Manager - Product, Merchandising & Category
Hcin Networks · Mumbai · onsite · Posted 36d ago
About a minute. You'll make an account on the way through.
About this role
Manager - Product, Merchandising & Category
Role Purpose
Own the commercial product strategy for BT Club.
This person should understand what the customer is buying, what is trending, what price points work and how much inventory the business should carry.
This person should be able to look at product performance and say: This category is selling faster, this colour is outperforming, this price point is converting better, and therefore this is what we should make more of in the next drop.
The role is expected to turn sales, inventory and customer behaviour into clear product decisions.
The role sits between Design, Sourcing and Business and is responsible for making sure creative ideas turn into commercially successful products.
Product & Range Planning
Decide the product and category mix for every collection and drop.
Build the assortment across T-shirts, shirts, bottoms, accessories and future categories.
Decide how many styles, colours and variants should be launched.
Identify gaps in the existing product range and recommend new categories or products.
Work with the Fashion Designer to convert trends and brand ideas into commercially relevant collections.
Category Management
Own the performance of assigned product categories.
Track sales, revenue, gross margin, sell-through and inventory movement by category.
Understand which categories, fits, colours, graphics and price points are working.
Recommend which categories should be expanded, reduced or discontinued.
Identify new category opportunities based on customer behaviour and market trends.
Pricing & Product Economics
Work with the Sourcing team to understand product costs and margins.
Recommend selling prices based on product positioning, competition, margins and customer willingness to pay.
Ensure products meet target gross-margin requirements.
Evaluate whether a product is commercially viable before approving it for production.
Monitor the impact of discounts and promotions on category margins.
Quantity & Inventory Planning
Work with the Manager - Sourcing, Production & Quality to decide production quantities for every SKU.
Use past sales, expected demand, price point, category performance and launch plans to recommend quantities.
Balance availability with the risk of excess inventory.
Track inventory ageing and slow-moving products.
Decide when successful products should be replenished.
Recommend markdowns, bundling or other actions for products that are not moving.
Product Performance
Track product performance after every launch.
Analyse sell-through by SKU, category, size, colour, design and price point.
Identify bestsellers and ensure they are replenished quickly.
Identify underperforming products and understand why they failed.
Build learnings from every collection into the next range.
Market & Trend Understanding
Track fashion, streetwear, pop culture and consumer trends.
Keep a close watch on competing brands, their products, pricing and launches.
Identify trends that are relevant to BT Club rather than blindly following the market.
Bring customer and market insights into product planning discussions.
Cross-functional Working
Work closely with the Fashion Designer on collection planning and product direction.
Work with the Sourcing team on costing, MOQ, production feasibility and quantity planning.
Work with Marketing on launch calendars, hero products and campaign priorities.
Ensure all teams are aligned on product launch timelines.
What We Are Looking For
7-9 years of experience in product merchandising, category management or fashion merchandising.
Strong understanding of apparel and fashion retail.
Strong commercial understanding of pricing, margins, sell-through and inventory.
Strong analytical ability and comfort working with sales and inventory data.
Experience in assortment planning and range building.
Ability to understand both fashion trends and customer demand.
Comfortable making decisions around quantities, pricing and product performance.
Experience with a D2C fashion, streetwear, fast-fashion or youth-fashion brand would be preferred.
Strong Excel and analytical skills.
Hands-on and comfortable working in an early-stage business environment.
Key Success Metrics
Sell-through percentage by collection and category.
Gross margin by category.
Inventory ageing.
Stock-out rate on successful products.
Reduction in slow-moving inventory.
Accuracy of quantity planning.
Performance of new categories and launches.
Percentage of revenue coming from successful repeat products.
Improvement in average selling price and category margins.
Who You Will Work With
You will work closely with the Fashion Designer and Manager - Sourcing, Production & Quality.
The Fashion Designer will bring the creative and design point of view.
The Sourcing team will bring the production, costing, MOQ and lead-time point of view.
You will bring the customer, demand, pricing, inventory and commercial point of view.
Together, the three functions will decide what to make, how much to make, what price to sell it at and what should be repeated based on performance.
Sourced from naukri