About the role
About the role
Assistant Merchandiser
Fixed Term - 12 Months
Up to £40,000 + Pension + BUPA + ShareSave + 6.6 weeks holiday + Hybrid Working (3 dyas per week in the office)
Southampton, Store Support Office
We believe anyone can improve their home to make life better. From our Southampton Store Support office (SSO) we equip our stores, our people, and our whole business with everything it takes to help our millions of customers create a home they’ll love. Join us as a Merchandisng Assistant and you’ll be a big part of this.
Key responsibilities
Key Accountabilities / Responsibilities:
- Work alongside the Merchandiser to develop a category proposition that meets our customer needs, identifying opportunities and mitigating risk, whilst protecting sales, margin, stock efficiency and market share targets
- Support the Merchandiser in creating a compelling range hierarchy, incorporating assortment, space, inventory and fulfilment principles, which reflects the category strategy and meets the needs of our customers across all channels, delivering our vision of supporting all customers with access to DIY/Trade products
- Review and monitor subcategory performance, with the buying team, through reporting and analytics, take action to reflect changing sales and trends
- Support in managing and creating sales and budget forecasts and associated business cases, including PIRs, for specific categories, ensuring shortfalls or risks to plan are identified and addressed
- Work collaboratively with the Supply team to optimise availability, stock and sales whilst ensuring stock exit plans are in place to support range change activity (range, promotions, clearance) and are delivered to agreed targets
- Own the Clean Stock process for clearance for the category
- With the Range and Space team, identify and target areas to improve sales and profit density
- Create line level promotional and range change sales and stock forecasts for all channels
- Work collaboratively with the Commercial Planning team to ensure all products have appropriate fulfilment routes, maximising customer reach
- With the Merchandiser, manage the product lifecycle including range performance, identifying, and optimising trading opportunities and the delivery of range reviews
- Support the Merchandiser with the project management of small and large range reviews, adhering to current processes and within time, cost and quality parameters
- Work closely with the Merchandising Assistants to support day to day trading activities including analysis, promotional activity sign off, stock management and range planning
- Use support tools such as Yammer to share category information and respond to queries
- Conduct regular store (digital & physical), competitor and vendor visits, to increase understanding of the market and support the creation of the trading plan and inform decisions
- Manage and influence stakeholders across a range of levels, internally and externally, to support the delivery of KPIs
- Undertake other duties from time to time as may be reasonably required
Key Business Relationships:
- Category Directors
- Head of Merchandising & Merchandiser
- Buying
- Assistant Merchandisers
- Central Commercial teams
- Supply Chain & Logistics
- Channel Leads (Digital & Trade)
- Finance
- Retail, Customer & Digital
Required skills & experience
Required Skills & Experience:
- Previous experience of trading product ranges across multiple sales channels
- Numerical and analytical with strong attention to detail
- Commercially focussed with the ability to understand financial insights and translate this into key business deliverables
- Knowledge and understanding of the home improvement market and product seasonality
- Ability to understand customer insights and market trends
- Ability to drive business performance using insights and knowledge to deliver an agile trading plan.
- Ability to understand and manage complex range architecture
- Strong communicator
- Ability to build relationships at all levels
- Commercial and financial awareness
- Intermediate Microsoft Office skills, in particular Excel and PowerPoint
Career progression
What's in it for me?
As part of a great team, you’ll be valued for who you are.We’re committed to making B&Q more diverse and representative of the communities we serve, where everyone can feel they belong and have equal opportunities. You will have access to a range of networks that represent our colleagues and allies and help us to continue to put diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business.
We also recognise that wellness means different things to different people, and we want to help colleagues be at their best and feel well by offering a range of benefits to help you. As well as a competitive salary, our benefits package includes an award-winning pension scheme, bonus, ShareSave options, 6.6 weeks holiday, payroll giving, an Employee Assistance Programme, shopping discounts, colleague wellbeing benefits and lots more!
So we can support you during the application or interview process, please contact recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk for any recruitment adjustments.
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We want to ensure that all employees, future employees and applicants to all Kingfisher companies are treated equally regardless of age, gender, marital or civil partnership status, colour, ethnic or national origin, culture, religious belief, philosophical belief, political opinion, disability, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
If you require any additional support or adjustments to help you make an application, please contact us at recruitment@b-and-q.co.uk.
