About the position The Associate Buyer is responsible for assisting the Buyer and/or Sr. Buyer in developing the assortment direction and delivering product that is trend-relevant and has a strong price-value for their assigned categories, keeping a pulse on latest trends, influencers, aspirational and competitive landscape for their categories, maintaining strong relationships with vendor community, and identifying sales and consumer insight trends to increase revenue, profit, and market-share. They are expected to represent Lulus and its mission statement with integrity. The Associate Buyer is responsible for developing the assortment architecture strategy and reordering products that will hit revenue targets, optimize conversion, and maximize full-price sell-thru while minimizing inventory risk for their assigned categories. The Associate Buyer should be energetic, organized, and determined! This is a Hybrid role working out of our LA Office 3 days a week (Tues-Thurs).

Responsibilities

• Analyze and forecast product performance and inventory levels to make informed decisions on what and how much to buy back into utilizing historical data and trends.
• Curate Assortment that aligns to Lulus consumer profiles, is trend-relevant, and delivers a strong price-value.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key cross-functional partners (Development, Planning, Merchandising, Production, and Marketing)
• Present to the team and upper management the buy strategy and opportunities within respective departments
• Partner with Planner to manage P&L and achieve KPI targets and budgets
• Ensure product line accurately represents the target customer
• Manage buys to ensure product life cycle is fully realized, with correct quantity at the right time, and be able to exit out with minimal markdown quantities
• Build and maintain strong relationships with vendors; negotiating quality, quantity, and delivery
• Communicate regularly with other departments regarding the stock level and merchandise needs
• Track markdowns for aged merchandise
• Analyze and track best and worst-selling styles, colors, and materials
• Maintain Buy Sheets/plans to match On Order
• Attend all internal business and creative meetings with the knowledge to speak on respective categories
• Assortment planning and sales analysis
• Forecast, buy, and allocate as needed based on prior sales and product performance
• Interpret sales data from previous years and current trends to create proposals based on the sales data and preferred styles
• Review standards and vendor agreements before making a vendor recommendation to the buying team
• Attend all internal business and creative meetings with the knowledge to speak on respective categories
• Attend vendor meetings as needed
• Attend fittings for respective categories and maintain any notes
• Execution of promotions as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience
• 2+ years of retail buying experience
• Thorough knowledge of trends and fashion
• Keen understanding of the Lulus Customer
• Ability to make creative buying decisions to meet customer demand
• Excellent communication: written, oral, and group facilitation
• Strong retail math skills
• Professional, positive attitude
• Sense of urgency, highly detailed, and experience in meeting deadlines
• Must be able to work independently
• Strong Excel skills, including formulas such as sumifs, vlookups, etc. and pivot tables
• Ability to apply logical thinking and sound judgment to a wide range of practical problems