About: Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of luxury lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, footwear & accessories, home, fragrances and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren has sought to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style. Its reputation and distinctive image have been developed across a wide range of products, brands, distribution channels and international markets. The Company’s brand names – which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children and Chaps, among others – constitute one of the world’s most widely recognized families of consumer brands.
Ralph Lauren is looking for an Allocator to join the team in Hertfordshire.
The Allocator plays a key role in the success of their product division, utilising dedicated IT applications to create and manage all initial and replenishment allocations of stock to stores, as well as providing administrative support to the planning team, including running reports, analysing sales and stock figures.
Responsibilities of the Allocator…
Operations/Financial:
Produce packs for Monday trade meetings which include weekly sales and promotional Reports
Attend Key Meetings to understand season performance as well as forward strategies
Work within teams to formulate and implement strategies to help drive sales.
Ensure the financial success of a product group by allocating stock to stores to meet or exceed sales, gross profit, and inventory turn goals
Track and monitor Distribution Center (DC) and Store available inventory for the product group, maximising sales to stock ratios and turn
Execute the release of initial product distributions and in season replenishment to stores
Monitor and ensure full size availability of best sellers, Continuity lines and seasonal products in stores in order to maximise sell through
Work with cross functional teams to ensure timely and accurate execution of new store openings
Support planning teams with store, product and size analysis
Manage store communications through the system ‘Retail Intelligence’ to answer store call outs and as well as communicate promotional and mark down changes
Use systems including JDA, Microstrategy, Promo MD, and SAP
Communications/Relationships:
Develop and maintain effective working relationships within cross-functional team (stores, buying, planning, marketing, visual, etc.). In particular the planner and buyer in the team responsible for the product group
Communicate initial release and replenishment strategies within cross functional team
Participate in cross functional meetings, contributing input on distribution and/ or trading strategies
Compose and deliver key trading messages to the wider business.
Collaborate with peers to ensure consistency of information, share best practices and develop systems knowledge
Manage communication regarding inventory/replenishment with field contacts on a store by store basis if required
Store visits to gain insight to performance and availability
Participate in Company initiatives as appropriate
What Ralph Lauren is looking for:
Able to organise, prioritise tasks and manage time well in order to meet deadlines
Demonstrates logical analysis and problem-solving skills
Demonstrates good listening, written and oral communication skills, and effectively and clearly communicates
Able to build and maintain productive relationships within team environment
Advanced PC and associated application skills in MS Word and Excel
Show ability or aptitude in retail math, and to learn technical applications quickly
