https://www.officechoice.com.auKey Responsibilities:• Overseeing the planning and implementation of merchandising strategies.• Monitoring and applying various merchandise and category management methods to increase productivity and profitability.• Shaping team and company culture and working closely with all other departments.• Developing annual and quarterly budgets and working to deliver to them with relevant stakeholders.• Collaborating closely with the marketing department to brainstorm new projects, campaigns, and business ideas.

Peter Stevens Motorcycles along with Harley Heaven is a motorcycle dealer group and retailer employing more than 600 staff nationally. With seven multi-franchise Peter Stevens Motorcycle dealerships and six Harley-Heaven dealerships with retail stores it is a business that sells new and used bikes, motorcycle parts, helmets, riding gear, lifestyle brands such as Fox head racing, Alpine Stars, Triumph, Aprilia, Vespa and Harley Davidson, finance, insurance and jet skis/personal watercraft and their accessories along with service centres.Achievements:- Grew Profit in the first year and gained market share- Developed a motivated and engaged buying team - Developed clearance strategies and aged stock reporting that significantly reduced aged stock and legacy stock while continuing to meet business sales and margin objectives - Developed a data warehouse and reporting tools that allowed reporting on foot traffic, vs labour, vs sales allowing the business to add many operational efficiencies - Sourced new products and was first to market in Australia for many key product launches - Developed the brand guidelines and brand identity for Peter Stevens using colours, fonts and tone of voice and moved away from the generic supplier provided ads - Developed the marketing budget and controls that gave transparency to what was being spent and was ultimately able to reduce spending- Developed the marketing calendar of promotional campaigns and promotional activities driving sales and foot traffic (Developed store foot traffic reporting)- Grew, cleansed and segmented the customer data base to allow targeted email campaigns - Grew the number of Facebook and Instagram followers and marketed targeted offers to them

Managed the “beer team” and had P&L responsibility for the beer category. The role involved creating and delivering the annual beer & cider strategies, product development, range development and maintenance, product launches, promotions and marketing with a great deal of competitor pricing analysis. Supplier management and joint buisness planning with key suppliers was a large part of the role. Growing profitability was a main focus for this role. I was involved in projects such as “Click & Collect” , “My Dan Murphy’s” loyalty program, "Connections" direct ship program, and the development of the “Beer Guide”. Achievements:- Grew margin and market share in beer through targeted strategies to lift margin (Nielsen data)- Developed and rolled out the craft beer zone to over 200 retail stores - Significantly reduced aged stocks through clearance programs and range reductions- Co-developed the John Boston range of craft beers and the re-branding of Castaway cider- Developed the first ever Dan Murphy’s “Beer Discovery Guide” - Built the first ever “Connections” online only range of supplier drop shipped beers - Was recognized for the best activation in liquor at the Woolworths conference (for that year) for the launch and activation of Crown Golden Ale at Dan Murphy’s

Yoobee - "The Home of Apple" - is a dedicated Apple reseller and service agent, with a complimentary 3rd party range to Enhance, Connect & Protect iOS and Mac devices.The role of National Merchandise Manager was established in order to manage all Supplier relationships and control the 3rd party products sold via the retail network and webstore.Achievements- Lifted margin significantly in key 3rd party categories (10x profit in some weeks)- Negotiated all of the trading term contracts the products were purchased under giving significant benefits that were previously not being received (i.e. sale or return)- Built the entire 3rd party range offering and implemented nationally- Rebuilt the department structure and hired all the people for the merchandise team - Removed a great deal of aged and obsolete stock through negotiated returns and clearance activity reducing the stock holding value and increasing stock turns- Managed in the upgrade of existing POS system and scoped purchasing / merchandise needs from system and reporting capability point of view- Created Master product file and classification of all products identifying and developing a core range, classified by sub categories- Opened Riccarton Mall store and Sylvia Park store and moved the Dunedin store to new location

Paper Plus Group consists of approximately 165 Stores including Paper Plus, Take Note and Office Spot. It is one of the largest retailer by store numbers in New Zealand and has near the highest non grocery foot traffic.Categories: Computer Consumables, Printers, Technology, Business Machines, Digital Media, Paper, Calendars and Diaries, Postal Products, Packaging, Computer Ergonomics, Visual Presentation, Photocopying and Office Furniture.I had responsibility for:•Developing and implementing category strategies across the group •Developing and maintaining collaborative relationships with store owners and suppliers to grow category sales•Built a network of relationships across the group and supply channel in order to understand specific business unit strategic commercial imperatives•Supplier performance management, maintained collaborative working relationships with suppliers aligned to business objectives and personal KPI’s• Developed and provided detailed market analysis to understand category economics, business continuity and to develop total life cost sourcing strategies for the category•Identified high priority sub-categories and areas of opportunity whilst maintaining an in-depth knowledge of developments in the local, national and international supply markets•Drove and implemented complex and high value procurement negotiations on behalf of business units and ensured contracts were prepared for sign off as a result of the tendering and negotiation processes obtaining optimal return of value•Managed and developed a small team of direct reports•Negotiated sourced and had responsibility of the products to featured in promos as part of the promotional programs •Negotiated complex, high value contracts and business agreements

ACL is a buying/marketing group for approximately 120 independently owned Appliance and Consumer Electronic stores across New Zealand. Member’s franchised brands include 100% (Your Electric Store), Appliance Spot and unidentified Members such as Magness Benrow and The Appliance Shed. ACL is also part of NARTA which is a larger buying group, in NZ made up of ACL, Farmers, JB Hi Fi, Smiths City and Autel that use their collective buying power to better compete with larger volume orders. Key Responsibilities at ACL- Category Manager• Development of business objectives to meet or exceed the set purchasing budget of set categories• To achieve volume buys, discounted product and exclusive opportunities• Promotional item selection to ensure foot traffic and competitive offers in the market• Champion and lead a group of independent appliance store owners into “new” category opportunities such as Information Technology products and Mobile phone categories• Champion, train and lead members to actively promote “on account” or post pay mobile phone opportunities • To drive purchasing behaviour in order to achieve supplier targets were reached• Act as category champion liaising with store owners, suppliers and at times customers• Many other duties as presented by working in an independent retail structure that could be discussed

Key Responsibilities at Warehouse Stationery- Category Manager•Developed the 2007 range for calendars and diaries, forecasting and ordering were done by product, by store at a very detailed level•Improve financial performance to exceed sales budgetsIntroduce innovation and “new news” to categories in range and promotions•Negotiate regular special buys or deals that increase volume sales•Negotiations to improve trading terms•Increase stock turns •Perform regular Category reviews on the 50 sub categories that I was responsible for •Clearance of deleted/aged stock•Supplier rationalization•Back to School activity•Product Promotional Selection•Category Strategies•Management/Development of a small team

Key Responsibilities at Repco•Development of business objectives for product accountabilities to meet or exceed the set sales budget and gross profit budgets of set categories•Responsible for ranging and sourcing product, brand and supplier selection•Responsible for reviewing strategy and negotiating the above within company guidelines•Management of pricing from cost to re-sale ensuring maximum return for the business•Management of Gross Profit and percentage return of allocated areas•Responsible for ongoing market analysis and review program to ensure the Company’s competitiveness in the market•Responsible for ensuring interaction with the branch network, staff and customers to get an understanding and add value to the network and to action any feedback where necessary, this includes visiting branches and training network personnel relative to product categories•Responsible for having all relevant documentation on trading terms from suppliers, e.g. compliance, standards, liability etc•Responsible for promotional programs to target key markets to increase net sales figures and meet and/or exceed budgeted objectives•Responsible for product submissions and support data for promotions ensuring that results of all promotions are reviewed and these are used for promotional sales and financial forecasting •In conjunction with logistics, ensure that the inventory is effectively managed to achieve inventory investment goals•Responsible for making recommendations to logistics to meet sale and investment objectives of the business utilizing market trends and marketing plans•Ensuring that products are displayed to the best advantage in the branch network to maximize sales•As and when necessary develop product specific catalogues in conjunction with Catalogue Researchers to ensure that the information in the network is current and correct

While at Griffins Foods Limited as part of the “Management Trainee” graduate program I had exposure to many parts of the business. The intention of the Griffins Management trainee program is to move people around as many different departments and roles within the company to get an understanding of the way Griffins Foods Limited do business as a whole on an accelerated path to management.