Anjala Khanna
Dubai
Summary
Result Driven retail professional with over 16+ years of expansive experience in driving Business Growth & Profitability with effective Business Planning, Product Strategy, Pricing & Margins, Buying & Merchandising, Cross Functional Competency and Data analytics spanning diverse segments including Apparel, Footwear, Homelines, Fitness Equipment and Toys within major global players such as Walmart Canada, Sears Canada, Madura Garments India, Pantaloons India, and Fabindia.
Self motivated, a firm believer in leading by influence, adept at multitasking and creative in solving challenges with very strong interpersonal skills.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager- Merchandise Planning
Max Concept- Landmark Group
08.2024 - Current
- Manage and provide strategic guidelines to the concept Planning Team to prepare Financial and Strategic Plans with the Buyers.
- Prepare and propose seasonal budgets down to class/subclass levels based on the approved strategy to match the financial targets set for sales, opening /closing stocks, inflows, forward stock covers and sales margins
- Monitor seasonal budget performance against plan and reforecast taking into account past performance and current trends for sales, opening and closing stocks and monthly inflows/open to buy
- Prepare and attend a Monthly Management Trading Meeting to give feedback on department performance by Liaising with all the relevant functions
- OTB Inventory management- Managing optimal inventory in the season at the Region level by reviewing and revising OTB twice a month keeping past sales curve and current sales trend in mind while Forecasting sales
- Ensure the availability of all replenishment items and that a scheduled review of replenishment orders takes place to ensure availability to avoid stock outs
- Ensure that there are adequate reports to measure the performance of the Business, reports are standardized and scalable to plan for all of the above.
Associate Manager
Merchandise Planning, Walmart Canada
08.2017 - Current
- Managed Omni-channel and Multi-brand business planning for Toys for Walmart, Canada with an annual business turnover of CAD $850M
- Created strategic assortment plans and forecasts on the key financial metrics for the Toys group in close coordination with the group Leadership
- Continuously assessed performance in-season and led detailed weekly/Monthly/Yearly reviews to provide insights on risks and opportunities to the Leadership and Cross functional partners
- Coordinated with Category Buying teams to develop Marketing calendars, predict promotional sales, and collaborate with marketing partners to effectively communicate marketing strategies
- Collaborating with allocation and replenishment partners to optimize inventory management by analyzing sales at store level and establishing store clusters on the basis of store performance and demographics
- Established Markdown strategies by style/store to clear the stock and effectively manage product lifecycle to maximize sales and gross profit
- Managed key planning role for Bath, Bedding, Home Décor, and Footwear division
- Led Post partum of Bath and Bedding revamp results, providing insights to Leadership for future business strategies
- Process improvements- Played a pivotal role in revamping the ways of working cross functionally, Toys was selected as the pilot team to review, assess and incorporate the new ways of working cross functionally. Worked alongside the Leadership and HR and established the new ways of working that got incorporated company wide
- New tool onboarding and BI reporting- Played a pivotal role in overhauling planning processes by contributing to the BI team for intelligent reporting and analysis and Planning SME selected to work alongside Deloitte Canada to design and implement the Planning Oracle tool (MFP) company wide for enhancing budgeting, forecasting, and in-season analysis.
- RACI project- Planning SME selected for the RACI project initiated by the HR. Contributed to streamline the RACI across cross functional teams
- Created and managed a work back Calendar for Planning process that correlates to the milestones across all the cross functional teams
Merchandise Planner
Sears Canada
06.2015 - 07.2017
- Strategically planned for the Bath and Bed Basics division for one of the largest and oldest retailer in Canada
- Developed seasonal merchandise plans based on historical data and trends, forecasting financial KPIs
- Conducted in-season reviews, post-season reviews, and supported the shift to an EDVP business strategy for Bed and Bath division
- Collaborated with buying teams for inventory flow, marketing calendars, and promotional sales forecasts
- Provided category performance insights for risk mitigation and opportunities.
Category Manager
Pantaloons
08.2013 - 08.2014
- Spearheaded the Indo-Western women's wear brand “Akkriti”, consistently achieved the sales and gross margin targets being responsible for the brand P/L
- Performed effective cost negotiations and ensured a healthy intake margin of 66% against the target of 63.5 for Spring Summer 2014 collection
- Created strategic assortment plans for the different regions in india catering to the customer demand and fashion trends in regard to styles silhouettes, color, fabric and price points
- Developed guidelines for the seasonal range development for the design and sourcing team based on current fashion trends, commercial viability and competitive landscape
- Collaborated with vendors and partners to develop on-brand products
- Strategically coordinated in-season promotional activities and aligned with marketing for effective communication
Category Buyer
Fab India Overseas
01.2010 - 07.2013
- Revamped the Women’s Western wear category of Fab India with gradual growth in target achievement from 75% to 110% within the first year and achieved on-target of over 100% following next 2 years
- Played key role in growing the Women’s Western wear category by 42% in value over span of 3 years by revamping product line and category image
- Coordinated with the in-house Designers and production centers to create a product line that aligned with the young customer segment target in terms of fabric, silhouettes, print, pricing and commercial viability
- Created strategic category buy plan based on seasonal budget allocation, which involved trend forecasting and sales analysis, range selection and development and vendor management
- Identified risks/opportunities in-season and developed action plans to achieve the financial goals of meeting sales, gross margin, stock turns and sell
- Coordinated with Sourcing, Marketing and Operations team at different points in the business to discuss in-season insights and plans to action.
Assistant Retail Planner
Forever New
06.2009 - 12.2009
- Led the development and management of Forever New women’s wear brand based in Australia across 20 multi-brand outlets in India
- Played key role in achieving financial targets such as top line – net sales value and bottom line – gross margin target for last 2 quarters in 2009
- Determined buy plan for Forever New stores in the multi-brand outlets in India for effective inventory management, to maximize sales and to optimize stocks
- Performed sales analysis in order to determine sell-through pattern, determining whether to allocate or recall stock
- Played key role in business development of Forever New brand in the multi-brand outlets in India through effective communication with business partners
Management Associate
Madura Garments
07.2008 - 06.2009
- Conducted comprehensive market research to determine gap in Indian denim market in order to successfully launch the Allen Solly denim collection
- Coordinated with design and sourcing teams on range development in order to create a commercially viable competitive range for the season
- Assisted in creating buy plan for Allen Solly and in negotiating cost in order to achieve targeted gross margins
- Evaluated staff performance on parameters such as average transaction value (ATV), checkout size, stock orders and other sales floor operations, and worked towards establishing an effective line of authority for enhancing staff performance
- Mapped the kids wear trends in the market in order to successfully launch the Allen Solly kids wear range
- Conducted extensive wardrobe audit of kids to identify the trends in aspects such as colour, fit, design, patterns and prints
Education
Post Graduation Certificate : Brand Management -
Seneca College
Masters of Fashion Management -
National Institute of Fashion Technology
Bachelor of Commerce -
Delhi University
Skills
Category Management
Strategic Business Planning
Data Analytics
Business strategy
Buying and Merchandising
Cross Functional collaboration
Change Management
Process Improvisation
Problem solving and Decision making
Timeline
Manager- Merchandise Planning
Max Concept- Landmark Group
08.2024 - Current
Associate Manager
Merchandise Planning, Walmart Canada
08.2017 - Current
Merchandise Planner
Sears Canada
06.2015 - 07.2017
Category Manager
Pantaloons
08.2013 - 08.2014
Category Buyer
Fab India Overseas
01.2010 - 07.2013
Assistant Retail Planner
Forever New
06.2009 - 12.2009
Management Associate
Madura Garments
07.2008 - 06.2009
Masters of Fashion Management -
National Institute of Fashion Technology
Bachelor of Commerce -
Delhi University
Post Graduation Certificate : Brand Management -
Seneca College
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