Merchandise Planner: Textiles

Homechoice is a leading omni-channel retailer, delighting our customers with an innovative range of curated products on personalized terms. Our aim is to provide multiple, convenient and easy retail shopping channels to guarantee that we meet all our customer expectations.

**Here's what you can expect to be doing in the role**
- Analyse historical sales and other metrics, and combine this with future trend expectations, to create realistic Sales Plans by category for future seasons
- Translate Sales Plans into realistic Buy Plans that will facilitate ranges in line with our brand DNA that meets customers' quality and value expectations
- Collaborate with Buyers to deliver on products that are in line with category strategies (satisfying various price points and meeting sales and margin targets)
- Ensure that the range is always balanced across key assortment factors
- Continuously look for sales opportunities to translate into products and offers to exceed customers’ needs and expectations: We constantly innovate
- Chase sales growth opportunities to ensure the success and profitability of the brand
- Have a real ‘trader’ mentality and continuously forecast and reproject sales, margin, and stock to maximise sales and profitability
- Work closely and effectively with various teams (Marketing, Trading Channels, etc.) to help deliver on big ideas that align with our brand DNA and which customers will love: Collaboration is key
- Cross-collaborate with key stakeholders to ensure product execution online & across all collateral (and within all channels) is world-class; offering our customer an exceptional journey
- Deal effectively with our supplier base, by maintaining beneficial relationships through managing them according to strict SLA’s
- Partner across categories to ensure delivery of cohesive ranges and execution of category strategies that are in line with financial objectives which fall within milestone calendar timelines
- Liaise with the quality and vendor team: monitor department returns and supports the customer service team to improve our customer’s experience
- Propose products for key promotions based on analyses and being aware of customer needs, that align with the overall company strategy

**A little about who you are**

**Competencies**:

- Strong analytical, numeracy, and problem-solving skills; uses data to inform decisions and resolve problems
- Thinks logically and has sound reasoning and is numerically adept
- Comfortable with learning and adapting to new systems
- Entrepreneurial and innovative mindset: Solutions-orientated and self-motivated and challenges the status quo
- Ability to build long-lasting supplier (internal and external) relationships that will benefit the company through effective negotiations
- High digital fluency: Understand key business drivers within online retail and know how to leverage those in order to drive sales
- Excellent communication skills, both written and spoken
- Organized; ability to prioritize & multi-task
- Customer-centric: understand the customer needs and can source and design product to fulfill these

**Qualifications & Experience**:

- Bachelor’s degree (Business Science/BCom/BSc)
- 3-5 years retail experience (e-commerce is preferable but not a requirement)
- Competency in MS Office packages, particularly Excel

**Behaviours**
- Wow my **customer**
- Walk in my customers’ shoes
- Deliver on my promises
- Deliver insight-led solutions my customers need
- treat the business as **my own**
- Take accountability
- Be curious, creative & explore opportunities
- Do it right & at the right time
- play as a **team**
- Be helpful
- Be inclusive
- Find the fun