Retail Buyer (Category Manager - Girl Toys) at Toys R Us and Babies R Us South Africa

Job purpose:

To meet sales and margins budget through selecting appropriate product ranges in order to provide our shopper with the widest breadth of product at the best possible value.

Responsible for evaluation, forecasting, selection and procurement of all merchandise. The Buyer is accountable for range management, department strategies, sales, profits, margins, stock turn for respective department as well as product quality control.

Key Skills needed:

• Product Development
• Negotiating
• Analysing sales data
• Detail orientated and a creative problem solver
• Critical and analytical thinking skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to persuade others
• Inventory management
• Sales planning
• Forecasting
• Expert level skills in retail merchandising tools and Microsoft tools/applications such as Excel and Outlook
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to multi task in a busy environment

Key Tasks & Responsibilities

• Strategy Development
• Analysing Competition  
• Financial Analysis, Pricing / OTB Planning
• Building Assortment and Range Plan
• SKU / Product / System Management
• Marketing / Advertising & Promotions
• Supplier Management/Negotiation
• Leadership / Talent Enhancement & Training
• Cross Functional Partnership

Desired Qualification and Experience

• National Diploma or Degree in business related field with Retail Buying as a subject
• At least 5 years experience in Retail Buying