Merchandise Planner - Dwell

About the Role

Liwa Trading Enterprises is seeking a dedicated Merchandise Planner to join the Dwell team. This hands-on commercial planning position involves managing forward purchase commitments, purchase orders, promotional stock availability, open-to-buy strategies, and inventory performance. The role requires close collaboration with multiple departments including Buying, Supply Chain, Logistics, Finance, Retail, E-commerce, and suppliers to effectively balance stock availability, inventory cover, freight expenditure, and inventory risk.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the purchase order book with respect to critical timelines, ensuring timely supplier confirmations, tracking progress, managing ex-factory and shipping schedules, and confirming landed dates.
• Monitor forward commitments and business activities for optimal stock deployment across retail outlets and online sales channels.
• Coordinate promotional planning and maintain sufficient stock levels to meet anticipated demand.
• Develop and manage open-to-buy plans, stock roll-forwards, sales forecasts, intake plans, and inventory estimations.
• Create Excel-based planning tools from the ground up to aid in commercial decision-making.
• Identify and mitigate risks such as potential stock shortages, excess inventory, order delays, and availability challenges.
• Collaborate closely with suppliers and internal teams to resolve delays and safeguard delivery schedules.
• Incorporate shipping considerations including cubic volume, container usage, freight costs as a percentage of landed cost, and minimum order quantities during purchase planning.
• Lead efforts to reduce aged and terminal stock by setting targets and tracking progress against set timelines.
• Review purchase orders in light of demand forecasts, current inventory, stock cover, existing orders, and future business requirements.
• Critically assess purchase orders that may lead to overstocking or unacceptable inventory levels.
• Raise and escalate commercial risks prudently and offer practical, data-driven alternatives.
• Effectively communicate planning insights, risks, and recommendations to key stakeholders.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Merchandising, Business, Finance, Supply Chain, Retail Management, or a related discipline.
• Proven experience in merchandise planning, inventory planning, demand planning, or a related commercial planning function.
• Comprehensive knowledge of open-to-buy planning, stock roll-forward techniques, forecasting methods, intake planning, and stock coverage management.
• Preferable experience in dealing with furniture, homeware, bulky items, or product categories that require intricate shipping and container planning.
• Excellent stakeholder management with strong communication and influencing capabilities.