Cluster Manager Merchandising

Job Description: Cluster Manager, Merchandising, Tanishq Jewellery

Job Description Unique Job Role -Cluster Manager

Job Details To craft and plan the right product/ merchandise mix for regional markets, driving category and merchandising initiatives in stores and ensuring enhanced delivery of merchandising metrics (Category and Inventory) for their markets especially through effective store and regional interventions - impact to be seen across GC, AMC, profitable category share, inventory turn, stock aging and effective working capital management External Interfaces Internal Interfaces.

• Key customers
• Vendors
• Third Party Service Providers
• External Consultants
• Franchisee partners
• Category Managers
• Inventory Managers
• Regional sales and merchandising teams
• Design teams
• ISCM teams
• Support teams

Job RequirementsEducationMBA preferredRelevant Experience8 -10 years with experience in Jewellery/fashion/garments industryBehavioural Skills

• Customer orientation
• Drive for results
• Networking ability
• Detail orientation

Knowledge

• Category management experience
• Business acumen
• Analytical ability
• Vendor management experience

Process ContributionsProcess ContributionProcess OutcomePerformance MeasureMerchandising: Planning & forecasting: Demand planning

1. Provide inputs and contribute towards development of the seasonal sale forecast
2. Develop iterations and seek approvals on the annual store-wise product group sales mix
3. Conduct sales variance study and approve recommended interventions on monthly basis on a small-scale basis
4. Develop the product mix and other initiative plans for the stores assigned under hero markets
5. Provide inputs on regional level interventions targeted towards boosting sales of concerned SKUs
6. Provide inputs on developing and rolling out interventions for effective market analysis like exhibition, melas, road shows etc. to boost sales
7. Provide inputs in the integration of Tanishq growth levers with the sales plan.

• Annual business plan
• Year on Year business growth

Merchandising: Planning & forecasting: Annual Merchandising planning

1. Provide inputs for improvements through gap analysis based on customer and store staff feedbacks, opportunity analysis based on vendor feedbacks etc.
2. Provide inputs and insights into the pricing policy changes
3. Collate data and provide inputs for sign off on the merchandising plan with the senior management
4. Identify the list of focus stores based on inputs from regional teams like wedding destination stores etc.

• Annual Merchandising plan
• Year on Year business growth

Merchandising: Planning & forecasting: Gross Contribution planning

1. Contribute towards development of the making charge variance analysis framework within and across regions and seek approvals on changes from Head Merchandising Jewellery
2. Driving independent projects like AMC/Studded Dispersion squads to drive significant and measurable improvements in Gross Contribution delivery in both Plain and Studded

• Gross Contribution plan
• Year on Year margin growth

Merchandising: Pricing: Promotional strategy

1. Provide inputs to develop the calendarized offers and activation schemes based on sale projections and profitability
2. Develop schemes and strategy to ensure liquidation of SKUs and enable adhoc/ regional activations targeted towards improving focussed sales

• Promotion Calendar
• Year on Year business growth
• Year on Year margin growth
• NPS

Merchandising: Policy Changes

1. Design and develop policy alteration to accommodate low GC products using geography and product attributes

• Policy documents
• NPS

Merchandising: Pricing: Markdown strategy

1. Ensure the effective cascade of the best deals with all the internal teams including VM, marketing, commercial, retail etc.

• Markdown policies
• Year on Year margin growth
• NPS

Merchandising: Pricing

1. Coordinate with category team for the competitive Price Benchmarking exercise
2. Provide inputs to price revisions for enhancing profitability and sales of select products

• Pricing model
• Year on Year revenue growth
• NPS

Merchandising: Product Management: Product Portfolio Management

1. Develop the trend evaluation from diverse sources like IIJS, Exhibitions, customer visits, online etc and give the inputs to the category team
2. Provide inputs on the model stock recommendations for assortment planning

• Life cycle management document
• Year on Year business growth
• NPS

Merchandising: Product Management: New Product Development

1. Influence the L3 Indent placement for the new products
2. Initiate the new product rotation post introduction

• New product introduction calendar
• Year on Year business growth,NPS

Merchandising: Inventory management: Norms finalization

1. Develop the boutique level split of category based on the sale target evaluation
2. Develop the minimum range and norms at store level based on sales plan and turn targets
3. Support in cascading the norms developed across all stores and ensure deployment
4. Look at key reasons for NP and ensure norm and model stock corrections address these concerns

• Store-wise norms
• Customer satisfaction score
• Number of cases of non-availability of product
• Reduced NP and higher NPS

Merchandising: Inventory management: Stock turn

1. Support the teams to ensure constant availability of best sellers, new products and ad variants in the stores
2. Manage the stock levels in the special intervention stores and categories
3. Support in identifying and creating timely IBTTs for ageing prevention
4. Provide inputs on the best deal stock rotation
5. Provide inputs on regular and special melting recommendations

• Stock turn policy
• Customer satisfaction score
• Number of cases of non-availability of product
• Stock Turn

Merchandising: Inventory management: New store indenting

1. Provide inputs on the ROI evaluation for store- wise assortment planning
2. Develop the model stock and raise the first indent
3. Provide inputs on the first month buffer for a new store and oversee the indent placement including best seller special indents
4. Develop strategies for front end up selling/cross selling
5. Develop and seek approval for the incentive plan for the stores
6. Coordinate with Retail ops and VM team to create implementable planogram across need states

• Store-wise norms
• Customer satisfaction score
• Number of cases of non-availability of product

Retail Operations: Channel Productivity Improvements: Sales Productivity

1. Develop sales team incentive programs for best deals liquidation
2. Develop strategies for front end up-selling/cross selling
3. Implement the VM Zones as per the VM zones - the conceptualization will be done by Cat team and VM - deployment to be ensured by the cluster managers

• Incentive policy
• VM planogram
• Employee satisfaction score

Retail Operations: Store Operations: Training & Development

1. Create and develop training Content and Modules to enable the sales staff - conflict management, pricing objection, studded share drive, Dus ka Dum, etc

• Training calendar
• Year on Year business growth
• Number of customer complaint reduction

People & Talent Management

1. Drive a culture of diversity, performance and transparency in the region and ensure the employees in the region are engaged.
2. Mentor and develop staff using a supportive and collaborative approach.
3. Ensure talent pipeline is created by succession planning for the critical positions in the region.
4. Set Objectives for Reportees aligned to the organizational /functional.
5. Liaise with HR on vacant positions.
6. Conduct recruitment interviews for key positions in the region; Monitor the implementation of the Sales Training Program for the region.

• Employee Engagement
• Performance
• Diversity & Integration

Regional Anchoring and Driving key initiatives

1. Coordinate and anchor regional initiatives like Sigaram, Kohinoor from an inventory perspective - liaise with the category teams to ensure the assortment is decided and executed as per timelines
2. Ensuring Ad variant availability for shoots as well as campaigns in the regions as per timelines - Liaisoning with marketing team and category team to align the requirements
3. Attending the regional MRMs and act as the merchandising front to retail and retail front to merchandising teams

• Business plan for regional interventions
• Regional Growth driver focus
• Incremental sales and metrics