Assistant Manager, Buying & Merchandising

Role Overview

This role is focused on steering assigned product categories across buying, procurement, vendor coordination, inventory control, pricing, and performance tracking. The position calls for a commercially minded professional who can use market insights, customer demand signals, and business data to improve category growth and profitability.

Category Ownership

• Take end-to-end responsibility for the assigned product categories.
• Review category sales, performance trends, and profitability to guide decisions.
• Shape growth plans for the category using customer demand patterns and market movements.

Buying and Procurement

• Prepare seasonal as well as monthly buying plans.
• Estimate demand and raise purchase orders accordingly.
• Balance product availability with efficient inventory levels.
• Work with vendors to finalize pricing, payment terms, and delivery timelines.

Vendor Management

• Maintain productive working relationships with both current and prospective suppliers.
• Explore opportunities for exclusive product launches and private label offerings.
• Carry out periodic business reviews with vendors.

Inventory Management

• Track stock availability, sell-through, and ageing inventory closely.
• Reduce the chances of stock shortages and overstock situations.
• Plan replenishment actions based on forecasted demand.

Pricing and Promotions

• Create pricing approaches that stay competitive in the market.
• Plan discounting, promotional activities, and bundled offers.
• Coordinate category promotions with the marketing and merchandising functions.

Market and Competitor Analysis

• Monitor competitor pricing, assortment, and promotional activity.
• Stay updated on industry trends and changing consumer preferences.
• Identify assortment gaps and opportunities for introducing new products.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Partner with planning and supply chain teams to support availability and replenishment.
• Coordinate with marketing, e-commerce operations, finance, merchandising, and quality/product development teams.

Business Analytics and KPIs

• Track and improve key measures such as GMV, revenue, gross margin, inventory days/DOH, sell-through percentage, fill rate, OTIF, stock availability, forecast accuracy, vendor performance, and returns percentage.