A day in the life of an International Assistant Merchandiser

I started my career as an Allocator and joined Lipsy as a Senior Merchandising Admin Assistant in September 2016. Since then I have been promoted to International entry Assistant Merchandiser. Lipsy currently operates Franchise stores in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Jordan, Georgia, Lebanon and Egypt. We are also opening this year in two new markets, Kuwait and Armenia.

We work with various International retail organisations to run the Lipsy stores together as a partnership. The collection in our International Franchise stores is quite different from the UK range. 50% of the range bought for the International stores is driven through Franchise Exclusive product. The Senior International Buyer specifically designs and buys for our markets to service key events such as Eid and Ramadan. Our Franchise Exclusive product is extremely glamorous; embellishment, appliques and sequin are key! We hold quarterly partner presentation meetings when our partners will visit Lipsy HQ and see the collection that has been booked for them for the following season.

·        Monday is trade day and is spent collating and analysing the partner’s sales figures from the previous week. We will look at bestsellers by market and new reactions ensuring the best performers are covered for the following phases. We will also look at slow sellers.

·        Weekly trade calls. We will catch up with our partners each week to discuss trade and market events. These calls are important for building relationships with the partners and reporting accurately on the market.

·        I work closely with the warehouse, Supply Chain, our suppliers and the UK B&M teams to ensure stock is coming in and out of the business as smoothly as possible.

·        Compilation of a detailed SWOT analysis by market at the end of each season and also in season. I will look at how each category performed and any missed opportunities will be highlighted.

·        I oversee the International MAA ensuring stock is allocated correctly and on time, picks are raised and PO’s are sent.

·        I support our Senior Merchandiser and Junior Merchandiser by collating data for range planning and the sign off process.

What I enjoy most about my role is the global exposure. As part of an International team you must be up to date with international events as these can massively affect trade in our stores. On this team you will learn a lot also about different cultures, religions and international shopping habits. Ramadan and Eid is our biggest trading period, our equivalent of Christmas.

We also of course have a lot of exposure to the Franchise Exclusive product on this team which is great and our Senior Buyer will often seek opinions & advice from the team!

This is a very exciting time for Lipsy International; we are continuously expanding into new markets and seeing a greater demand for Franchise Exclusive product. Each role on this team is highly valued and we hope to keep growing year on year! 

Interested in working at Lipsy? Please email your CV to [email protected]