Purpose of the Role:Merchandise planning is the process conducted by a retailer to ensure that the right product is available to the customer at the right place, time, quantity and priceThis process involves selecting the products the retailer will carry and determining the purchase quantities of these products.Role: Merchandise PlannerLocation: Durban NorthQualifications:Grade 12/ MatricRelevant 3-year Degree/ DiplomaMin 3-5 years relevant Retail Planning experience accountable for own area and managing allocators / order clerks.Apparel / Accessories / Footwear experience is preferableKnowledge, Skills and abilities required:Advanced knowledge of excel, retail systems and general computer skillsMust be able to run pivot tables and do vlookup functions and create and maintain advanced reportsMust understand forecasting aspect of planning and interaction of key KPIs.Good articulation with excellent English written & verbal communication skillsGood numerical, analytical thinking & logical problem-solving skillsStrong merchant, trader and commercial mentalityTeam Collaborator who is strategic and forward thinkingStrong planning, organizing, administrating and coordinating skillsAbility to work independently, self-lead and use initiativeMethodical, detail-orientated and high level of accuracyPunctual, Deadline driven and outcomes focusedStrong data handling capabilitiesAttention to detail keyRole & Responsibilities:To drive sales and profitability (GP) through the category management of sales, stock, OTB and margin.Collate / Manipulate data for manual input into planning tool.Forecast sales and stock on the planning templates based on current trend, performance and opportunities.Ensure that category stock holding is in line with budget / forecast and manage the OTB accordingly.Make commercial recommendations based on current trade and propose actions.Assortment planning and assist in product ranging.Analyse size curves at store level as well as other key user defined attributes.Seasonal analysis and post mortem with corresponding strategy and range planning.Responsible for developing and translating departmental pre-season merchandise strategies into executable in-season merchandise plans.Establish pre-season sales and margin plans, together with the inventory levels required to support them.In season, re-project sales and markdowns in consideration with the impact on margin.Manage the allocation teams to balance inventory and assortment across the stores to ensure the right stock is in the right store at the right time.Provide financial strategies for sales, markdowns, inventory and gross margin, and also responsible for accurate in-season forecasting, driving course corrections and improvements based on variances between actual results and the plan.Working closely in a team with buyers and allocators to make sure the range is executed.Liaise with buying departments regarding style performance.Controlling the budget and managing the supply chain of the different categories / departments.Strategically manage stock and produce accurate figures for analysis.Grading stores and calculating units buys for the buying team in order to support the strategy.Oversee and work with Allocators to correctly distribute stock to stores through allocations, consolidations and stock movements.Maintaining store stock levels for core merchandise.Other ad hoc reporting