Apparel Inventory Planner (Maitland) at Pump & Abrasion Technologies

Job Purpose

• The Apparel Inventory Planner is responsible for ensuring that the right products are available in the right stores, in the right quantities, at the right time.
• This role manages stock planning, replenishment, allocations, size curves, transfers, stock balancing, and inventory reporting across retail stores, online channels, and warehouse locations.
• The role requires someone who understands inventory planning from the ground up — not only the reporting side, but also the working mechanics behind stock movement, replenishment, allocations, store demand, ERP accuracy, warehouse flow, and execution across the business.
• The Apparel Inventory Planner plays a critical role in improving stock availability, reducing stock-outs, managing slow-moving stock, supporting better buying decisions, and ensuring that inventory supports sales, customer demand, and profitability.

Key Responsibilities
Stock Planning & Replenishment

• Plan and manage stock levels across all stores, online channels, and warehouse locations.
• Monitor weekly sales, stock-on-hand, sell-through, weeks-of-cover, and stock availability.
• Identify fast-moving, slow-moving, and out-of-stock products.
• Recommend replenishment actions based on sales trends, stock holding, store performance, and customer demand.
• Ensure key styles, best sellers, and core products are available in the correct quantities and sizes.
• Maintain proper size curves across footwear, apparel, and accessories.
• Identify gaps in stock availability before they become sales problems.
• Support the business in maintaining the correct balance between stock availability and stock efficiency.

Allocations & Store Stock Balancing

• Allocate new stock to stores based on sales history, store grading, product type, size demand, store capacity, and available stock.
• Review stock distribution regularly and recommend store-to-store transfers where required.
• Ensure stores are not overstocked or understocked in specific products, categories, or sizes.
• Support new store openings, promotional launches, campaigns, and seasonal product drops with correct stock allocations.
• Ensure stock is placed where it has the highest chance of selling.
• Monitor store stock levels and recommend corrective actions where stores are carrying poor size curves, excess stock, or insufficient depth.

Inventory Reporting & Analysis

• Prepare weekly and monthly inventory reports to support decision-making.
• Report on key inventory metrics, including:
• Stock-on-hand
• Sell-through
• Weeks-of-cover
• Stock-outs
• Slow movers
• Best sellers
• Store performance by category
• Size availability
• Transfer requirements
• Replenishment needs
• Analyse product, store, category, and size performance.
• Identify risks and opportunities in the stock position.
• Translate sales and stock data into clear, practical actions.
• Provide management with meaningful insights, not just reports.

ERP & System Management

• Maintain and monitor accurate product, stock, and planning information on the ERP system.
• Ensure ERP data supports accurate planning, replenishment, reporting, and stock decision-making.
• Monitor transfers, shipments, receipts, and stock movements to ensure they are processed correctly.
• Follow up on unconfirmed shipments, outstanding transfers, receiving issues, and system discrepancies.
• Work closely with the Stock Controller to identify and resolve stock accuracy issues.
• Assist with stock take preparation, variance analysis, and stock accuracy improvement.
• Understand how system transactions impact physical stock, store availability, and reporting accuracy.

Planning Principles & Execution

• Understand planning principles from the ground up through to execution.
• Understand the full working mechanics of inventory planning, including how sales, stock, replenishment, allocations, transfers, buying, warehouse movement, and store performance all connect.
• Build planning recommendations that are practical, executable, and aligned with business reality.
• Identify the root cause of stock issues rather than only reacting to symptoms.
• Ensure that planning decisions are followed through into action.
• Work across teams to make sure that plans are implemented properly and that stock movements are completed.

Buying & Product Support

• Support the buying team with stock history, sales data, product performance, and size curve insights.
• Provide recommendations on reorder quantities, product depth, store allocations, and replenishment requirements.
• Assist in identifying products that should be repeated, discontinued, marked down, transferred, or rebalanced.
• Support seasonal, capsule, promotional, and core product planning.
• Provide input into future stock buys based on actual store and product performance.
• Help ensure that buying decisions are informed by data, store demand, and practical stock flow.

Store & Warehouse Communication

• Communicate stock movements, transfer requirements, replenishment priorities, and stock actions clearly to stores and warehouse teams.
• Follow up with stores on receiving, transfers, stock discrepancies, and stock availability issues.
• Work with store teams to understand customer demand, stock gaps, size requests, and product feedback.
• Ensure stores follow the correct processes for stock movement, receiving, transfers, and reporting.
• Work with warehouse teams to ensure stock is dispatched, received, and processed accurately and timeously.
• Escalate stock issues where needed and drive practical solutions.

Problem Solving & Continuous Improvement

• Identify stock-related problems and work through them logically.
• Understand the root cause of issues relating to stock-outs, overstocking, poor size curves, delayed transfers, system inaccuracies, or poor sell-through.
• Recommend practical solutions that improve stock flow and store performance.
• Continuously look for ways to improve planning processes, reporting, stock accuracy, replenishment, and execution.
• Take ownership of problems and follow through until they are resolved.
• Help create better structure, discipline, and consistency in inventory planning across the business.

Required Skills & Experience

• Previous experience in apparel, footwear, fashion, retail planning, inventory planning, merchandising, or a similar role.
• Strong understanding of retail stock flow, store replenishment, size curves, allocations, and seasonal product planning.
• Understanding of planning principles from the ground up through to execution.
• Deep understanding of the working mechanics of inventory planning, including how sales, stock, replenishment, allocations, transfers, buying, store performance, ERP accuracy, and warehouse movements all connect.
• Strong problem-solving ability, with the ability to identify stock issues, understand the root cause, and recommend practical solutions.
• Experience working with ERP, stock management, POS, or retail systems.
• Strong Excel or Google Sheets skills are essential.
• Ability to analyse sales and stock data and turn it into practical actions.
• Good understanding of retail store operations.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Good communication and follow-up skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and manage multiple priorities.
• Experience in footwear or apparel retail will be an advantage.
• Experience with size curves, store grading, replenishment models, and product performance analysis will be beneficial.