At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead merchandising strategies and drive sales for a dynamic fashion brand.
- Company: Join Club L London, a fast-growing online fashion retailer for trend-setting women.
- Benefits: Enjoy flexible hours, generous leave, staff discounts, and a vibrant work culture.
- Other info: Be part of a supportive team that values innovation and personal growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in the fashion industry while developing your career.
- Qualifications: Proven experience in merchandising and strong analytical skills required.
The predicted salary is between 47250 - 57750 £ per year.
About Us
Club L London is the next-generation online fashion retailer for the forward-thinking woman. Conceptualised and crafted in-house and abroad, we specialise in accessible luxury and designs of unrivalled quality that flatter all figures. From prom to occasion, maternity, bridal, and beyond, we deliver an elevated shopping experience that connects our global community of trend-setting consumers, influencers, and content creators with fresh collections dropping weekly.
The Role
As a Senior Merchandiser at Club L London, you will take full commercial ownership for a significant product area, leading the trading, planning and inventory strategy across multiple categories within one of the UK's fastest-growing global fashion brands. Reporting to the Head of Merchandising, you will be responsible for delivering sales, margin and stock performance whilst partnering closely with Buying, Design, Product, Marketing, Ecommerce, Supply Chain and Finance to maximise commercial opportunities. This role goes beyond traditional merchandising. You will combine strategic thinking with hands-on trading, using insight to influence decisions, optimise inventory investment and shape future product strategy across your area. Alongside ownership of your categories, you will also champion strategic merchandising capabilities across the wider function, helping improve processes, tools, and ways of working as we continue to scale globally.
Key Responsibilities
- Own Category Trading Performance
- Take full accountability for the commercial performance of your product area, delivering sales, margin, profit, and stock productivity targets.
- Lead weekly and daily trading reviews for your categories, identifying risks, opportunities, and clear trading actions.
- Translate trading insight into actionable plans, working cross-functionally to deliver measurable commercial improvements.
- Develop a deep understanding of customer behaviour, regional performance, and market trends to optimise trading decisions.
- Maintain ownership of inventory health across your categories, including: High cover inventory, Aged stock, Slow-moving products, Terminal and markdown stock, Core replenishment lines.
- Drive profitable performance across Ecommerce and Wholesale channels.
- Partner closely with the Data & Insights team to continually improve reporting, dashboards, and trading visibility.
- Planning & Commercial Strategy
- Build and deliver seasonal category strategies aligned to business objectives.
- Own forecasting, WSSI and Open-to-Buy for your product area.
- Influence assortment architecture including: Option count, Average depth, Pricing architecture, Seasonal phasing, Country of Origin strategy.
- Apply strong commercial judgement when making decisions around: Rebuys, Recolours, Seasonal bring-backs, Option optimisation.
- Work with Product, Marketing, and Insights teams to ensure customer behaviour, market trends and campaign activity are reflected within planning.
- Produce insightful pre-season, in-season and post-season analysis, translating data into clear commercial decisions.
- Multi-Warehouse & Global Inventory Management
- Optimise inventory across multiple regional stock pools.
- Develop inventory strategies that maximise regional fulfilment whilst reducing split shipments and unnecessary cross-border fulfilment.
- Drive allocation and stock balancing decisions that maximise customer availability whilst improving inventory efficiency.
- Work closely with Supply Chain and Operations to ensure inventory plans align with warehouse capacity and fulfilment capability.
- Develop an understanding of regional fulfilment economics, duty, freight costs and cost-to-serve to support profitable inventory decisions.
- Drops & Intake Strategy
- Partner with Buying and Product teams to deliver frequent product launches aligned to the trading calendar.
- Build intake strategies that balance customer demand with supplier capacity and operational capability.
- Support continuity planning, core replenishment and investment into hero products.
- Ensure future intake plans support both commercial demand and operational execution.
- Support major campaign launches, ensuring inventory is aligned to key trading milestones.
- Forecasting & Open-to-Buy
- Own forecasting across category and product level within a highly reactive trading environment.
- Manage Open-to-Buy across your categories and regional stock pools.
- Balance investment across newness, replenishment and depth to maximise availability whilst maintaining healthy inventory levels.
- Ensure stock investment supports commercial priorities, financial targets, and international growth plans.
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Act as a trusted commercial partner across Buying, Design, Product, Marketing, Ecommerce, Finance, Supply Chain and Operations.
- Build strong cross-functional relationships, confidently influencing decisions through commercial insight and data.
- Partner with regional stakeholders to identify market-specific opportunities and customer requirements.
- Ensure campaigns, launches and promotional activity are fully supported through effective inventory planning.
- Functional Leadership
- In addition to owning your categories, you will act as the functional lead for key merchandising capabilities across the department.
- This responsibility will help strengthen our overall merchandising function, develop best practice, and build organisational capability.
- Examples of functional ownership include: Forecasting & WSSI, Core Product Performance, Product Lifecycle Management & Stock Health – Markdown & aged stock, AI & Automation & Merchandising Process Excellence, Intake & Supplier Planning – COO, CNY, and Fabric Planning.
- As the functional lead, you will: Define and continuously improve best practice within your specialist area.
- Develop tools, templates and frameworks that improve merchandising effectiveness.
- Coach and support colleagues, sharing knowledge and raising capability across the team.
- Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to improve processes and ways of working.
- Champion innovation, automation, and scalable solutions that support future business growth.
- Act as the subject matter expert for your functional area, helping shape the future direction of merchandising at Club L London.
- Operational Excellence
- Continually identify opportunities to improve merchandising processes and ways of working.
- Support improvements in automation, reporting, and operational efficiency.
- Champion the use of AI and emerging technologies to improve planning, trading, and decision making.
- Support the implementation of new merchandising systems and tools.
- Help build scalable merchandising processes that support continued international growth.
- Team Leadership
- Lead, coach and develop Merchandisers, Assistant Merchandisers and Merchandising Admin Assistants within your product area.
- Create a high-performance culture built on accountability, pace and commercial ownership.
- Support workload planning and prioritisation to ensure focus remains on the highest-value activity.
- Develop the commercial capability of the wider team through coaching, mentoring and knowledge sharing.
- Drive adherence to merchandising critical paths and key planning milestones across your area.
About You
We are looking for someone who combines exceptional commercial instinct with analytical thinking and thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. You will bring:
- Extensive experience as a Senior Merchandiser within a fast-paced fashion retailer.
- Strong experience trading within an ecommerce-led, high-SKU and highly reactive environment.
- Proven experience owning significant product categories with full commercial accountability.
- Advanced forecasting, WSSI and Open-to-Buy management experience.
- Experience managing inventory across multiple warehouse or regional stock pools.
- Strong understanding of global inventory management and international fulfilment.
- Excellent commercial judgement with the confidence to make decisions quickly.
- Highly developed analytical skills with advanced Excel capability and experience using BI/reporting tools.
- Outstanding stakeholder management with the ability to influence at all levels.
- Experience coaching and developing merchandising teams.
- A passion for improving ways of working, embracing technology and driving operational excellence.
- The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
What's on offer?
- Annual bonus scheme
- Bi-Annual Dress Allowance
- 25 days of annual leave (plus bank holidays)
- Extra day off for your birthday
- Flexible working hours around core hours of 10-4
- Early Finish Fridays
- Cycle to work scheme
- 40% staff discount across Club L and Lavish Alice products
- Healthcare Cashplan
- Free onsite gym
- Enhanced pension contribution
- Enhanced maternity and sick pay
- Free snacks, drinks & treats
- Social events
Senior Merchandiser in Sale employer: Club L London
At Club L London, we pride ourselves on being a forward-thinking employer that champions creativity and innovation in the fashion retail industry. Our vibrant work culture fosters collaboration and personal growth, offering employees opportunities to develop their skills while enjoying benefits like flexible working hours, generous annual leave, and a supportive environment that values work-life balance. Join us in our London office and be part of a team that is dedicated to delivering exceptional quality and style, all while enjoying perks such as a bi-annual dress allowance and a 40% staff discount.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Merchandiser in Sale
✨Get Your Retail Game On
Start by getting to know the local retail scene. Make a list of stores that align with your vibe and visit them. You'll be surprised at how many job openings come from chatting with staff or managers in-store. Plus, showing that you have a genuine interest in their brand can make you stand out when applying for that full-time role!
✨Join Retail Networks and Forums
Tap into retail-specific communities and forums, whether online or in-person. Platforms like Retail Week or local retail meetups can provide invaluable insights and connections. You never know who might drop a tip about an upcoming job at companies like Club L London, so don’t miss out on building those relationships!
✨Be Ready for Busy Season Opportunities
Keep your eyes peeled for seasonal hiring windows, especially in the run-up to major shopping periods. Retailers often look for full-time staff to carry through busy times and may even keep you on after the season. Stay proactive by regularly checking in with your favourite retailers about their hiring plans.
✨Show Off Your Customer Service Skills
Retail’s all about customer interactions, so make sure you showcase any relevant experience in your conversations and interviews. Share specific examples of your customer service skills and how they’ve led to positive outcomes. This is your moment to shine when applying to roles at places like Club L London!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Merchandiser in Sale
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Off Your Customer Service Skills:In retail, customer service is key! Make sure your CV highlights any experience where you've dealt with customers, whether it’s resolving issues or enhancing the shopping experience. Use concrete examples to demonstrate your problem-solving skills and ability to handle difficult situations with ease.
Tailor Your CV for Retail:When applying for a full-time role like this one at Club L London, customise your CV to reflect retail-specific buzzwords. Include any relevant skills such as inventory management or visual merchandising, and if you have experience with POS systems, shout about it! This will show you’re serious about joining the retail team.
Craft a Genuine Cover Letter:Don’t just repeat your CV in your cover letter! Use it as a chance to explain why you're excited about the opportunity at Club L London and how your values align with their brand. Mention specific aspects of the company that resonate with you and let your enthusiasm shine through!
Highlight Your Adaptability:In retail, things can get busy and unpredictable, so demonstrate how adaptable and flexible you are. Share examples of times you've had to adjust your approach on the fly or take on new responsibilities. This will show Club L London that you’re ready to jump in and contribute right away!
How to prepare for a job interview at Club L London
✨Show Off Your Customer Service Skills
Retail is all about providing an exceptional customer experience, so be ready to discuss your past customer service stories. We should have examples on hand of how we've handled difficult situations or gone above and beyond to meet a customer's needs. These anecdotes will bring your application to life!
✨Familiarity with Point of Sale Systems
Many retail roles require us to work with Point of Sale (POS) systems, so it's a good idea to brush up on any relevant software you’ve used before. If you’re familiar with systems like Shopify or Square, don’t forget to mention this during the interview. Highlighting technical proficiency can set us apart from other candidates!
✨Understand Product Knowledge
Be prepared to discuss the products that the store sells and how we can contribute to their sales. Showing enthusiasm for the products and a willingness to learn can impress interviewers. We should research popular items or trends in the industry before the interview, so we can speak confidently about them.
✨Be Ready for Role-Playing Scenarios
Many retail interviews include role-playing scenarios where we might have to deal with a difficult customer or upsell a product. Practising these scenarios with a friend or family member can help us feel more comfortable. The key here is to showcase our problem-solving skills and ability to remain calm under pressure!
