GUCCI Regional Retail Merchandising Manager

Role Mission The goal for the Merchandise Manager is to take categories and stores within the Mexican L.A. Market to full potential and deliver a unique client experience through a 360-degree approach. Ultimately, this role is meant to ensure that all cross-functional teams think and act like merchants. The Merchandise Manager will help to shorten the distance between the regional corporate offices and the stores. This role is responsible for providing market expertise, and building assortments for L.A. area stores in collaboration with buyers. They will work closely with Retail, Visual and the buying office to ensure individual market needs; Retail KPI’s, visual standards and financial goals are met. Communicate frequently with buying & retail teams to support and execute key strategies & decisions made in Market while also ensuring these are reflected on the selling floor. Build strong partnerships with members of other cross-functional teams such as CRM, Inventory Planning, Events and Marketing. Recommend actions against results and follow through on executing these actions. Coordinates daily activities across cross-functional team members. Supports upward mobility for Assistant Merchandiser by providing inspirational and balanced feedback consistently in order to position them for success.

Key Accountabilities

Retail Support

• Ensure all Mexico City area stores are visited on a weekly basis
• Ensure continuous sharing of information to guarantee that all cross functional partners are aligned
• Create quarterly store visit calendar taking into account all other major activities (ex. Buying campaigns, Seasonal Product Trainings, SMMs etc.)
• Define monthly goals & topics to be addressed during weekly City Alliance Meeting
  • Product training and TWTW based on the regional Gucci to Go calendar
  • Major VM display rotations
  • Planned retail activities/retail tools roll out
  • Special events
• leverage reporting to be used before and during the store visit to identify critical issues and opportunities for improvement

• RDM 2.0 standard reports by store
• Monthly Cross Selling Matrix shared by WW Retail
• BEAT and/or LUCE: performance by category/typology, best sellers & worst sellers, retail KPIs evolution, clientele analysis
• R.E.D Surveys

• Identify critical areas/opportunities to address based on business performance analysis
• Follow-up on actions implemented/to be implemented and define tasks and responsibilities
• Participate in Morning Briefing Meetings and give a general overview of the business performance and consequent points of attention for the day.
• Create team building activities to build strong relationships with sales associates
• Host in-store walk thru’s of all departments with retail and visual teams
• Complete City Alliance store visit “Check-List” and communicate with cross-functional teams to address short & long-term actions.
• Foster understanding of local market needs and segmentation by eliciting feedback through constant collaborative communication with retail teams
• Support and participate in in-store activities and events to increase customer loyalty.
• Frequent communication of new product arrivals and business trends.

Training Support

• Merchandise Manager will deliver a weekly in-store training on a specific products or set of products to enhance the sales associate’s product knowledge.
• Provide small training sessions during morning briefing, at the end of day or on a one to one basis
• Execute weekly training on specific looks based on product performance as well as new arrivals

Visual Support

• Attend and lead collaboration with retail and visual merchandising to ensure the most optimal Floorsets (on a weekly Basis)
• Enhance the visual display to better serve the local or tourist clients and maximize category potential
• Create consistency and maintain visual display in line with WW guidelines, business strategy and stock availability.
• Ensure that new arrivals are on display
• Identify cross selling opportunities in terms of visual display to facilitate the store to maximize retail KPI’s

Stock Productivity & Proximity

• Improve stock productivity to improve overall store newness sell thru
• Review store product category zoning, visual display space dedicated and key focuses based on sales and current inventory
• Push slow movers by ensuring a strong display
• Gather qualitative feedback on the new collections, best sellers and slow movers
• Update store on the upcoming deliveries and update inventory planning on major stock out issue
• Ensure adequate assortment to fully exploit the potential of special events
• Ensure BOH is efficiently organized and that the products are well stored and protected
• Maximize potential of proximity stock and FOH drawers
• Maximize cross selling opportunities through a dedicated organization of the BOH

Clientel’ing & Customer Experience

• Observe clients in the store in terms of traffic flows, clientele profiles, & selling ceremony
• Fine-tune assortments based on the specific clientele profiles to maximize the potential of the categories and increase retention
• Get an in depth knowledge of the VIGs of the store and their purchasing habits
• Review store environment from a client’s perspective to identify potential improvements in terms of fixtures or layout (seating, lighting, etc.)
• Support the team in ensuring a client matching experience and enhance retention through clienteling activities (OTOs etc.)
• Work closely with CRM & Special Events team to ensure seamless execution of client facing events or brand initiatives
• Ensure the development, implementation and execution of company CRM initiatives by providing action plans to the team.

Competitive Landscape

• Dedicate time to visit the stores of key competitors in the area/mall to analyze their assortment, clientele traffic and profile, in store activities to identify potential areas of improvement for Gucci
• Study and report on competitors pricing, product, and merchandising presentation strategies
• Report local market trends to regional buyers

Reporting / Results Tracking & Monitoring

• Deliver both qualitative and quantitative feedback on a monthly basis to all cross functional teams
  • Set cross-functional monthly meetings with all functions represented even if not directly
  • Best practices in terms of actions put in place for a particular stores and which have delivered strong positive results to evaluate roll out to other stores.

Buying Support

• Align with buyers prior to market on the specific needs in terms of assortment by store/by category.
• Host roundtable to present to the buyer a recap of the key insights by store in terms of client profile and assortment needs
• Create Client Book prior to Market for the top customers of the stores with purchasing history, habits, and any detail which could help the category buyer address his/her needs during buying campaign
• During Market, actively participate to all categories in-depth presentations, walk-throughs, reviews and selection for most if not all categories.
• Discuss at the end of season across all categories what worked/what didn’t work, main reason and realign on next seasons buying strategy

Performance and Talent Management

• Create and manage development plans for direct reports to ensure job satisfaction and future development.
• Manages and coaches their team to prioritize their work, be store/client focused, and team-oriented.
• Lead by example with a high standard of professionalism, positive attitude, and desire to be at Gucci

Job Requirements

• Bachelor degree in Fashion, Business, Finance or related discipline
• A minimum of 4-5 years of relevant buying or Retail experience gained within a fashion and/or luxury environment
• Experience in managing and developing a team.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
• Flexibility to travel with short notice and to work a demanding schedule, which can include on an adhoc basis: evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Core Competencies

• Passionate about exceeding corporate goals and driving business through excellent execution
• Solid forecasting, analytical and planning skills
• Ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast paced and dynamic environment
• Comfortable with ambiguity and easily adaptable in an ever-changing environment
• Excellent organizational skills
• Talent for managing, coaching and developing a team
• Excellent communication skills – verbal and written
• Strong eye for relevant and brand luxury product
• Commercial awareness and strong business acumen
• Proven ability to drive results
• Passionate about exceeding corporate goals and driving business through excellent execution
• Desire to embrace brand values and be an ambassador for Gucci