L4 Buying & Merchandising by

EOY Appraisal Feedback

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 13:56:35 UTC

Feedback from my current and previous manager for my EOY appraisal.

B4 - Is resilient, organised with an eye for attention to detail (highlighted in yellow)

B5 - Is flexible, agile and adaptable to changing markets (highlighted in pink)

S10 - Works with external and internal departments (for example, marketing, distribution, suppliers) to build relationships to drive sales activity and support the delivery of the business objectives across all channels (highlighted in blue)

Market Share

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 13:57:08 UTC

An example of the monthly Market Share pack I complete for the BT Girls department.

K5 - The brand position within the market, which includes both UK and global markets, retailer types and trading models.

Pricing Basket

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 13:57:32 UTC

An example of the bi-monthly pack I complete as 'Pricing Champ' at George. This is an example of how I communicate to my colleagues where George stand against the market, this then helps to make decision to lower/increase prices to improve sales and our position in the market.

K9 - Effective methods of communication to achieve operational success.

Negotiation Tracker

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 13:57:55 UTC

This is an example of a negotiation tracker for the swim SS25 range. It shows my clear communication with suppliers and shows how I am trying to constantly get better prices for the business, which will result in more profit.

S1 - Uses their market/industry knowledge to contribute to new product development and innovation.

S5 - Negotiates in a manner that balances the need for a sound financial return, with the need to operate ethically, honestly and fairly.

S21 - Operates in a manner that produces the required financial rate of return for the business.

Critical Path

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 13:58:07 UTC

This is a copy of the Critical Path we use on the BT Girls department. I use this when looking at planning for the swimwear range, general queries or if I need to find information and when I need to find products for marketing (as they provide their requirements in wks, rather than dates).

K3 - Product lifecycle from development to customer and the critical path approach to support the buying and merchandising process.

S4 - Ensures accurate implementation of the critical path prioritising actions accordingly

My Objectives

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 13:58:15 UTC

The objectives I have set myself for the upcoming year. I have set to complete all these objectives by August 2024 before my career break.

Customer Profiles

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 14:00:34 UTC

BT Girls Customer Profiles - whenever we are planning a range or products, we always ensure that we are covering off each profile so that there is products each customer likes.

Swim Trend Board

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 14:00:40 UTC

When planning the swimwear range for SS25, I worked with design to ensure we are covering off each 'trend' that we have called out.

K3 - Product lifecycle from development to customer and the critical path approach to support the buying and merchandising process.

K10 - The principles of internal trend analysis and forecasting

Trade

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 14:00:48 UTC

An example of our weekly trade pack, we have a meeting to discuss this each week. It helps us to know what is selling well and helps when planning future ranges.

S12 - Demonstrates accurate application of systems in analysing data (for example, customer trends, buying patterns, stock rotation and levels)

K20 - The impact of stock planning and densities on profitability and how it aligns to organisational/brand strategy.

RBSO mins

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 14:00:59 UTC

Each meeting I attend for Range Builds or Range Build Sign Offs, I create a PowerPoint with all notes on and actions that have come from the meeting. This is my responsibility each time, it is important that the notes are accurate and clear as this is what the team looks back on in future.

Negotiation Course

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 14:01:46 UTC

The notes from my 2 day training course. The course was to help with negotiation skills, best practise and techniques with negotiation and how to maximise margin.

K6 - Effective methods of negotiation, and how they relate to the organisation’s strategy, goals and ethical stance.

S19 - Develops self and individuals to improve personal and team performance and capability.

S5 - Negotiates in a manner that balances the need for a sound financial return, with the need to operate ethically, honestly and fairly

Des Pres

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-04-17 14:04:02 UTC

The girls-wear design presentation for SS25 PH3. As a buying team we will work towards building ranges whilst keeping the trends and customer in mind.

K10 - The principles of internal trend analysis and forecasting

Commodity Dashboard

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-01 13:43:57 UTC

I use the commodity dashboard when looking at target prices in negotiations. This helps me to know how much I should give the supplier as a target when looking at prices YOY or season on season.

K19 - The range and impact of external factors such as currency fluctuation and global suppliers have on profit margin and costs.

Sheet from supplier for sustainability

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-01 14:56:28 UTC

This is an example of a sustainable claim form, this is compulsory for suppliers to submit when they have produced a product for George that contains a recycled material. It is important that they submit this so that the sustainability teams can check that the recycled materials are proven and certified.

K2 - Industry standards, regulations and legislation relating to the ethical and sustainable sourcing, purchasing and sale of goods to ensure compliance.

S3 - Ensures product quality and legal compliance by working within industry standards, regulations and legislation to source, purchase and sell goods.

S8 - Applies an ethical and sustainable approach to the buying and merchandising process in line with policies and procedures to achieve legal compliance.

B6 - Operates within professional code of ethics.

Comp Shop

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-01 16:11:10 UTC

This is a comp shop that I made when myself and the team were planning the AW24 coats range. It was important I completed this before we had our Range Build and Range Build Sign Off, this is because we could then make sure we were covering off any products that our competitors do, as well as helping us to explain our reasoning for developing new products.

K7 - Key aspects of the sector in respect of global and domestic trading patterns.

K11 - The principles of undertaking competitor analyses.

S15 - Demonstrates anticipation of customer buying and product patterns to forecast future demand.

Training Start Pack

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-01 16:12:54 UTC

This is the new starter induction pack, I used this when training the new colleague on my department.

K16 - The importance of coaching and mentoring to support the development of the buying and merchandising teams.

S19 - Develops self and individuals to improve personal and team performance and capability.

S23 - Coaches and mentors new/less experienced colleagues.

Buying Assistant Responsibilities

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-01 16:19:48 UTC

This document shows the role of an assistant buyer at George. It is something that we all work towards to ensure we are capable of all the tasks and that we have an understanding of our role.

K4 - Principles of buying and merchandising and the specific role of each

the development of the buying and merchandising teams.

S19 - Develops self and individuals to improve personal and team performance and capability.

Base Plan/ Lessons Learnt

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-01 17:12:31 UTC

This is a base plan pack, the merchandising team create it to share with buying and design. We have a base plan meeting ahead of planning and range building for the future season, this helps us to understand the customer mindset, what they want and their shopping habits. It also helps us to understand what level of seasonal product we should have in at certain times e.g do they want short sleeve tshirts in February?

S12- Demonstrates accurate application of systems in analysing data (for example, customer trends, buying patterns, stock rotation and levels)

K12 - The different purchasing habits of customers, seasonality and the different customer journey across all purchasing channels

K21 - Factors affecting and impacting seasonal planning to ensure availability of appropriate products and to drive profit

Supplier Critical Path

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-14 14:26:08 UTC

Each of our suppliers will send us a document like this, it is important they send it and we review this as a team to ensure we find any problems before they cause issues. It helps with building supplier relationships because we know we can trust the suppliers and we have meetings to discuss the documents to ensure everything is on track.

S6 - Monitors agreed performance targets with suppliers to manage ongoing supplier relationships

S9 - Ensures the agreed route to market is delivered and maintained successfully so that objectives are met

Professional Discussion - Business Ethics

AnnaBleuSmith — 2024-05-14 14:42:26 UTC

This is my preparation and notes for the professional discussion I had around Business Ethics. Having the PD gave me the chance to have a meeting with the sourcing and sustainability team, I learnt lots about their processes, industry standards and their day to day jobs.

K2 - Industry standards, regulations and legislation relating to the ethical and sustainable sourcing, purchasing and sale of goods to ensure compliance