The Merchandising Manager is responsible for driving financial planning, pricing strategy, margin optimization, inventory profitability, and commercial decision-making across product categories. The role partners closely with merchandising, procurement, sales, supply chain, and finance teams to maximize revenue, improve gross margins, and ensure effective inventory and working capital management.
Key ResponsibilitiesFinancial Planning & Analysis
- Prepare merchandise budgets, forecasts, and financial plans.
- Analyze category-wise sales, profitability, and margin performance.
- Support annual operating plans and periodic financial reviews.
- Develop financial models to improve business decisions.
Margin & Profitability Management
- Monitor gross margin performance across product categories.
- Recommend pricing and promotional strategies based on profitability analysis.
- Identify cost-saving opportunities and improve product profitability.
- Track markdown impact and optimize margin recovery.
Inventory & Working Capital
- Monitor inventory investments and inventory turns.
- Analyze slow-moving and obsolete inventory.
- Partner with supply chain to optimize stock levels.
- Improve inventory productivity and reduce carrying costs.
Commercial Finance
- Evaluate new product launches from a financial perspective.
- Support vendor negotiations through financial analysis.
- Analyze customer and product profitability.
- Prepare business cases for strategic initiatives.
Reporting & Analytics
- Develop management dashboards and KPIs.
- Prepare weekly and monthly business performance reports.
- Conduct variance analysis against budgets and forecasts.
- Present financial insights to senior leadership.
Cross-functional Collaboration
- Work closely with merchandising, procurement, operations, and sales teams.
- Provide financial guidance for assortment planning and category management.
- Support pricing committees and commercial reviews.
Compliance & Controls
- Ensure adherence to financial policies and internal controls.
- Support internal and external audits.
- Maintain data accuracy in ERP systems.
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- Commercial Finance
- Budgeting & Forecasting
- Margin Analysis
- Inventory Finance
- Pricing Strategy
- Business Partnering
- Working Capital Management
- Cost Analysis
- Financial Modeling
- Advanced Excel
- Power BI/Tableau (preferred)
- SAP/Oracle/MS Dynamics ERP
- CA / CMA / MBA Finance / M.Com
- Bachelor's degree in Commerce, Finance, or Accounting
- Retail
- E-commerce
- FMCG
- Consumer Goods
- Fashion & Lifestyle
- Manufacturing
- Distribution
