Profile: Manager - Jewelry Merchandising

Location: Mumbai

We are looking for a candidate exclusively from a Luxury Brand.

1. Merchandise & Assortment Planning:

- Own end-to-end assortment planning based on business objectives, customer preferences and market trends.

- Develop category-wise merchandise plans covering product mix, price points, depth, width and collection architecture.

- Analyze historical sales and market trends to identify assortment gaps and growth opportunities.

- Build seasonal and monthly assortment strategies aligned with sales and profitability targets.

- Ensure the right product is available at the right price point, location and time.

2. OTB & Budget Management:

- Own and manage OTB (Open-to-Buy) planning for assigned categories.

- Develop OTB plans in line with sales, margin, inventory and stock-cover targets.

- Monitor actual vs. planned sales, purchases and inventory and take corrective actions.

- Optimize inventory investment while ensuring adequate product availability.

- Partner with Buying teams to align purchasing decisions with merchandise plans.

3. Inventory & Replenishment:

- Drive inventory planning, stock allocation and replenishment across stores/channels.

- Monitor WOS, stock cover, sell-through, stock turn, ageing and inventory productivity.

- Drive replenishment based on demand and store-level performance.

- Identify slow-moving, non-performing and excess inventory and develop action plans.

- Minimize stock-outs and excess inventory while maintaining optimum stock levels.

4. Category & Business Performance:

- Track and analyze sales, gross margin, sell-through and category profitability.

- Identify business drivers and recommend actions to improve category performance.

- Conduct regular category reviews and performance analysis.

- Develop actionable insights from sales and inventory data for senior management.

- Recommend continuation, liquidation or replenishment strategies at product level.

5. Trend & Market Understanding:

- Stay updated on jewelry trends, customer preferences, competitive assortment and market movements.

- Translate market and customer insights into commercially viable assortment strategies.

- Identify emerging categories, designs, price points and product opportunities.

6. Cross-Functional Collaboration:

- Work closely with Buying, Design, Supply Chain, Retail, E-commerce, Finance and Marketing teams.

- Collaborate with Buying and Design teams to build commercially relevant collections.

- Partner with Supply Chain to ensure timely availability and replenishment.

- Align merchandise strategies with overall business and retail plans.

7. Reporting & MIS:

- Develop and maintain merchandise dashboards, category MIS and business performance reports.

- Present key insights and recommendations to senior management.

- Establish and monitor key merchandise KPIs and ensure timely action against gaps.

Candidate Profile:

- 5 - 8 years of relevant experience in luxury Jewelry / Fashion / Lifestyle Retail Merchandising.

- Prior experience in Jewelry Merchandising / Merchandise Planning is strongly preferred.

- Strong hands-on experience in Assortment Planning and OTB Management.

- Good understanding of inventory planning, demand planning and replenishment.

- Strong analytical and commercial acumen with the ability to convert data into business decisions.

- Experience working with Buying, Design, Supply Chain and Retail teams.

- Strong understanding of retail merchandise KPIs and category performance.

- Advanced MS Excel and strong MIS/analytical skills.

- Excellent communication, stakeholder management and presentation skills.

- Ability to independently manage categories and drive business outcomes.