About the Company
Charming Shoppes, Inc. is a leading multichannel specialty apparel retailer primarily focused on plus-size women's apparel. We are the parent company of four distinct store brands – Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Catherines Plus Sizes and Petite Sophisticate – as well as Crosstown Traders, Inc., a direct marketer of women's apparel. With more than 2,400 stores nationwide, Charming Shoppes provides a significant presence in strip shopping center, mall locations and outlet centers.
Our Vision is to be the company known for celebrating the lives and fashion image of women wearing plus sizes. Our continuing Mission is to serve the lifestyle apparel needs of women wearing plus sizes with the very best service, fashion selection, value and fit.
Job Description
Category: Retail/Wholesale
Compensation: -
BasicResponsibilities: Owns the online analysis and planning process for websitemerchandise analysis. Manage creation of Product PerformanceAnalysis, inventory planning and management reports andstrategy. Develop unique business opportunities in e-commerceacross key areas: merchandise planning and analysis, productplacement, and direct-to-consumer initiatives. Theseinter-related responsibilities are critical for seasonal planning,inventory management and online product sales performance. Working in coordination with the Sr. Manager Online Merchandising thesuccessful result of this analysis and product planning is a wellmanaged inventory position; strong GM and well planned online productsales program that is updated daily and executed according to aseamless plan. Communicate product strategy for inventorymanagement to the entire internet team as well asMerchants. SpecificResponsibilities
Manage accurateand timely development of in-season reporting, projections, andanalysis with actionable recommendations. Provide research andanalysis from merchandise selling trends, marketplace pricesensitivity, and consumer response to merchandise product. Develop ane-Commerce merchandise plan at the Super Department level (anddepartment level as needed) based on the financial goal for thebusiness segment provided by Finance Maximize uniquee-commerce sales and inventory opportunities - the e-commerce sellingmodel contains uniqueness with growth curve, seasonality, turn, andthe effect of marketing elements. Track and pursue e-commercemargin opportunities in price cadence and in coordination with onlinemerchandising develop promotional strategies. Provide sales, margin and cost justification analysis for emergingecommerce initiatives and promotions reviewing all 3 venues (onlinesales, P2E and catalog). Drive therelationship with Allocation Team members to maximize sales to stockratios, optimize direct and replenishment categories, and monitoraged inventory programs as well as in moving sales forward in apositive manner. Prepare supplement reporting to support planningrecommendations and growth opportunities. Work with partners inReplenishment to recommend appropriate shelf stock levels. Regularlymeet with Allocations to ensure adequate inventory levels aresupplied to sustain direct to consumer demand: i.e. online sales, P2Eand catalog transactions. Developing analytics to supportselling strategies for each of these 3 venues (online sales, P2E andcatalog) to push sales forward and increase overall sales. Develop strategyand growth plans for breakout merchandise categories as they relateto year-round basics, fashion and online categories. Oversee thedevelopment of e-commerce merchandise plans by department and productlevel structure. Own this process and the delivery of appropriate andtimely reporting and planning documents. Identify and recommendmerchandise category opportunities for online business with partnersin retail Planning and Merchandising; such as, style priorities, unitbuys, year round products, additional product classification andextended size ranges, based on supporting analytics. Participate in pricing, liquidation and clearance recommendationswith retail merchant and planning teams An “ownership”position in success of the products within all the online categories.Hands on involvement working with merchants, marketers and operationsto assure proper allocation to maximize, meet and exceed budgetplans. Work with online teams in positioning of product groups andstrategies for sales. Demonstrated action plan for management ofinventory and product sales. Directly responsible for clear concisecommunication with all team members. Manage thepresentation weekly to eCommerce team (at team meetings) on status ofkey category groups within the online product line up. Thispresentation includes recommendations and business planning aroundproduct inventories. Oversee development by the Online MerchandiseAnalyst of all reporting, its accuracy and timeliness. Create keymetrics reports on site analytics specific to sales patterns andmerchandise position. Maintain these reports and offer key insightsfor site merchandising strategies that support our inventory planningand strategy. Utilize these Omniture metrics to develop plans for newcategory development and testing. Assure thate-Commerce planning has aligned pre-season with VP Planning with aleft/right plan for upcoming Fall and Spring seasons. Overseedevelopment of Left/Right planning process. Perform ad-hocbusiness analysis and project work related to the continued successand growth of the online business unit Implementation ofan e-Commerce specific Open-To-Buy (OTB) allowing e-Commerce plannerthe ability to manage seasonal plans by month by super department andtaking into account planning for all 3 venues ( online sales, P2E andcatalog). Review of theretail vertical process planning calendar. Identify key meetingse-Commerce planning should attend to provide insight into theirbusiness needs to achieve financial goals. Overseedevelopment of critical Microstrategy reports used daily to monitorsales and on-hand inventory and incoming receipts. Provide allin-season e-Commerce reporting, projections and analysis and shareactionable recommendations with retail planning directors prior topresenting data at the monthly OTB/MPC meetings to the retailMerchants, Planning, Allocation, and Replenishment teams Development ofe-Commerce planning roles and responsibility matrix with the intentto foster better working relationships between e-Commerce planningand their retail partners Overseedevelopment of automated weekly eCom only reporting to be used byeCom planning, merchants, allocation team and others as necessary toview weekly status by DVSC of eCom inventory and salestrends. Deliverables:Detailed reports reviewing inventory status including recommendationsand action plan for inventory management including: Sales Plan bysuper department Left right analysis with hindsight – seasonal andmonthly Weekly executive report - weekly planning analysison calendar positioning for product and estimated sales by positionfor recent weeks Monday MPC meeting review including historic viewupdates for the left/right analysis of inventory and planning OTB financials with forecasting preseason Product ageing report by department DVSC attribute reporting Utilize Omniture analytics to view what behaviorsare driving sales through what areas Other reporting as necessary
Job Requirements
Experience:
6+ years onlinemerchandise and planning 8+ years combined experience in retailing ande-commerce Successful track record in scope management,customer-driven programs and solution delivery Able to develop strategies and plans for onlineprograms targeted at building online success and profitability Creative problem solver with advanced analyticskills, especially in Microstrategy, AS400, Omniture andExcel. Expert experience working within Omniture anddeveloping custom reports and metrics MBA is strongly preferred. Should be experiencedat developing financial plans and supporting documentation for theplanning process.