Senior Associate Merchandising and Allocation

Position Title: Senior Associate Merchandising and Allocation (Specialty Accounts)

Reports to: Lead Specialty and Liquidation Channels

Location: Bengaluru

Position Summary:

Manage merchandising and allocation across counters of Key Accounts like Metro, Mochi, Footlocker, Metro Active, Superkicks, Veg & Non Veg, Limited Edition and their respective omnichannel. Overseeing day-to-day operations and performance. Collaborate closely with sales, buying, and operations teams, maintaining a strong connection with the product line and customer trends to develop effective allocation strategies.

Key Objectives:

• Responsible for ensuring the availability of the right stock at the right place and time, thereby enabling sales achievement.
• Collaborate with Visual Merchandising (VM), Retail Operations, and Sales teams to ensure seasonal rollouts are aligned and implemented as per plan.
• Ensure timely dispatch of incoming new season stock to respective stores as per the launch plan.
• Execute accurate replenishment and maintain healthy stock levels at the SKU level to avoid lost sales opportunities.
• Manage RTV (Return to Vendor) to the warehouse and facilitate stock consolidation between stores to reduce slow-moving merchandise and improve store assortment.
• Work closely with the buying team to ensure buys are placed in the right product types attributes based on forecasted requirements, store grading & banding and strategic inputs.
• Assortment Planning & Performance Monitoring
• Prepare seasonal assortment plans, ensuring the right mix at Division, Gender, Category, MRP band, and product type level.
• Monitor style performance through regular tracking of Rate of Sale (ROS) and Sell Through.
• Prepare article-level discount lists during End of Season Sale (EOSS) to achieve planned net sales targets within the budgeted markdown percentage.
• Drive weekly and monthly reporting and analysis; present insights during sales meetings.
• Constantly aim to improve the efficiency of replenishment and allocation processes by refining the allocation inputs to maintain optimal SKU-level inventory.
• Collaborate closely with the retail sales team to identify operational gaps and implement corrective actions.
• Maintain optimal stock cover across stores.
• Maintaining article master for key accounts and product listing.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Net Sales
• Sell Thru %
• Markdown (Discount%)
• Stock Cover
• Gross Profit (GP) and GP%
• Comp and Growth

Organizational relationships:

• Internal: Operations, Sales, Buying, Planning, Warehouse
• External: Key Account Warehouse and Logistics Team ,Key Account Store Operations team, Key Account Warehouse and Logistics Team

Eligibility Criteria And Functional Competencies Required:

• MBA / MFM / B.F.Tech from a reputed institute with 1-2 years of relevant
• Or BFM with 4-5 years of relevant experience in retail merchandising, trading, or planning.
• Strong proficiency in Advanced Microsoft Excel is a must.
• Excellent analytical and numerical skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills for stakeholder management.
• Self-motivated and driven; capable of working independently with minimal or no supervision.
• Ability to multitask and prioritize work based on business needs.
• Analytical and inquisitive mindset with a keen eye for detail.
• Willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies/tools as required by the business.
• Interest in sports or active participation in any sport will be an added advantage.