Women's RTW & Shoe Buyer

Job description

Women's Regional Buyer – RTW & Shoes

Reports to: Women's Divisional Merchandise Manager
Experience: 3-5 years

General Responsibilities:
The Women's Regional Buyer serves as the liaison between our 34 DOS locations throughout North and South America, our U.S. Ecommerce store and the Worldwide Merchandising department in Milan. Candidates can anticipate the following responsibilities in this role:

Strategy & Analytics
• Analyze selling by model, fabric, color and size on a frequent basis to provide feedback to the Central Buying team in order to improve future purchase decisions.
• Research trends, review existing merchandise to ensure products remain competitive, and recognize changes in demand within each market.
• Create selling reports and provide historical recaps to analyze and communicate business performance.
• Follow-up with stores on sales, sell thru, merchandise transfers, and reorders.
• Perform end of season department analysis: best sellers, slow sellers, months of supply, inventory levels, color and size analysis.
• Manage and organize pricing strategies as well as markdowns each season.
• Develop seasonal sales plans and Open-to-Buy for respective categories with Merchandising Planner.
• Compile pricing analysis vs. competitors for basic and seasonal product for Milan Headquarters.
• Communicate with Milan regarding deliveries, available stock and reorders.
• Recommend reorders and special orders based on business needs, trends and stock levels.
• Collaborate with Milan headquarters frequently on sales performance, product issues, and competitive landscape.
• Manage stock levels to maximize inventory within stores with the execution of transfers/consolidations.
• Coordinate product for new store openings: merchandising, training, shipment and deliveries.

Product Feedback & Training
• Ensure communication regarding product needs, sales trends, stock needs, general opportunities and all other relevant product information is shared with the Central Buying team in Milan to generate optimal buys with each collection.
• Allocate all buys by individual stores based on market needs, historical data, and key message of collection.
• Produce individual buy books per store for each collection.
• Partner with store associates and managers to obtain client feedback on merchandising assortment.
• Demonstrate passion for the product while maintaining empathy for the store staff/clientele.
• Educate retail teams on each collection by communicating merchandising strategies based on buy, selling points, and raise awareness of season's trends.
• Create engaging product training and training tools for each collection to be used with or independent of in-store training sessions.
• Collaborate across various departments on an as-needed basis (i.e. Visual Merchandising, Retail, Communications, etc.)

Desired profile

• Minimum of 3 years of previous merchandising/buying experience
• Capable to travel domestically and internationally approximately 2-3 weeks per month
• Ability to work in a team, possess organizational awareness and flexibility
• Demonstrate ability to adapt, strong knowledge of luxury market/products and philosophy of the brand
• Exemplary verbal and written communication skills
• Maintain a clear sense of urgency in a fast-paced environment by effectively prioritizing multiple projects
• Proficient computer skills including Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint as well as strong knowledge of retail math