Ashley Kruger

Being the Men's Senior Footwear Buyer you will difinetly require passion towards your footwear product offering and the Retail space in general. You will be responsible for selecting and building balanced ranges that offer the Shoe City customers everyday value fashionable footwear choices. Effectively managing relationships with suppliers, stores and other stakeholders in the business is of high priority. Seasonal Reviews, Seasonal Budgets Order Placement, Margin Balancing and Achieving GP targets Managing on time Deliveries with supply base QA: Signing off fabric swatches for quality and colour as well as product aesthetics West Trend Travel & East Supplier Travel Other duties include: Develop a strategy for your department that reflects our brand Select and build balanced ranges to meet customers' expectations Stock management Analyse sales and take relevant action Manage supplier relationships Manage effective promotional activity and seasonal events Develop department merchandising policies and work with retail management to deliver these Liaise with retail operations on new product offering each month and educate sales team in-store on product FABS Success in this role also requires you to be a team player with ability to build successful working relationships on all levels and across all departments Commercial focus with the ability to work on own initiative is very important Intermediate use of Microsoft Excel/Word plus PowerPoint is required Strong communication and problem-solving skills, thinking on your feet daily as queries arise that require merchant thinking High levels of organisation and multitasking skills especially when order Briefs need to be submitted and order confirmation for the season. Timesiouly managing/sorting of emails and ad hoc paper queries.

Reporting to Merchandise Executive Portfolio Footwear Socks- all genders (adults&kids) Bags- ladies clutches/handbags Wallets-ladies/men’s Activities: Achieve targeted sales, margin and profit on the designated men’s footwear area Develop the seasonal strategy for shoe/socks/clutches collections across stores and on-line, to include brand/designer mix and range plans in conjunction with the CEO and Merchandising Executive. Maintain awareness of all fashion and market trends and new brands or designers Effectively collaborate with other members of the Buying and Creative teams to ensure seasonal collections are cohesive and representative of shared vision. Partner with the Merchandising Team to create seasonal strategies for departments relating to all KPI’s. Achieve, where possible, exclusive collections or products for stores and on-line platform Work with the Merchandising Team to create seasonal markdown planning documents and collate total departments’ proposals for review with CEO versus Financial targets. Attend trade fairs, fashion shows, showrooms, press days and events, locally and internationally, as part of the buying role and for relationship building with suppliers and press. Receive sign-off, where necessary or where above plan/target, for orders Work with the Merchandising Team to ensure orders are placed accurately, efficiently and with the correct authorisation to ensure speedy administration through the business. Update relevant areas of the business on any changes to planned orders or selections. Continually develop relationships with suppliers to ensure maximum support for Matches and where appropriate communicate product performance to them. Negotiate optimum terms on all “buys” including price, delivery, discount and payment with suppliers. Request, where appropriate or where directed, complimentary marketing and training initiatives with suppliers. Communicate with all relevant areas of the business the range plans and any specific highligh

Senior Footwear Buyer for the below area's: Toddler Boys & Girls Footwear (Jan`16 ~Dec`16) Ladies Footwear (Jan`18 ~Nov`18)

Reporting to CEO directly Activities: Introducing of Buying systems and procedures Sourcing new product, Sourcing new suppliers Introducing new SOP Range determination, Fabric determination Building a brand new range for summer 18, kids and adults Introduction of new reporting tools Sales meetings, Test modules for new products.

The Fix This is afresh, fun, and free-spirited brand! The FiX is a brand for girls looking for quick fashion-wins. There’s always something new in store to get excited about and of course those must-have essentials that every wardrobe needs. its all about fashion that nurtures self-expression and individuality for the streetwise. Job Entails: Product developing with ability to tap into our vivacious, eclectic and edgy customer psyche translating key social and fashion trends into outstanding product. The Senior Ladies Footwear Buyer's Role: Maintain Production Schedule following style production for assigned suppliers ensuring styles are produced/ shipped to meet planned time in store. Price Negotiation with an understanding of margin requirements and proactively suggest options to achieve desired Gross Margin. Proactively avoid issues and resolve situations to ensure win-win scenarios, and styles shipped on time. Approve lab dips, trims, artwork without supervision. Measure product, attend fit sessions and send buyers fit comments to supplier. • Develop trend forward product for allocated categories utilizing grouping of fabric/ material/ components where applicants and ability to achieve the look for less. Window Buidling Identify key items for the season, Must have's wardrobe solutions

Reporting to Buying Manager Activities: Range building in themes. High fashion footwear Fashion right products in line with company strategy Color discussions, story building and season product statement Supplier meeting, Price negotiations Marketing exposure on window product build Product layout for stores, Building trend/commodity tables for stores Social Media involvement Oversee entire ladies range development process Trend analysis on all product categories Store visits and competitor analysis.

Reported to Buying Manager Activities: Overseas travel trend trips and product development trips Store visits, pepstores and competition Competitive shopping and investigation Supplier management (sourcing and loading) Price and delivery negotiation Range building (Product sourcing & range development) Product determination Product order management (Administration) Budget management and OTB control Market research and competition analysis Sourcing suppliers and management of those relationships Gross profit negotiation and control Sales and mark down review.

Job Outputs: Customer analysis and merchants strategy insight which is necessary to build a product range Analyzing consumer buying patterns and predicting future promotions Working closely with the planners to track sales to budget and plan promotions accordingly Regular performance indicators, e.g. sales, costs and competitive analysis Managing your stock levels with planner, discussing cutbacks or increases Reacting to changes in demand, if certain high volume products don't work we'll for the season Meeting suppliers and negotiating terms of contract Maintaining relationships with existing suppliers and sourcing new suppliers for future products Liaising with other departments within the organization to ensure projects are completed Analyze sales reports and product performances with planner constantly Presenting new ranges to senior managers, directors, managing directors Summary of responsibilities: Supplier management (sourcing and loading) Range building (Product sourcing & range development) Product determination Product order management (Administration) Budget management and OTB control Research about target market and competitiveness Overseas Travel, supplier and trend forecasting/buying Local Travel, suppliers and competitive analysis Merchandise area's held: Sept 2007 (Male Accessories dept ~boys & men's) Sept 2008 (Babies dept ~infant's accessories) July 2009 (Babies dept ~newborn boys & girls) Nov 2010 (Male Footwear dept~Todboys, Preboys, Boys and Men's) Jan 2012 ~ 2015 (Male Footwear dept~ Preboys 9-1)

You are all about fashion and was required to interpret international fashion trends for the South African market – developing, sourcing and procuring garments for our different brands Creative and conceptual input Develop fashion ranges that are fashion forward to meet our customers needs Product design and construction Combine trend information with commercial awareness Constant product analysis Optimizing relationships with suppliers, local visits

Admin role, creating orders, Maintaining sample room, clean and workable Updating style cards weekly for product performance Visual Merchandise handbook for stores, prepping garments for how stores must merchandise Getting samples ready for photo shoots Liase with store request, product enquiries PIS meetings once a month, i took the directors through the ladieswear items for the month (Key looks, price points and units)