User:Kshitizsaxena
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[edit] Homeware Buyer • Retail Middle East
KSHITIZ SAXENA
Focused & Result-oriented Buying Manager with a strong sense of retail, product trends and analytical experience. Proven expertise in driving efficiency and productivity through excellent leadership, business development skills & resource planning. Adept at communicating with management, vendors, and internal departments to coordinate overall business functions.
Core competencies include:
• International Sourcing • Market Trend Analysis • Category Management
• Merchandise Structuring • Budgeting & Forecasting • Margin Improvement
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
RED TAG, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, SEP’05 – PRESENT
BMA International is a Retail MNC which operates Malls & Retail Stores across Middle East. It’s Value Fashion & Home Store Division which operates more than 40 Stores under the names Sana Fashions, Jamal, Last Chance, Discount Home Stores, Gulfmart & Jazirat Smaa are now being revamped under the Brand name RED TAG.
Senior Buyer
Revamped the core Departments of Homeware Business – Home Décor & Bathroom Accessories. Restructured the Merchandise hierarchy by eliminating the Non performing categories & making the Non competitive categories as seasonal. Branding & Repositioning the departments in terms of Merchandise Selection, Assortment, Quality, Price Points & Consistency. Revived the ailing furniture business by Strategic Planning. Introduced new categories targeting Young Girls & Kids, which filled in the void of this Age group bracket. Have done training programs for Retail Sales associates on the category management, material & composition of merchandise & trained them on the Art of Visual merchandising via active workshop sessions.
Selected Contributions:
By Branding & Repositioning our Decorative departments in terms of Quality, Price Points & Consistency, we have been able to gown this category by Aed 2.8m from FY 05-06 to FY 06-07.
Revived the Ailing Furniture business by Introducing Furniture 365 Planning i.e. by dedicating top 10 stores permanently to this line of business and increasing the repetition of Furniture Promotion’s, we have given a facelift to the whole category. From Aed 3.7m FY 04-05 to Aed 5.7m FY 06-07.
Introduced a new line of business ‘Lass’ targeting the Young Girls & Kids. This category literally started from a scratch to Aed 1.0m in one year, speaks for the success itself.
Strategically revising the OTB Module for 9 months & above has helped us by forecasting & planning our merchandise well in advance by reducing last minute confirming orders & missing Promotions in the current state of business.
Streamlining the complete Bath Room Department by defining the Merchandise assortment in conjugation with the price point’s matrix.
GEANT HYPERMARKETS, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA , SEP’04 – SEP’05
Group Casino is one of leading Hypermarket & Supermarket Retailers of France which operates more than 9000 stores all around the world. The Saudi Business is managed by Leading Retailer of the region Al Hokair Group and Geant has 5 hypermarkets in the Kingdom.
Divisional Manager Buying
International buying Head for Light Household Department in French chain of Hypermarkets in Saudi Arabia. The Core Strategy behind the International operations was to Start Private Labels for Hypermarkets & Bring Freshness to the Merchandise Assortment. Highly Instrumental in Planning and developing Annual Sales / Imports forecast in consultations with Marketing, Merchandising and Commercial divisions. Preparing Budgets & Imports Strategies to achieve the Sales targets and objectives. Monitor and address performance indicators like Sales, Promotions, and Inventory & Discounting on a timely basis with the Commercial team.Market research on customer needs and Market Competition assessing need gaps and opportunity areas. Development of Marketing & Promotion Brochures.
Selected Contributions:
Formulated & Constituted the International Buying for the Chain of Hyper markets in Saudi Arabia and was responsible for Sr10.0m sales per annum coming from Imports.
Achieved 25% realized Gross Margins on Imports despite taking huge blows during Below the Cost Promotions on Imports merchandise.
Traveling to all major fairs in the world to choose and put together a new collection of products according to customer demand, trends & fashion
Streamlining the International Supply Chain & Logistics for the group by outsourcing the major critical clearing, warehousing & trucking.
Have gained huge experience while opening new hypermarkets throughout the Kingdom.
HOME CENTRE, DUBAI, UNITED ARAB MIRATES, AUG’02 – SEP’04
Landmark Group is one of the largest retail chains in Middle East & India. It operates stores such as Home Centre, Splash, Lifestyle, Shoe-Mart & Max. Home Centre is the complete Home Specialty store which carries Furniture, Furnishing & Complete Home Décor and has more than 50 stores.
Buyer, from Jan’04
Assistant Buyer, Aug’02 – Jan’04
Buying & Traveling to all major Fairs in Hongkong, China, Thailand, Philippines & India. Monitoring Sales & Margins closely to identify the winners and doing price revision for the losers. Negotiating on Prices & Payments terms , Finalizing Quantities and Scheduling Shipments to ensure continuous supply of new merchandise. Working on Initial Distributions and pushing stocks through Central & Regional Warehouses. Handling Claims & taking up quality issues with suppliers. Market Research, Competitors study & SWOT analysis were part of this profile.
Selected Contributions:
Reworked the quantities bought in Bathroom Accessories by studying in-depth the customer buying patterns and selling ratios of each coordinates viz-a-viz other coordinates.
Solely responsible for clearing ageing stocks by doing Best Buys & Promotions for UAE Territory Stores.
Responsible for maintaining optimum stock levels, monitoring all re-orders for the household categories.
SGS INDIA LIMITED, NEW DELHI, INDIA, MAY’00 – AUG’02 SGS is the world’s leading inspection, testing and certification company. It is recognized as the global benchmark for quality & integrity. It offers valuable service to its buyers by sourcing and monitoring quality as per their standards.
Executive, from Mar ‘01
Junior Executive May 00 – Mar 01
SGS Key Account Manager for the World’s 2nd largest Group of Retail Stores Carrefour. Core Objective was to assist Buyers by Sourcing price competent merchandise from India. Understanding the Buying price to Retail price matrix in buyer’s category and suggesting alternatives to reduce costing. Working closely with buyers on new seasons design packs and submitting them fresh ideas & samples. Conducting Factory Audits to ensure the goods produced are in compliance of the buyer’s standards.
Key Achievement:
Consistently met deadlines while demonstrating strong analytical and problem-solving skills to achieve buyer’s objectives.
Have worked in factories during production to monitor the quality aspects of merchandise and devise solutions incase of any approvals.
EDUCATION
Masters in International Business (2003)
PGDBA in International Business from Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune, India
Bachelors in Textile Engineering (2000)
B.Tech in Textile Technology from Technological Institute of Textile & Sciences, Bhiwani, India
SHORT TERM COURSES & TRAINING
I.C.S.C, New York, United States of America, Dec’04
International Council of Shopping Centers Certification, 9 months program for a Shopping Center Manager & Key Retailers especially designed for Geant Managers.
N.I.F.T, New Delhi, India, Feb ’01
National Institute of Fashion Technology Apparel Production Technology, a 2-3 months curriculum especially designed for SGS Team.
CONTACT DETAILS
PO Box 17474 • Dubai, United Arab Emirates •kshitizsaxena@yahoo.com • www.textilegurus.com
References will be provided on request.
