Yulia Bishaeva

Leading supplier of team sports equipment in Kazakhstan, operating in a multi-channel environment: wholesale for teams and events, own retail stores, major online marketplaces, and e-commerce. Key responsibilities: - Setting up procurement processes, databases and reporting tools from scratch. - Managing a diverse portfolio of brands and suppliers, negotiating terms of cooperation, and contracts to ensure delivery performance and compliance. - Leading assortment planning, seasonal supply scheduling, and pricing strategy. - Planning and optimizing the procurement budget with a focus on increasing profitability and achieving business objectives. - Monitoring market trends and competitor activity. - Developing and implementing new analytical tools, and processes to enhance team efficiency and automate operations. - Planning seasonal assortments, managing supply calendars and cash flow. - Recruiting, training, and developing the team. - Collaborating with sales, finance, logistics, and marketing for cross-functional alignment. Major achievements: - Improved operational efficiency by shifting sorting operations to supplier warehouses. - Increased base margin from 60% to 65% by renegotiating terms with a key supplier. - Developed a stock forecasting model to maintain optimal level of key models and NOS (Never Out of Stock) models. - Implemented new pre-order planning approaches, introduced new business processes, and created convenient tracking tables for order status. - Recruited new team members with subsequent adaptation and training.

Retail chain of professional sporting goods, with over 15 years of market experience. Operating up to 16 retail stores (2019-2020), the company also engaged in wholesales, e-commerce, and sports club partnerships. Specializing in following sports equipment: Ice Hockey, Football, Running, Combat Fight, X-Country Skiing, and Figure Skating. Cooperation with such brands as Bauer, CCM, Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, Joma, Puma, Asics, Uhlsport, Shock Doctor, etc. Key responsibilities: - Planning and allocation of procurement budget within the entrusted product category. - Creating assortment strategy, product mix, and orders for upcoming seasons, while optimizing existing inventory. - Cooperating with suppliers and brand representatives from different countries, including top management (negotiations and correspondence). - Business trips, including independent ones, attending international sales meetings, and visiting annual exhibitions (ISPO). - Managing price formation (markups, sales rate of speed forecast, markdowns). - Allocating and replenishing products among retail stores. - Carrying out analytics and creating reader-friendly reports and pivot tables. - Market monitoring: new products, competitors, prices. Major achievements: - Improved assortment performance indicators within entrusted product categories; increased sales and gross margin while significantly reducing overstock (that was formed in the past). - Optimized expenditures, changed the structure of forecasted leftovers, and created well-balanced orders. - Cultivated and developed business partnerships, reaching favorable agreements on commercial terms, resolving disputes, and facilitating compromises. - Gained appreciation and positive feedback from retail management. Сolleagues were pleased with assortment renewal and high attention to preventing stockouts and lost sales. - Initiated and implemented refinements in ERP-system, enabling the automation of time-consuming processes.

Formerly the official exclusive distributor of ODLO brand in Russia, distributor of Casco, Exel, Northland, an official dealer of Salomon, Asics, Fischer, etc., retail chain, wholesale, e-commerce, partnerships with sports clubs, gear servicing, production of team’s apparel. Specialization: X-Country Skiing, Running, Cycling, and other Outdoor Activities & Fitness. http://www.skimir.ru Key responsibilities: - Managing procurement processes across all product categories, including controlling orders and timeframes, coordinating payments and deliveries. - Negotiating contracts, prices and terms with both foreign and local partners, including top management. - Handling complaints (reclamations, returns of defective products and reviews for product refinement). - Controlling and adjusting the price formation process. - Carrying out analytics and adjustments in purchasing strategy. - Conducting market research and evaluating the performance of new and existing suppliers, searching of new products and suppliers, expanding the current assortment. - Managing production projects and manufacturing orders. - Undertaking international business trips and appointments, attending sales meetings and exhibitions, and conducting presentations. Major achievements: - Created and developed an efficient procurement planning tools (forecasting models, templates, reports, etc.). - Negotiated advantageous agreements with suppliers, obtaining additional discounts. - Successfully introduced new European brands to the product mix (obtained exclusive distributor status in Russia, arranged direct deliveries). - Increased “Profit per Square Meter” indicator up to 25% through strategic procurement expenditure optimisation. - Successfully implemented refinements in the ERP system that reduced processing time for documents. - Finalised the product development project of market-specific ranges from the concept brief to final sampling and production.

Premium Functional Sportswear Manufacturer. Huenenberg (Switzerland). https://www.odlo.com/ch/en/ Key responsibilities: - Negotiating with brand representatives from the headquarter in Switzerland, attending sales meetings and business appointments, discussing current issues such as mutual settlements, shipments, etc. - Coordinating of annual commercial planning process with management. - Preparing presentations for internal sales meetings and new collection showcases, creating order forms for wholesale customers, and unifying product nomenclature. - Collaborating regularly on order placement, sales forecasting, purchasing plan development, payment plan, shipment terms and timeframes, etc. - Working with new collection samples and tracking sports fashion trends. - Analytics and demand planning. Major achievements: - Increased seasonal sell-through rate up to 65% (reasonable indicator for those specific market conditions). - Achieved beneficial agreements for the distributor company, including additional and non-standard discounts. - Justified and secured considerable marketing support from brand headquarters for brand expansion into new regions.

Curtain and Furnishing Fabrics Manufacturer with suppliers from Turkey, India and China. https://espocada.com/ Key responsibilities: - Controlling purchasing process of products from order placement to delivery to the warehouse, including documentation. - Conducting negotiations with foreign partners. - Controlling terms of collaboration and adherence to timeframes. - Handling complaint workflow (reclamations). - Analyzing inventory levels to optimize distribution between local and European warehouses, and processing replenishment applications based on stock and sales data. Major achievements: - Mastered effective work practices under conditions of multitasking and extensive information flow, within a short period of time. - Regularly negotiated and reached agreement with suppliers on contentious issues (additional deliveries and, discounts in reclamations), securing beneficial terms. - Successfully minimised the occurrence of delivery delays for the dedicated group of suppliers.