Celester Tan

• Responsible for planning and purchasing for Pottery Barn's owned stores and websites for the Australia market with priority to develop and execute brand level financial and merchandising plans, while also executing inventory strategies to service to our customers, maximize sales, and profit
• At the same time, required to manage the career development of inventory management team and developing specific measurable goals and objectives for team
• Reports to Director, Inventory Management and working with 4 Planners in the team.

Pre-Season:

• Develop and manage Pre-Season Planning Calendar and ensuring meeting of all deliverables and execution timely for the brand in alignment with merchants and US planning team for order placements.
• Partner with the merchant team to develop annual and seasonal financial plans that support the brand strategies.
• Lead team to review and analyze business results, SKU productivity, trends and provide hind sights at all levels to identify opportunities and drive pre-season strategy.
• Lead the team to roll-up and reconcile sku plans that support the brand strategies and achieve targeted financial objectives.
• Analyze business performance, SKU productivity, hind sights and trends to identify opportunities and drive pre-season strategy and assortment plans.

In-Season:

• Manage all In-Season Planning activities and ensure timely deliverables are met in alignment with cross functional teams.
• Partner with the merchant team to develop monthly financial forecasts that supports the brand strategy and maximizes sales and margin within inventory budgets.
• Lead team to accurately manage 12 month rolling forecast on sales, margin, open-to-buy and inventory plan towards targets for brand/ channel/ department.
• Lead team to review business results and trends at all levels to identify opportunities and drive in-season strategy in partnership with merchant team to take appropriate actions to maximize sales, margin, and inventory productivity (daily, weekly, monthly)
• Ensure team is leveraging Relex to drive planning; and achieve sku productivity and inventory optimization.
• Analyse and build promotional plans in partnership with the merchant team, plan exit strategies and minimize stock outs and manage inventory flow to ensure appropriate in-stock that support sales, margin, and inventory targets.
• Collaborate with order management, supply chain, logistic, allocation functions and distribution centres to identify and resolve supply chain and shipment issues.

People Management:

• Support Director in driving high performance team.
• Responsible for team management, training, and development to ensure high retention.
• Involved in hiring & selection process.

Ongoing:

• Provide analytical reporting and scenario plan to influence business decisions.
• Lead and spearhead projects to improve reporting, planning processes and drive operational excellence in collaboration with cross functional teams.
• Build and maintain strong cross functional collaboration as an integral partner across merchandising, retail, marketing, visual, allocation, sourcing, logistics and the distribution centres to identify issues and resolutions towards common goals.
• Actively participate in creating a people-first culture that is entrepreneurial, accountable to delivering results, celebrates success and supporting directors in driving a high-performance team

• Reporting directly to the VP of Retail, responsible for implementing merchandising directions and strategies on product selling, driving the development and implementation of the seasonal ranges through selection and negotiation with the vendors in accordance with the defined business strategies targeted for local and travel retail consumers
• Managing and grooming a team of 4 members: 1 merchandising manager, 2 assistants and 1 designer.

Merchandising and Buying:

• Manage product selection and negotiate vendor promotional support, with a focus on efficiency, accuracy, and punctuality of both OTB and replenishment ordering.
• Monitor and optimize the implementation of each collection, devise end-of-season exit strategy, communicate vendor discount calendars to operations team.
• Ensure alignment between budgets, buying plans and purchasing amount.
• Secure continuity of processes between brands, procurement, logistics, operations & finance functions
• Monitor collection sell-through during the season, perform very regular store surveys and interaction with operations teams to understand customer feedback.
• Coordinate among vendors, procurement, logistics and operations to ensure the timely delivery of new products and replenishment.
• Work closely with Merchandising Assistants to identify and act on fast-mover replenishment, low-stock mitigation, slow-mover disposal, and aged stock liquidation.

Product Development:

• Curate in-house designs and product range that is exclusive to company.
• Responsible for developing retail products to coincide with marketing campaigns.
• Liaising with local and oversea factories for production cost, materials, final samples, and delivery dates
• Liaising with licensing partners such as Disney, Sanrio and Pacific Licensing on creative approvals to align with style guides.

Business Development:

• Responsible reaching out to external business partnership with physical retail outlets and ecommerce platforms based on consignment and wholesale terms.
• Negotiating on terms and setting up of accounts with external partners such as Tangs and Robinsons department stores
• Curate product assortment for partners and ensure achieve in sell through and space productivity.
• Plan marketing strategies with external partners to boost the awareness and sales in their platforms.

• Reported to the Managing Director for Indonesia's Inditex brands, responsible for product performance and commercial analysis
• Managing the front-line team and store operations strategies to drive the business for 17 Zara stores in Indonesia
• Daily analysis of stores' top line sales and product performance.
• Product management: Correctly controlling the product in section to meet sales objectives assigned by the Managing Director.
• Able to give clear direction of products' demands to Product Manager (Inditex Team)
• Market analysis to know the competitors and their seasonal products.
• Implement customer service and up-selling strategies to the floor team.
• Retention and conversion of potential / loyal customers
• Store image: Visual display meets the brand guidelines, floor zoning is according to the seasonal coordinates, fitting room is in the best condition, stockroom is in good configurations and convenient layout and till is in proper representation of the brand as well with cleanliness.

• Reported to Singapore General Manager and Head of Merchandising, responsible for all retail buying accountability for the Coach New York (travel retail) overall categories (ready to wear, handbags, jewellery, accessories, and tech products) business for Singapore market - Resorts World and Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur Airport and Australia – Sydney Airport
• Managing 1 Assistant Buyer, 1 Admin and 1 Planner.
• Achieved an ideal inventory from 24 MOH to 7 MOH within half a year in 2015 after implementing promotions store strategies, inventory well maintained at 5-6 MOH subsequently.
• Sales increased 48% in 2015 and 22% in 2016.
• Monitor brand performance against KPI, this includes managing inventory in terms of KPI WOS and ageing.
• Monitoring performance in terms of Seasonal Sell Through. Maintain/Monitor best seller information in terms of sell through and inventory.
• Focus on future of business by identifying market trends and assortment opportunities. Build line architecture that addresses business needs revealed by sales data, productivity analysis and market trend knowledge.
• Drive discussions with the planning team regarding buying strategy.
• Edit and assort line during market while managing sku plan and meeting financial goals.
• Identify key underperforming categories and work on reducing inventory through sales initiatives or stock balancing.
• Identify best sellers and control stock level.
• Work out the OTB, aligning it to sales target and margin requirements.
• Recommend OTB break down by category based on sales contribution and considering current inventory holding.
• Strategize key items, promos, and mark downs
• Liaising with Store Design and Store Construction to ensure operational needs are met in all new store environments / refurbishments, manage all fixture/ element roll outs and store profile information
• Create in store tools for training new and existing staff in all aspects of store operations, to facilitate training and create retail initiatives to increase sales and operational efficiencies
• Protect Gross Margin.

• Reported to Brand General Manager, responsible for all retail buying accountability for the Kate Spade Saturday overall categories (Ready-To-Wear, Handbags, Footwear, Jewelry, Accessories, Home and Tech products) business for Singapore market and was also buying for Kate Spade New York Ready-To-Wear & Footwear business in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia
• Managing 1 Assistant Buyer, 1 Admin and 1 Planner.
• Achieved highest per store efficiency and store sales incremental of 10% in comparison to global stores in NYC and Japan in 2014
• Monitor brand performance against KPI, this includes managing inventory in terms of KPI WOS and ageing.
• Monitoring performance in terms of Seasonal Sell Through. Maintain/Monitor best seller information in terms of sell through and inventory.
• Edit and assort line during market while managing sku plan and meeting financial goals
• Work out the OTB, aligning it to sales target and margin requirements.
• Recommend OTB break down by category based on sales contribution and considering current inventory holding.
• Strategize key items, promos, and mark downs
• Collaborate with store team to refine knowledge of customer needs
• Liaising with Store Design and Store Construction to ensure operational needs are met in all new store environments / refurbishments, manage all fixture/ element roll outs and store profile information
• Create in store tools for training new and existing staff in all aspects of store operations, to facilitate training and create retail initiatives to increase sales and operational efficiencies
• Coordinate all departments for all new Store openings, temporary locations, and renovations
• Protect Gross Margin.

• Reported to the Senior Merchandising Manager and tasked to responsible for casual wear department, 80% menswear and 20% womenswear brands such as Fred Perry, Superdry, Adidas, Vans, Lacoste, Nike and many other 30 international & local designers' labels
• Managing 1 Merchandising Assistant.
• Achieved incremental sales of 88% after implementing changes to Vivocity store in 1st year. Per square foot profitability has increased from $12 to $56.
• Categories range from Ready-To-Wear, Footwear, Accessories, Bags, and Watches.
• Plan open to buy budget (OTB), allocation of stocks and plan promotions/ markdowns.
• Strategize and execute budget plans and estimates for both the Buying Fair and in-season estimates.
• Review budget proposals throughout the season, initiating and taking appropriate action where necessary.
• Set clear price structures, contemplating, and reacting to current market conditions.
• Manage price changes to ensure effective control of stock.
• Market and launch brands with independent sources on ATL and BTL methods.
• Plan exposure for brands via advertorial and editorial featuring.
• Managing the PlayLab Facebook to recruit relevant fans and marketing of brands.