Kerry Clark

AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist Kerry Lynn Clark COVER LETTER -- Vredehoek, Cape Town SA Personal Summary: I have been involved in Retail and E-commerce for over 10 years; I am a Great communicator, out of the box thinker, with my strength lying in my passion for my team and the desire to succeed together. I have been very fortunate to have been a part of some amazing companies and learning opportunities across so many areas from TFG / HHGROUP / VIDA / SPREE / CLICKS / 5ROOMS / MR PRICE GROUP where I have learnt a range of different Business knowledge that has made me a strong and confident person. My aim has been to understand all the fundamentals of a business from all levels to give my full potential to the company I work for. This has allowed me to effectively work across various business verticals such as Marketing, IT, Finance, Operations, Buying & planning departments. I have a strong EQ allowing me to deal with all levels of management and teams therefore successfully implementing projects and reaching the end goal. I love the complexities as retail and e-commerce evolves and constantly been kept on your toes. My keen interest and experience in Fashion, Homeware and Lifestyle categories has allowed me to constantly keep abreast of the trends as well as my side passion for compiling trend reports. I am a people’s person and take pride in treating my team and colleagues as family. Achievements TFG - The FIX: Retail & e-Commerce  Joined TFG to launch The FIX website in 3 months, made financial target in the first year. SPREE: Retail & e-Commerce  Restructure moved up to a Buying manager based on my Strong leadership skills and knowledge on a variety of products.  Promoted to step in as Acting Buying manager for 3 departments while my boss was on Maternity Leave while continued to look after my own portfolio. Oct 2014 – July 2015  Built a full functioning Homeware Platform to the SPREE website from scratch, secured a solid supplier base, negotiated great payment terms.  Completed a full 3-day intense course on EQ with other management members based on my high performance the company gave me this opportunity. 5ROOMS: Retail & e-Commerce  Developed a complete supplier base of all Homeware Suppliers Local & International, dealing with over 150 suppliers to complete all categories for a start-up company MR PRICE GROUP: Retail  Selected as one of 3 successful buying candidates out of 5000 applicants for their graduate programme.  Completed the full Graduate programme passing all buying and planning courses.  Improved my portfolio and grew it from negative to high positive growths. pg. 1 AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist Extra Skills:         Full Microsoft Office Package – Advanced Google Analytics, Everlytics - Email Marketing , Endeca , Jira , Other in-house IT programs Track record working across multiple divisions Marketing ,Buying ,Panning ,IT ,Finance ,Operations Strong Retail and e-Commerce experience, Presentation skills, Trend analysis, Data analysis, Driving and setting up strategies, Running full Buy plans, Controlling full Budgets & PNL’s. Trained in both Buying, Planning, E-commerce & Leadership positions, leading teams, developing new processes, Product selection, Local & Overseas Sourcing Travel, Setting up new brands and websites. Strong Team Leadership skills and mentoring of juniors. Structured thinker, fast learner, efficient, meticulous and goal orientated. Friendly, creative and flexible approach. Adapt to new environments and Products quickly. Tertiary Education:    Red & Yellow Creative school of business Aug 2018 – Oct 2018: Digital Marketing 10week online course (Part Time) UX, SEO, CRM, Social Media etc. Passed 83%    University of Cape Town (UCT) – Get Smarter Oct 2017 - Dec 2017: UCT Foundations of Business Management online course (Part Time) Passed: 79%   Mr Price Graduate Programme 2009 – Completed Both planning and Buying (Certificate available on request)   Durban University of Technology (DUT) 2005 - 2008: Bachelor of Technology Degree Interior Design   UNISA – Completed 1 year Subjects: Sociology/Anthropology/Criminology/Psychology 2004 - 2005: Bachelor of Arts – Psychology st Secondary Education-   Northlands Girls High School – Durban Matric with exemption: Mathematics / Physics / Biology / Home economics / English / Afrikaans Work Experience Current: Oct ’19 – Feb ‘20 Taken time off to travel and visit my family based on them not living in South Africa. Availability: Beginning March 2020 Salary & Position Required: Negotiable, Ideally looking for the right company and culture, Job satisfaction and stability. Contract, Hourly, Part time or Full time. pg. 2 AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist Loot.co.za Head of Fashion         May ‘19 – Oct ‘19 Manage an end-to-end business unit - from strategy to operations – including: Setting the strategy and plan for Fashion department including technical development, assortment and ranging, operations, customer experience and team development. Identifying and establishing relationships with key partners and implementing a supplier acquisition strategy to enable rapid growth Managing and developing supplier relationships, ensuring optimal pricing and trading terms and supplier adherence to SLAs Working closely with the marketplace team to supplement product range with new marketplace suppliers Managing and reporting on key metrics including sales, margin and stockholding Working closely with operations and warehouse teams to develop processes and procedures for intake, warehousing, dispatch and returns for fashion items. Recruiting and developing a Fashion team at Loot and Managing full team TFG – The Foschini group: The FIX Online Retail/Trading Manager                 pg. 3 April ‘18 – May ‘19 Managing and driving activity on the online retail store in such a way that revenue meets/exceeds targets set; Managing the online merchant team responsible for uploading all content, product and promotions to the online store; Developing and continuously optimising the ecommerce marketing plan and leverage all channels, to drive new customers, drive new revenue and emphasise up-selling opportunities online; Ensuring all online marketing initiatives are track-able and ladder up to overall KPIs and revenue targets; (UTM tagging) Ensuring all online offers and campaigns are executed within allocated budget and deadline, complying with the Group direction where required; Analysing and reporting on all online performance, campaigns and promotions; Being data obsessed by leveraging all data sources available to use as a basis for all decisions and plans. Using analytics to produce integrated strategy to this end ensuring a new customer rate to the sites Developing strong online content that specifically drives sales, via good product descriptions, video, editorial and supplier-sourced materials; Negotiating affiliate marketing strategies and opportunities where appropriate and coordinate with Group to ensure cohesion and opportunities for cross leverage; Stay current with ecommerce and online consumer and digital trends and look for opportunities to use; Stakeholder management and on-going communication with Design teams, studio, Merchandise, Operations and the central ecommerce contact centre, logistics and supports teams [including digital suppliers and external consultants]; Full Budget and P&L control, Managing and allocating online budget for all expenses in fiscal year, including invoicing and administration. Report directly to Head of The FIX marketing and Head of TFG eCommerce Team Reports: 3 Reason Left: Was head hunted to start up a new division in Fashion, where I would be involved in a wider variety of task and leading the team strategy across all business elements of the fashion vertical to start running from scratch (Marketing, Operations, Buying, and Planning). I don’t have children so AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist was an ideal time to be able to start up a big project like this and to have a mentor of a boss Gary Hatfield that is a guru in Retail and Ecommerce. HARBOUR HOUSE GROUP Group Head of Procurement            Dec ‘16 – March ‘18 Includes Restaurants: The Grand, La Parada, Tigers Milk, Lucky Fish, Live Bait, Sirocco, Harbour House Develop and implement strategies for purchasing area aligned with the company’s full product objectives includes all items needed by the business (Food, Beverage, smalls) Manage and Negotiate best payment terms for the business cash flow, no less than 30 days from statement as well as settlement discounts and Rebates. Consolidated supplier base to a more manageable level to make the groups restaurants more efficient and have less deliveries interrupting trade during the day. Examine and re-evaluate existing contracts that have poor supplier performance & payment Terms Complete quarterly Board packs with all the updated improvements the department has made Control spend and build a culture of long-term saving on procurement costs so restaurants can achieve their COS and make target and grow year on year. Investigate various projects and give a full proposal on whether it will be cost beneficial to the business and if yes, develop a strategy/business plan to implement. Member of the ESEC committee for the business to contribute to environment responsibilities, BBEEE levels in the company and suppliers, Ethics, Social Responsibilities of the company. Tender Management for new suppliers needed Report directly to CEO VIDA E CAFÉ Group Head of Procurement                  pg. 4 May ‘16 – Nov ‘16 Constructed a Strategy for the procurement division and continuously made sure it was being executed Rolled out full projects every season needed across local and international stores Control BBEEE Regulations on suppliers (On the BBEEE Vida Board) Research all new products that are appropriate to the team and company, find and implement suppliers for newness. Operational plans and daily visits to our DC to manage rotation of stock and check on core stock levels. Construct processes and lead and manage the teams through the product selection process. Source and secure merchandise according to product and supply strategy as well as negotiate terms and conditions best for the business. Developing new approaches based on trends and competitor analysis Put together and agreed on the budget principles and execution of the budget to make target. Manage our key lines that replenishments are accurate and reach stores and our DC in time Managing DC space and capacity (Head of Health and safety for DC) Liaising with Marketing to ensure projects are completed and all items needed for launches were available to all provinces. Regularly reviewing KPIs, and presented action plans based on my findings. Analyse and interpret data to improve business and report back to business via reports International shipments and logistics experience (IDF forms, authorities, HS codes, shipping methods) Reported directly to COO Team Reports: 4 AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist SPREE (MEDIA 24) - eCommerce Buying Manager Menswear – eCommerce                  Constructed the Merchandise strategy for the Menswear Division of the business Driving optimal supplier deals and supplier performance Presented a Customer analysis & compiled Customer Profiles for the Spree Menswear division Implemented Range building documents and processes to lead and manage my team through the range build process while Monitoring International and local Brands, trends and competitors. Built an applicable product range across a capsule of different buying categories that will ensure optimal product assortment for Spree Analysing consumer buying patterns and predicting future promotions to increase our sales Worked closely with the Planning Manager to agree on the budget and execution of it. Tracked all KPIs for the success of the division, sent weekly reports to my team with action plans Planned promotions and Newsletters needed based on newness and areas that needed attention Managed plans of stock levels, reacting to changes in demand of products/top sellers Liaising with other departments within the organization to ensure Menswear projects were successfully completed Preparation of presentations for monthly management meetings showing growths and current department strengths and weaknesses and plans to improve the department. Performance reviews with team members, executing plans for growth opportunities or weakness’s in my team. Buying of all SBA (Shoes /Accessories /Active wear) for menswear Curated, prepared and presented comprehensive trend presentations Reported Directly to MD Team Reports: 6 Senior Buyer Homeware - eCommerce               July ’14 – May ’15 Portfolio: Bedroom/Bathroom/Kitchen/Dining/Kids/Lighting/Décor/Outdoor&Garden Compiled Spree’s Homeware strategy and Implemented the new division. Built & started a comprehensive Home Décor range for Spree, negotiated creative deals with suppliers on quantities, prices, and terms. Managed all range building within the Home ware department Presented monthly curations focusing that all KPIs of the department were met with offering the correct product for the website based on sales, trends and seasonal needs. Achieved departmental KPIs (margin/ GP targets, Price tiering, sales targets) Weekly analysis on brands/designers/supplier’s performance on both their products and there actually supplier deliverables. Sourced new brands and products on a regular basis to ensure range is constantly updated and in-line with industry trends and competitors. Dealt with over 100 suppliers/wholesalers/produces/international& Local suppliers Kept up with fashion and industry trends in order to compile seasonal trend presentations for the department (I Curated and prepared a comprehensive trend presentation twice a year) Private label development: Prepared briefing for suppliers on full Product development on new items and execution from preproduction to production sample sign offs. International Travel to overseas suppliers and trade-fairs, ability to find ways of bringing in smaller quantities with consolidating products with supplier’s other shipments. Reported Directly to MD and Central Buying manager Team Reports: 4 CLICKS GROUP pg. 5 July ’15 – April ‘16 AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist Senior Category Manager Homeware              Jan ’14 – Jun ‘14 Management of team and held weekly team meetings to ensure team was meeting deadlines Managed all performance reviews on team members progress & Development progress Development and drive of all Private Label briefing suppliers and visiting factories to ensure products differentiation and innovation to increase market share and profitability. Proactively managed the category by setting up plans for improvement of the key drivers of product ranging, pricing strategies, merchandising and promotions. Negotiated category trading terms and actively cultivated and developed vendor relationships Negotiated and selected promotional products and price to meet the promotional category sales and margin targets, whilst ensuring that the day-day sales and margin targets are met. Translated the operating and financial plans into a balanced product assortment plan Approved and implemented seasonal budgets, weekly reports on progress of departments to targets. International supplier sourcing and travel (Both factory’s and fairs) - China Used my knowledge of Homeware market trends and competitors to achieve best pricing Range assortment planning Reported directly to Head of Buying Team Reports: 3 5ROOMS (MEDIA 24) - eCommerce Buyer Homeware                 April ’12 – Dec ’13 Portfolio: Appliances/Kitchen/Dining/Bedroom/Bathroom/Décor/Textiles Managed all purchasing within the Home ware department of an eCommerce start-up website Achieved departmental margin and GP targets as per seasonal business plans by implementing and executing product strategy across several categories Analysing’s and Maintaining all product & supplier targets to ensure a competitive product range Source new brands and products on a regular basis to ensure range is constantly updated Negotiated creative deals with suppliers on quantities, prices, etc. based on being an eCommerce business some deals could be more complex Offered a comprehensive range of brands and house brands across various price tiers Presented Seasonal trend presentations for the whole department including furniture. Ability to work with consignment, virtual and international stock models Ensured the timeous execution of procurement administration to meet target dates Maintained the website at all times by checking pricing, quality of images and correct content Product development on new private label lines with suppliers Travelled to overseas suppliers and trade-fairs (Both India and china) Competitor analysis/Focus on remaining competitive with both traditional retail & eCommerce. Reported directly to MD Team Reports: 3 Junior buyers, 2 assistants MR PRICE GROUP Junior Buyer Homeware  pg. 6 Feb ’09 – Mar ‘12 Putting together buy plans to create seasonal windows and presenting them to management and board members. AGE: 35 / English /- Retail & E-Commerce Specialist               Interacting with suppliers and maintaining good business relationships and Negotiating best prices and deliveries for the business. Worked independently and as a part of an effective team, meeting collective objectives. Putting together post-mortems and buying strategies in conjunction with my Planner. Maintaining best quality, Sending samples to quality control and sample management of preproduction samples as well as QA samples, appraisal reports. Identification of consumer/market trends- putting together presentations and concepts to follow these upcoming trends. Daily Product performance management / order tacking, seals and delivery’s Monday reporting on department on deliveries/product approvals/delays etc. Sourcing new suppliers and available stock opportunities. Maintaining core items pricing- moving to new supplier when necessary Worked with our design team for new developments and artwork Competitive shops-learning about competitors and the market Tracking of advertised products-making sure products were delivered on time and correct units were bought for all stores for the promotion Maintained mix of core, updated core and fashion assortment Briefing suppliers of season ahead and concepts to source. Reported directly to Senior Buyer & Buying Manager *PLEASE REVIEW TREND REPORTS I HAVE DONE ON MY LINKEDIN – Latest ones available on request https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerry-clark-6837b842/ pg. 7