Associate Buyer, Accessories

Skechers•Manhattan Beach, CA

3d•$72,000 - $87,000

About The Position

The Accessories Associate Buyer is responsible for planning and selecting a range of products to sell in our retail stores and on our website. Buyers source new products and review existing items to ensure a proper product mix and balanced inventory flow. Buyers must adhere to assigned financial targets and “open to buy” plans, and they must consider critical factors when making purchasing decisions. These factors include channel segmentation (web, value, full price), customer demands, market trends, competitive analysis, product availability, product flow, and pricing strategy. This position works closely with the Web team, Planning, Allocations, Visual Merchandising, Marketing and Store Operations to optimize assortments by channel.

Requirements

Superior communication skills; able to communicate persuasively, influentially and responsibly across a broad spectrum of stakeholders.
Must be driven to excel and succeed, taking full ownership for his or her success.
Strong organizational skills with ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize and meet deadlines.
Must have aptitude with numbers and clear understanding of retail math skills.
Excels in team-environments and in building and developing strong interpersonal relationships, while maintaining an individual determination to accomplish goals.
Must have 3+ years of experience in buying with a medium to large Accessories Retailer.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
Computer proficiency with advanced knowledge of Excel (pivot tables, v-lookups, etc.)
Required travel: 20-30%

Responsibilities

Serve as an expert by using historical data to build the right assortment for accessories categories.
Strategic channel segmentation, and geographical location assortment planning will be critical to support the category/brand vision.
Efficiently achieve sales and profit targets by consistently reviewing and appropriately editing product lines, ensuring there is a balanced SKU assortment in style, pattern, color, and size while increasing productivity.
Work in tandem with planners, analyzing past sales figures and current trends to anticipate future product needs and devise a merchandise business objective.
Partner with Store Planners on initial Pre-Distribution when placing buys and review again 60- days prior to arrival.
Must possess strong analytical skills, advanced Microsoft Excel skills, as well as understanding of retail math.
Must possess strong communication and presentation skills and must have the ability to effectively articulate their point of view and support decisions with fact-based details.
Buy specific SKU counts and quantities of inventory for each channel type (Concept, Web, Outlet, Big Box store types) throughout the season.
Deliver results for each gender/category performance based on strategic goals and budget expectations.
Analyze sales, inventory and margin by style to ensure appropriate inventory levels and pricing strategies to support the business.
Store centric mindset with focus on store level, style level performance.
Ability to recognize current and future trends and react and adjust buys accordingly.
Propose strategic pricing strategies inclusive of markdowns by gender, category, and channel type.
Partner closely with licensed brand partners to develop, assort and execute accessories programs that align with brand standards, financial targets and seasonal strategies.