Merchandise Assistant
Role Overview:
The Merchandise Assistant (MA) plays a key role within the Merchandising function, providing vital support to the Merchandising team to achieve optimum efficiency and to deliver the department plan on customer, sales, and profit.
The Merchandise Assistant assists the department with day-to-day tasks such as updating supplier order books, booking in stock, managing problem orders and actioning stock movements, ensuring the correct stock is in the right place at the right time to maximise profitability across all channels.
Responsibilities:
Order:
- Support with size ratio of lines on smaller brands, with AM guidance.
- Create purchase orders via upload and check all details are accurate prior to sending to supplier
- Reconcile supplier order books and communicate all anomalies.
Stock:
- Update supplier order books and ETA reports on the system.
- Book in product as directed by the Merchandiser.
- Liaise and be first point of contact with the warehouse around delivery issues and problem orders.
- Cost and retail checks on orders booked into the warehouse in conjunction with the Assistant Merchandiser.
- Scheduling (initial allocation) checks
Trade:
- Print and run key reporting for Monday trade meetings.
- Develop awareness of product area through analysis of reports and store visits.
- Maximise best sellers through the review of ideal stock levels.
- Action stock movements, including IBTs, in conjunction with the Assistant Merchandiser.
- Collate and check weekly price amendments.
- Follow up on feedback from Retail and Branch Merchandising to support the stores.
- Review new store performance, suggesting actions to the team
- Complete marketing requests
- Ad-hoc reports and analysis for the team as required.
- Establish collaborative working relationships within teams across functions.
Role objectives and KPIs:
Key objective is to support the Merchandising team to effectively deliver departmental goals and KPIs – sales, profit and stock - across all channels (stores and digital).
Competencies:
2.1 Working with People
3.1 Relating and Networking
4.1 Writing and Reporting
5.1 Learning and Researching
6.3 Following Instructions and Procedures
Skills and experience:
- Analytical
- Keen eye for detail and ability to accurately enter and check data.
- Enthusiastic about JD, its brands and customer.
- Basic knowledge of Excel.
- Good communicator able to build relationships with stakeholders and to work across teams.
- Able to take ownership of work and use initiative to deliver on key responsibilities.
- Good teamwork skills, being able to work collaboratively to reach a common goal, sharing information and supporting colleagues.
- Positive, flexible, and responsive to business needs.
- Curious with a continuous learning mindset.
Training requirements for the role:
- GUI
- Shogun
- Basic Excel
- Basic trade knowledge
- Size ratios - ratio tool
- Purchase order creation process - PO upload
- PLM (Own Brand only)
- Planner (Planogram)
- Basic range plan knowledge
- Reconcile process
- Cost & retail checks
- Scheduling checks & scheduling tool
- Weekly divisional price changes
- New line / top line pushes
- Reporting tools – Thoughtspot / Portal
- Merchandising SharePoint site
- Good knowledge of trade actions
- Orderbook & bookings process
- Selektron
- Cost prices & invoice tool
- Store visits
- New store reviews
- Ideal management tool
- Sales Analysis
Training is on-the-job shadowing supported by online resources. Where relevant, face to face training on key tools, systems or processes will be arranged.
