Buying and Merchandising - Senior Manager

Location - Jakkur (Yehalanka) - 5 days Work from Office

The Senior Manager – Buying & Merchandising will be responsible for leading the end-to-end Planning, Buying and Merchandising function for Ample's Non-Tech portfolio across Retail Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs) and E-commerce channels.

The role is accountable for driving topline growth, profitability and inventory efficiency through robust planning, data-driven decision making and best-in-class merchandising practices. A key expectation from this role is to leverage technology, analytics and automation to build scalable planning and merchandising processes that improve speed, accuracy and business performance.

Key Responsibility :

1. Merchandise Planning & Forecasting

• Develop annual, seasonal and monthly merchandise plans aligned to business objectives.
• Drive demand forecasting at category, channel and store levels using historical trends, market
• intelligence and business insights.
• Build and monitor financial plans covering sales, inventory, intake, sell-through and margin.
• Continuously review forecast accuracy and implement corrective actions.

2. Buying & Open-to-Buy (OTB) Management

• Own the Open-to-Buy (OTB) process across all brands and channels.
• Ensure optimum inventory investments while maintaining healthy stock availability.
• Work closely with brand principals and respective teams on purchase planning and order
• management.
• Balance new launches, continuity products and seasonal inventory.

3. Assortment Planning & Merchandising

• Define channel-wise, store-wise and cluster-wise assortments.
• Drive localized assortment strategies based on customer demographics, sales trends and store
• performance.
• Ensure optimal width and depth of assortment across categories.
• Review assortment productivity and recommend portfolio rationalization wherever required.

4. Inventory & Merchandising Operations

• Lead replenishment planning across retail and e-commerce channels.
• Drive inventory optimization through Inter-store transfers, Replenishments, Stock replacements,
• Inventory consolidation, Slow-moving stock correction.
• Ensure optimum stock availability while minimizing excess inventory.
• Drive EOL (End-of-Life) inventory liquidation strategies.

5. Promotion & Pricing Management

• Plan and execute promotional calendars aligned with business objectives.
• Evaluate pricing and discount strategies to maximize sales while protecting margins.
• Monitor offer effectiveness and post-promotion performance.
• Ensure governance around markdowns and discount controls.

6. Visual Merchandising & Planogram Excellence

• Drive planogram development, execution and compliance.
• Ensure effective space planning and category adjacencies.
• Continuously improve store productivity through data-driven merchandising decisions.

7. Process Automation & Digital Transformation

• Identify opportunities to automate planning and merchandising processes.
• Implement technology solutions to improve planning accuracy and execution efficiency.
• Leverage BI tools, merchandising platforms and analytics to enable faster decision making.
• Partner with Technology and Data teams for system enhancements and process digitization.

8. Analytics, Reporting & Business Reviews

• Develop dashboards and MIS for business performance.
• Lead weekly, monthly and quarterly business reviews.
• Track merchandise productivity across brands, channels and categories.
• Generate actionable insights and recommend interventions to improve business performance.

9. Cross-functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Brand Principal, Retail Operations, E-commerce, Marketing, Finance, Supply Chain and Warehouse teams.
• Work with brand partners on seasonal range planning, launches and inventory management.
• Ensure seamless execution from planning to sell-through.

10. Team Leadership

• Build and mentor a high-performing Buying & Merchandising team.
• Establish structured planning processes and governance.
• Drive a culture of ownership, analytical thinking and continuous improvement.
• Develop succession planning and capability building within the function.

Preferred Experience

• 10–15 years of experience in Buying, Planning and Merchandising.
• Experience in Fashion, Sportswear, Footwear, Lifestyle, Toys or Consumer Retail.
• Strong exposure to Omnichannel retail and Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs).
• Proven experience managing merchandise planning, buying and inventory optimization.
• Experience working with international brands will be an advantage.
• Hands-on experience with merchandising, planning and analytics platforms.

Skills Required
inventory optimization , Digital Transformation, Bi Tools, Visual Merchandising, Buying, Reporting, Team Leadership, Process Automation, Business Reviews, Merchandise Planning, Analytics, Forecasting