Tri-State Area Buyer/Merchant

Cos Bar•Stamford, CT

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Buyer/Merchant role is responsible for selecting the finest and most distinctive product in their area of buying responsibility in alignment with the overall Cos Bar merchandising strategy. Reporting to the Senior Director of Buying, this role is responsible for Open to Buy management/purchase order writing, item management, 360 degree vendor management, merchandising and assortment strategies, sales/inventory data analysis, marketing and vendor negotiations to optimize and grow the business. Additional duties include market travel, market research, competitor analysis, product evaluations and testing, and creating and presenting executive level presentations and reports for the management team. Buyer/Merchant must possess a strong luxury beauty industry knowledge. In this role, you will leverage your expertise in buying and inventory management to optimize product selection, ensure alignment with the Cos Bar merchandising strategy, and drive profitability. Buyer/Merchant will be instrumental in executing buying strategies that resonate with our elevated brand identity and enhance the customer experience.

Requirements

College Degree or equivalent
5+ years of progressive beauty buying experience is required
Experience in purchasing, procurement, supply chain, or inventory management.
Strong negotiation and communication skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Attention to detail and organizational skills.
Knowledge of inventory management and analytics tools
Knowledge of market trends and consumer behavior in the relevant retail sector
Vendor management
Critical, proactive thinker with strategic mindset and ability to offer solutions
A strong understanding of retail math, industry trends with the ability to translate them into relevant and innovative ideas that appeal to the Cos Bar customer
Solid planning skills with experience managing an Open to Buy
Strong negotiation skills
Ability to partner and influence vendors/cross-functional partners to enhance in-store experience and space productivity
Detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills
Ability to prioritize competing deadlines in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
Self-motivated and willing to go above and beyond
Flexibility and ability to wear many hats
Energetic with a positive attitude
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, especially Excel and Google Sheets.
Candidates should have hands-on experience using VLOOKUPs (or similar lookup functions), building and analyzing pivot tables, and applying data manipulation formulas to clean, validate, combine, and analyze datasets for business reporting and decision-making.
Financial Planning literacy
Managing and Measuring Work
Customer Focus
Written Communications
Strategic Agility & Solution Oriented
Team Player
Previous buying experience (luxury retail preferred) and someone who is passionate about luxury beauty
Good people and communication skills and a passion for luxury beauty, a high energy level, flexible, resilient, and positive.
Strong Negotiation skills
Be opportunistic and possess the ability to maximize opportunities through skillful inventory management.
Solid financial skills, be decisive, have a good sense of urgency, and thrive in an ever changing environment

Nice To Haves

Previous buying experience (luxury retail preferred)

Responsibilities

Develop and execute comprehensive merchandise buying and product plans that align with overall company strategy and objectives.
Manage consistent and reliable vendor communication in a professional manner; hold consistent monthly, quarterly and seasonal check-ins.
Evaluate vendor performance.
Manage OTB and write PO’s in a timely manner.
Oversee and execute item setup and management.
Plan seasonal merchandise assortments and product launches.
Monitor inventory levels and sales performance to ensure optimal stock levels and minimize overstock or out of stock.
Manage replenishment to optimize stock availability.
Analyze sales performance, inventory levels, market trends, and customer preferences.
Identify opportunities for margin improvement and sales growth.
Track product performance and adjust assortment strategies based on results to inform future buys.
Collaborating with Planning to forecast new launch demand and support financial planning activities.
Report on buying performance, producing actionable insights that drive continuous improvement.
Negotiate terms, RTV’s/swaps, marketing/store support, and contracts with vendors that maximize margin and profitability.
Attending and scheduling in person and virtual market appointments
Collaborate with planning, marketing, operations, and store teams.
Collaborating with marketing to develop co-op strategies and ensure best in class product experience on Cosbar.com
Lead cross-functional teams in the launch of new products, ensuring alignment between buying, marketing, stores and operations.
Conduct competitive market analysis and provide suggestions for new vendors.
Analyze market trends, consumer preferences, and competitor strategies to inform purchasing decisions.
Staying up-to-date on the latest trends and newest products in their industry.
Responsible for selecting the finest and most distinctive product in their brand matrix that meets the high standards of quality and best suits the needs of the Cos Bar client
Develops and makes recommendations based on sales history and business analysis
Conducts brand and market share competitive analyses, develops insights and recommends tests to Sr Director of Buying
Identify and execute opportunities to create Cos Bar exclusive offerings and merchandising initiatives within own brand matrix
Take the lead on improving upon company strategic initiatives such as sell thru, turn, sales to stock ratio and high margin within own brand assortments
Own the OTB replenishment and newness launch cadence within brand matrix
Own the item setup and PO writing process for brand matrix from top to bottom
Item setup and maintenance
PO writing
PO vendor communication
Ecomm assets + copy collection
Understands and partners with Planning and Sr Director of Buying on OTB receipt requests and incremental sales opportunities for its own brand matrix to hit sales and EOM targets.
Responsible for staying within OTB budget and communicating additional $ needs to Planning and Sr Director of Buying
Ensure that appropriate inventory is allocated to support forecasted sales for products in their own brand assortment to minimize out-of-stock or overstocks.
Partner with Planning on developing sales/receipt forecasting plans as needed for new or existing brands
Update price changes in systems
Update item status in system based on Assortment Architecture and vendor changes
Takes initiative to evolve the buying process to become more efficient by building upon forecasting tools and streamlining PO creation and onboarding process
Analyze selling, category and vendor performance via Key KPI’s such as top sellers, turn, WOS, sell-through, stock to sales $ ratio and develop an action plan
Be able to pull and assess data in order to provide compelling recommendations/feedback to executive leadership
Responsible for negotiating and executing RTV’s and securing RA’s from brands and communicating to all cross functional teams
Attend and schedule market appointments prepared with strategic assortment plans and understanding of products with a customer centric approach.
Building and maintaining strong relationships with vendor partners within the brand matrix to drive growth and achieve company goals
Communicate to vendor partners on consistent monthly basis regarding top/ slow sellers and areas of opportunity, key marketing initiatives.
Partner with brands on SPIFF, GWP, store and marketing co-op strategies
Negotiate buying terms and regular RTV’s to maximize profitability and turn
Identify opportunities to consistently improve buying terms and conditions within matrix (RTV’s, markdown dollar support, sell thru agreements, high margin, swaps, DIF, MOQ, consignment, dropship etc)
Communicate new product launches, new vendors, new door expansions to marketing teams to ensure alignment across all channels and teams
Identify white space from a luxury beauty marketing perspective and Ideate new marketing opportunities via instore events and digital content strategies between all cross functional teams
Communicate key marketing campaigns to brands and secure additional support via co-op, GWP, sampling etc .
Own new seasonal item setup calendar from brands
Partner with Marketing and Vendors for product asset management to ensure best-in-class digital experience.
Suggest in-store merchandising product strategies that ensure alignment with monthly marketing product focuses.
Collaborate with vendors and marketing teams.