitor stock cover, sell-through, stock turn, ageing, and availability.
- Identify overstock, understock, slow-moving, and non-performing products and recommend appropriate actions.
- Work closely with Supply Chain and Operations on replenishment and stock allocation.
- Develop and maintain store-level allocation and replenishment plans.
- Support new store openings by preparing initial stock and assortment requirements.

Open-to-Buy (OTB) & Financial Planning

- Manage and monitor the Open-to-Buy (OTB) plan in coordination with the Merchandising and Finance teams.
- Track planned versus actual sales, purchases, stock levels, and inventory commitments.
- Provide recommendations on future purchases based on sales performance and available inventory budget.
- Support markdown and clearance planning to optimize inventory and minimize aged stock.

Reporting & Analysis

- Prepare regular trading and merchandise performance reports.
- Analyze key KPIs including: Sales and sales growth
- Sell-through %
- Stock turn
- Stock cover
- Gross margin
- Average selling price
- Inventory ageing
- Availability / out-of-stock %
- Markdown performance

- Highlight key business risks and opportunities and provide actionable recommendations to management.
- Maintain accurate merchandise planning and reporting data.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

- Partner with Buyers to translate category and brand strategies into commercially viable merchandise plans.
- Work closely with Retail Operations to understand store-level performance and stock requirements.
- Coordinate with Marketing on promotions, launches, campaigns, and seasonal activities.
- Collaborate with Supply Chain to ensure timely stock availability and replenishment.
- Work with Finance to align merchandise plans with budgets and financial targets.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

- Sales achievement vs. budget
- Forecast accuracy
- Inventory turnover
- Sell-through %
- Stock availability
- Stock cover
- Gross margin achievement
- Reduction of aged and slow-moving inventory
- OTB accuracy and control
- Replenishment effectiveness

Qualifications & Experience

- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Retail Management, Supply Chain, Merchandising, or a related field.
- 3–5 years of experience in merchandise planning, retail planning, commercial planning, or a similar role.
- Experience within beauty, cosmetics, fashion, or specialty retail is preferred.
- Strong experience in sales forecasting, inventory planning, replenishment, and commercial analysis.
- Experience working with multiple brands, categories, and retail locations is an advantage.

Technical Skills

- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, and data analysis.
- Strong understanding of retail planning and merchandise KPIs.
- Experience with ERP, merchandising, BI, or planning systems.
- Strong analytical and numerical skills.
- Ability to interpret large datasets and convert insights into commercial actions.

Competencies

- Analytical thinking
- Commercial acumen
- Planning and organization
- Attention to detail
- Problem-solving
- Stakeholder management
- Communication and collaboration
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
- Proactive and results-oriented approach
- Strong understanding of customer and market trends