Sales Analyst

ROBIN R. LESTER

** ********** **.

Coppell, Texas 75019

Phone 214-***-****

add04l@r.postjobfree.com

O B J E C T I V E

To be a contributor at a growth-oriented company where I can utilize my category planning, buying, financial analysis, organization and allocation skills to provide the best product and service for the company and our customer. My background crosses various types of businesses including, retail, manufacturing, off-price and hospital gift shops. I look forward to joining a company which values good communication and teamwork to achieve the highest standard of results.

W O R K H I S T O R Y

Inventory planner/analyst - Lori's Gifts, Carrollton, TX

09/15 – Current

Responsibilities include purchasing and planning support for the buying team and creation of department budgets.

Accomplishments:

*Development and distribution of weekly and monthly category sales reports for all product lines with recommendations for actions such as promoting or markdown of product categories if necessary. Callouts for high performing category skus for action to increase purchases or expansion of category if necessary.

*Development of store rankings by category for several product areas to ensure purchases are made by store sales volume and varied assortments quantities are purchased based on volume.

*Sales analysis for seasonal and promotional buys, as well as category sales analysis and recommendations for future purchases based on sales, gross profit, markdowns and remaining inventory. Also, suggesting exit strategies for product.

*Development of seasonal, key product and the high-level budgets and open to buy plans for the merchandising department at category and class levels. Suggest larger or smaller buys based on sales and potential trend.

*Monitoring inventory at product level. Working with the buyers to place orders for product as needed based on the inventory.

* Analyzing replenished product sales and recommending skus for discontinuation or suggesting areas of growth within the program.

*Analyzing and reporting on all monthly promotional product and recommending when price reductions may be necessary or if additional buys should be made. Also determining if the promotion produced incremental sales for the category.

*Monitoring and reporting on the store breast pump rental program which generates over $1.2 million in rental revenue each year. Pumps are rented from the manufacturer by the stores and then rented to new mothers from the hospital gift shop. By monitoring the rentals at a store level and returning excess unrented pumps, margins from this program have increased.

Store Planner – Zales Jewelers, Irving, TX

10/13 - 09/15

Responsible for store and merchandising support through assisting in store selection for new programs, development and updating of store ranks for use in assortment planning, communication of new and remodeling stores to ensure all merchandise is available for store opening or re-opening, and other special projects as needed.

Accomplishments:

* Have assisted in ensuring all categories of merchandise were available for all new stores by creating spreadsheets for every new store and monitoring their allocations and on hands until opening and suggesting to merchants and planners which categories additional merchandise is needed.

* Analyze potential stores for new programs and checking sales in similar merchandise and other criteria and presenting those selections to the merchants and planners.

* Meeting with all Regional Managers twice a year to go through stores and look at call outs of merchandise requests or requests for larger assortments of certain items, requests for discontinuation of non-performing items and working with planners to re-assort, if necessary to get the right products in the right stores.

* Re-ranking of all stores by category based on a weighted 3/6/12 month selling to assist in assortment planning.

* Have also assisted in other special projects including an initiative to assist stores with low merchandise space to carry only the most profitable merchandise for it while still carrying merchandise that is most profitable for the company.

Category Planner – Easton-Bell Sports Irving, TX

02/11 – 09/13

Responsible for reducing and maintaining inventory levels of CRD Bell Bike helmets and accessories, while keeping steady stock levels to fully service the customer.

Duties/Accomplishments:

* Achieved an average of 95% or better fill rate constantly for my accounts, assist in reducing Excess and Obsolete inventory by 15% of total budgeted inventory for the year.

* Analyzing current inventory levels and future forecasts by sku to determine future need for materials. Cut purchase orders and followed up with our Hong Kong team for delivery issues. Worked to improve delivery of delayed shipments while avoiding expediting charges for shipments when possible.

*Prepared monthly material buy plans to assist vendors in future capacity needs and to secure the company’s production space in the factories.

* Reviewed customer forecasts from the sales team and entered those forecasts by month into the system. Maintained responsibility for the forecasts and made revisions as the business changed.

* Prepared and analyzed reports related to the business in regards to monthly sales, inventory, turns and comparison to budget numbers and presented those in monthly meetings.

* Was involved in the company’s corporate Innovation Road meeting presenting SKU rationalization reports to help determine underperforming SKUs and suggesting action to eliminate or combine with a similar item to increase sales performance.

Allocation Analyst – Planning/Allocation Tuesday Morning Corporate offices, Dallas, TX 10/07- 02/11

Responsible for analysis, planning and allocation of apparel, accessories, and other assorted product types across multiple divisions and determining retail store needs utilizing both business analysis and planning skills to ensure growth in sales while maintaining inventory levels in 860 stores nationwide.

Duties/Accomplishments:

* During the past 4 years, played a large role in the increase to 6x the initial yearly sales in the apparel business. Most currently, have improved stock levels in the frame area of business resulting in an increase if 12% in sales in only 12 weeks.

* Training and developing new allocation analysts

* Analyzing stock levels and developing methods to improve over/understocked stores

* Develop merchandise assortment plans

* Executing the layout of assortment plans through allocation

* Recommending additional product buys to fill in gaps in the assortment plans

*Evaluate selling to determine additional needs in stores and flowing product back to stores who have sold through

* Allocation of flow merchandise by determining stores with need through the use of pulling sales/inventory levels from data warehouse and develop an Excel spreadsheet in which to analyze.

Sr. Buyer/Analyst/Distributor, Dillards Corporate Offices- Arlington, TX 03/05 – 10/07

Responsible for development, order planning, sales analysis, financial planning, replenishment tracking and overall product performance of a ladies moderate clothing line in 325 stores nationwide.

Duties/Accomplishments:

* Developed markdown methods which improved overall gross margin, while improving stock levels

* Responsible for monthly buys and maintaining open to buy and following and reporting sales of this product line.

* Reporting of the business including, but not limited to, sales, margins, turn rate, stock levels, purchasing and open to buy.

* Managed the development of monthly floorplans and fixture plans

* Developed assortments and prepared orders based on financial plans, sales history and current trends.

*Analyzed stock levels and developed methods to improve over/understocked stores

*Monitored orders weekly for replenishment and on time delivery and adjusted orders as needed

* Prepared copy for items included in advertising.

*Began as Asst. Buyer and was promoted to Buyer in April 2006

Product Planner, Haggar Women's Wear, Haggar Clothing Co. 12/97- 03/05

Responsibilities included production planning of apparel.

Duties/Accomplishments:

* Preparation of purchase orders and shop orders

* Collaborated with import coordinators to plan the production of apparel in factories worldwide

* Gathered the components, accuracy checks and following a service calendar to maintain the timely preparation of the orders.

* Coordinated production of apparel using materials with multiple dyelots.

Sr. Merchandise Evaluation Technician, JCPenney Merchandise Testing Center 01/95-12/97

As an Evaluation Technical/Analyst, worked to ensure strict quality assurance for all JCPenney products through testing and analyzing of soft line goods including apparel and home products and piece goods in the development stage. Analyzed test data; organized the data and formulated reports based on research and testing and made recommendations for improvement for compliance with JCPenney and government standards.

E D U C A T I O N

Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising, University of North Texas-1995

S Y S T E M S / S O F T W A R E E X P E R I E N C E

Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Power Point, AS/400, Microstrategy, MI9, SAP, PLM and Business Objects

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