Heidi Houshmand Resume

Heidi Houshmand

*** *** **** *****, *********, CA 95014 408-***-****

*****.*********@*****.***

Objective:

A challenging position in eCommerce management, marketing, or sales management in the computer and communications industry.

Professional Experience:

Palm Inc. 11/02-12/08

eCommerce Marketing Manager

• Responsible for all online store Palm branded and third-party accessory sales

o Third party product selection, vendor negotiation, promotion, website management, forecast, and inventory control

o Palm branded product placement, promotion, forecast, and inventory management

• Open-box (refurbished) product liquidation sales across retail and online stores

• Created novel promotions and bundles to associate the brands and increase sell through

o Introduced concept of Mail In Rebate (MIR) to Palm, negotiating terms and contracts with outside companies. Sales of accessories increased by as much as 100X upon introduction of MIRs.

o Planning of seasonal events: web page placement, gift selections, and email production led to increased sales and best in class inventory management

o Increased attach rate through novel pairing of products and accessories

o Created illusion of a “loss leader”--the best deals were offered by Palm online store 10/02-Pr

• Oversaw Trade in / Trade up programs to encourage upgrades from legacy and competitive products.

• Grew Liquidation business 350% in a single year from 20,000 Handheld units to 70,000 Handheld Units.

o Negotiated innovative win-win contracts to sell all worldwide returns that were 3-4 generations old.

o Oversaw $500,000 in cost savings through avoidance of environmental disposal charges.

• Managed relationship with GSICommerce (engine management), Celestica (repairs), and Overstock.com (pack out / test) to efficiently run the business and maintain proper inventory levels.

• Participated in launch and oversight of palmOne Canada Store.

Handspring Inc. 03/01-10/02

Channel Marketing Manager

• Successfully managed national retail accounts

o Big Box Retailers: OfficeMax, CompUSA, Target, Walmart,

o Web accounts: Amazon.com, CDW, Walmart.com

o Wireless carriers: Cingular and T-Mobile

o Specialty retailers: J&R, RCS, DataVision

• Reduced advertising and marketing expenses by as much as 75% through building strong relationships with each account. Increased advertising visibility.

• Created significant number of zero cost promotions

• Through effective cross marketing programs with accounts such as OfficeMax increased end user sale of Visor products as much as six fold

• Helped create the merchandising program for the launch of Treo Smartphone

• Accelerated the company transition from retail to wireless service providers

• Negotiated the trial introduction of the Treo product line into Cingluar Wireless stores, trained the staff, and built individual relationships in each store resulting in a large PO after the successful completion of the trial

• Reduced the wireless carrier co-marketing expenses for Handspring by 15 fold

• Trained carrier sales reps and launched carrier sales incentive programs

• Created effective End Of Life program for the transition from Visor PDA to Treo Smartphone to manage store inventory

Egghead.com (Onsale.com) 4/99-2/01 1999-2001

Director of Merchandising 6/00-2/01

• Managed a team of seven direct reports and six indirects to drive product selection, vendor negotiation, product pricing, web site layout, and advertising for the entire product line

• Hired additional merchandising managers. Established training programs for the Vancouver sales team for multimedia, software, and memory products. Negotiated and established the training programs for Cisco, Nortel, and 3COM networking product line

• Quadrupled the Techstore multimedia, memory, and networking margins as the company shifted focus from volume to improving profitability. Accomplished the margin improvements while maintaining multimedia and networking sales and doubling the memory sales

Senior Product Manager 4/99-6/00 4/99-6/00

• Established the multi-media product line as part of ONSALE.COM’s Online-Auction entry into this market. Initiated the consignment agreements with several multi-media manufacturers within the first three months. Drove the product line sales from zero to over $17 million annual run rate

• Doubled the Techstore multimedia sales in just one month by changing product mix while maintaining the existing margins. Over the following year tripled the sales again

Fry’s Electronics, INC. 5/89-4/99 1986-1999

Merchandising & Operations Manager 8/92-4/99

• Responsible for procurement of computer & peripheral merchandise with sales of over $250 million annually

• Responsible for product selection, vendor selection, vendor negotiations, and product pricing

• Thorough analysis of competitive pricing and product merchandising to aid in vendor negotiations and in-store pricing

• Nearly tripled gross profit margins on notebooks, printers, fax/modem, and video cards while quadrupling in-store sales

• Increased sales of multi-media products by a factor of ten, expanding it from one class code to five, while increasing gross margin by a factor of four

• Weekly training of sales associates in 16 stores on new products, product positioning, and effective sales strategies for both retail and small business customers

• Design of in-store displays, marketing programs, and shelf space allocation to maximize customer traffic and sales of high margin products

• Coordination of the design and decoration of new store openings

Strengths

• Extremely energetic salesperson with a track record of producing results

• Proven ability to negotiate excellent terms through strong relationship building

• In depth knowledge of and experience with the retail industry, including channels, merchandising, marketing, and sales strategies

• Proven experience with e-commerce as well as merchandising to wireless carriers

• Able to start and significantly grow a new product line from ground up

• High degree of expertise in computer and peripheral products

• Proven ability to learn new ideas in high technology

• Proven experience in managing people and results

Education

• BA Interior Design & Architecture, Graduated with honors, University of Tehran

• Ongoing training in communications and computer

Contact this candidate