Ranganath Kuppur

• Accomplishments and integrity-driven professional with expertise in business & category development and success in effective business management in Retail & eCommerce.
• Excellent track record in strategic roles in buying & merchandising, planning by created and executed strategic and periodic seasonal and non-seasonal merchandise plans to deliver on fashion and lifestyle brand and business objectives.
• Successfully driven complete e-commerce operations which includes channel sales, selection & pricing, competitive gap analysis, trend forecast, product positioning and order fulfilment. 
• Developing a thorough understanding of the market segment, seasonality and global trends/events, and continually monitoring competitor efforts. 
• Expertise in sourcing, product development, quality and business improvement to elevate product supply chain to the next level through nominated vendor/mill matrix, social compliance, fabric standardization, vendor management & strategic product initiatives.
• Known for data driven decisions with help of analytical tools like Appsflyer, Metabase.
• Driven all key metrics from user growth, improving contribution margins, scaling up top line at sustainable basis establishing performance specifications, cost and price parameters.
• Expertise in marketing strategy, tactical planning, work on promotional calendar, creative project timelines, content creation and deployment across key channel including creating our own online platform.
• Develop new products based on data, market trends and customer needs analysis, and build business cases for each.
• Created a portfolio of brands based on consumer archetypes and product / design frameworks that allows private brands to be present across all points in the merchandise spectrum from a customer point of view.
• Extensive cross-functional expertise in buying, sourcing, retail planning, marketing, operations, logistics and warehousing, distribution management and vendor development.
• Managing product lifecycle from ideation phase through commercialization, across multiple categories 
• Owning and managing private label products and while driving pricing, in-stock, demand generation and a top-notch customer experience
• Being startup projects enthusiastic, successfully implemented various ERP systems like SAP, Voyager, PRO, STAGE along with product lifecycle tool like PLM at different stages of business

   StarMerx eCommerce Co. Ltd (Shenzhen, China)

 StarMerx eCommerce Co. Ltd (Shenzhen, China)

   (Also known as WEMORE Internet Pvt Ltd – Social commerce platform)

    Head – Business & Category | Sales & Operations | Buying & Merchandising | Sourcing & Vendor Management

    (Cross border eCommerce, Global Channel Sales & Logistics) (Since Oct 2019)

    (Clothing – Men’s, Women’s, Kids & Accessories | Electronics| JAB’s | Home & Living| Personal care|

    Food & Beverages and International products)         

• P&L responsible for the business: to drive all key metrics from user growth, improving contribution margins, scaling up top line at sustainable basis establishing performance specifications, cost and price parameters.
• Category Management: ensuring category sales & growth along with target margins, supplier and product analysis, competition mapping, trend forecast, product selection & pricings and product positioning. 
• Channel sales: to ensure sales, fulfillment, channel sales, commercials, logistics, customer care, optimize listing, promotions, product content with key words, product visibility, sales forecast and fulfilment.
• Business strategy: closely monitoring marketing strategy, tactical planning, work on promotional calendar, creative project timelines, content creation and deployment across key channel including creating our own online platform
• Data Analysis: of pricing strategies for each platform to ensure program profitability, keeping eye on sales, revenue, refunds, customer ratings, seller ratings, cancelations and returns.
• Sourcing & Vendor Management: Identify potential vendors, Onboarding along with compliance, Capacity planning, pricing and product development 
• Strategic sourcing: partnering with strong vendor base across clusters, by planning & blocking capacities well ahead of the season with proper forecasting
• Product Development: Emphasized new product developments to help category well ahead of competition, by working very close to vendor base, identify new fabric line, print technics and with new embellishments.
• BD, KAM and Cataloging management: Identifying and onboarding best of the suppliers in each product category at cluster level, ensured suppliers grew along with business through best KAM management practice, and best use of real estate for better visibility by efficient cataloging process with all key search words, category navigation and taxonomy & filters.
• Trend and data Analysis: Developed trend forecasting understanding competition gap, sales trend, customer demand, product & price gap and customer behavior. 
• Warehouse & Logistics: Streamlined timeline for cross border logistics and warehouse efficiency 

Accomplishments:

• Took up sales from 100 to 8000 orders per day
• Onboarded over 10000 suppliers, whole-sellers, traders, brandswith over 30000 catalogs across various categories within short period 
• Introduced over 30 + major sub categories to platform like Clothing, Electronics, JAB’s, Home & Living, Personal care, Food & Beverages, LED, Outdoor tools, Household products, Accessories, Toys, Cosmetic products
• Build a strong cluster team across India
• Set up efficient customer care to improve customer & seller experience, customer ratings & seller ratings  
• Successfully developed and launched private label for fashion categories 
• Brought down lead time of international shipments from 30 days to 5 days 
• Took up Conversation rate to 24.5% 
• Achieved good conversion of various parameters like o/v – 2%, o/s – 18%, s/v -40%

INMARK RETAIL, BANGALORE                                                 

Head – Buying & Merchandising, Planning and Sourcing (May 2017-Sep 2019) 

 Retail, E-Commerce and Saudi Arabia Business

Men’s | Women’s | Kids wear and Accessories- Private label & Brands

Category Head – Buying, Planning and Sourcing (March 2015 – May 2017) 

 (Women’s Ethnic |Western wear | Kids wear | Accessories | Innerwear & Night wear - Private label & Brands)                                        

• P&L responsible for the category: Top line, GM, bottom line, Sale thru, SPSF, Space efficiency and Inventory of the business, to ensure and maximize target achievement
• Effectively managed start business challenges to take business closer to INR 100 cr. 
• Business excellence: Efficiently managed teams to get maximum output from all three channels of business without adding cost to the organization – retail, e-commerce and international business (KSA)
• Range matrix: Through proper competition mapping, trend, sales data analysis, price segmentation and customer feedback 
• Business analysis: Key category and product analysis to discern fast moving products & maintain optimum stock, product gap analysis with existing market to increase brand scope and market share 
• Integration of annual business plan, stock plan and promotion plan
• E-Commerce: Launched market place for Inmark and driving business through listing of complete assortment, ensuring comprehensive product content, promotion planning and activations with the Ecommerce customers. 
• Planogram: Well versed in creating planograms and product promotions schemes. Ensuring correct

Stocking and availability of right products, product planning, product mix by devising and managing the planograms.

• Private label: Successfully launched brands with well-defined brand philosophy and target audience
• Maintained design ethos across the brands along with a clear demarcation of the growth strategy for each so that the portfolio of brands
• Business strategy: Defined short term and long-term business strategy for the Private & External Brand business aligned to overall business & operations deliverables
• Space efficiency: strategically partnered with external brands which helped to increase space efficiency

Accomplishments:

• Played pivotal role to take up top line business from 12cr to 100cr without adding additional cost to organization. 
• YOY growth: Provided consistent year on year growth at 10-12% 
• Private label business: Successfully launched private labels across the category 
• SPSF: With proper range matrix and price mapping took up Spsf from Rs 13 to Rs 29
• Sale thru:  With effective buying process consistently achieved sale thru to 75 - 80% 
• Improved store level EBITA from (-) to (+) 
• Successfully launched international business in Saudi Arabia, by setting up stores on franchise model
• Calendar process: Initiated effective calendar process which helped to launch season on time
• With the help of squeezed calendar, which helped design to spot on the trends by working very close to the seasons. 
• Stock management: Maintained stocks under 12 week cover to give upper hand on cash flow
• Freshness: Introduction of replacement model range ensured freshness at stores
• Planned promotions: Planned bundle promo’s helped to take up APPB from 2.3pcs to 5.1pcs per bill and ASP from Rs 450 to Rs 580 
• Successfully launched and managed private labels across Men’s, Women’s ethnic and western wear and Kids wear (Men’s – Slub & Urban nomad, Womens – Alibi, Amari west and Amari, Kidswear – Tickles, Miss Alibi, Slub Jr)

   BUBLY TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD, BANGALORE

   Co-Founder (Nov 2012 – March 2015)

(E-Commerce Platform for B2C and B2B business for medium and small time retailers

 to enhance their business through seamless cashback across Fashion, FMCG, FMCD segments)

• Successfully established technology platform for medium and small time retailers to enhance their business.
• Bubly helped to do cross promo across various segment like Fashion, FMCG, FMCD and various other formats.
• Through Bubly we created seamless solution to track customers and their shopping behavior.
• Rigorously tracking system to help increase repeated walk-in’s, increased ticket size for retailers
• Detailed analysis of top and bottom line of the business, month on month growth, top and bottom selling items
• Created Bubly community, through which Bubly customers enjoyed cash back and its redemption across retailers and formats, which helped to increase walk-in’s for retailers
• Successfully signed up 1000 plus retailers across various formats

 RELIANCE TRENDS, BANGALORE

Category Manager – Buying, Sourcing and Planning (June 2010 –Nov 2012)

   (Women’s Western wear for private label and brands)

 Senior Buyer – Women’s Ethnic wear (May 2009 – June 2010)

Sourcing Manager –Women’s Ethnic wear (Nov 2007- April 2009)

           (Mix & Match, Sets, Sarees and RTS)

• Top and bottom line business analysis to ensure and maximize target achievement
• Competition mapping in terms of product/promotion. 
• Selection and short listing of merchandise basis data and trends
• Merchandising which comprises of planning on the basis of sales data, set sales targets, option plan, expected returns from the category 
• Key category and product analysis to discern fast moving products & maintain optimum stock in the same
• Profitability and Markdown analysis
• Option planning for subcategories on the basis of contribution to the category sales, top line business, bottom line business
• Product gap analysis with existing market to increase brand scope and market share 
• Integration of annual business plan, stock plan and promotion plan
• Ensure maximum brand visibility in coordination with marketing and VM team
• Monitor warehouse stock, ensure stock availability.

Accomplishments: 

• Was part of team from the launch of 1st store till 120th Store
• Successfully launched and managed private labels across women’s ethnic and western wear (Performax, DNMX, Teamspirt, TS Yoga, Fig, Rio, Sparsh, Avaasa)
• Managed business size of INR 150 cr out of organizations INR 850 cr
• Managed women’s business with various products in ethnic like Kurtha, SKD, RTS, Saree and in Western performance wear, Activewear, Casual wear and workwear
• Instrumental in achieving SPSF from Rs 15 to Rs 28
• Consistently delivered 80% + sale thru
• Achieved stock turn of FIVE 
• Stablished vendor base
   

GOKALDAS IMAGES PVT LTD, BANGALORE

Manager – Merchandising and Marketing (April 2005- Oct 2007)

 Asst. Manager – Merchandising and Marketing (Jan 2003- March 2005)

• Successfully managed some of top international brands like AEO, GAP, Haggars, Ted Baker, Vetir and Liz Claiborne. 
• Closely worked with brands, factories and ensured to meet deadlines
• Ensured company profitability with very effective costing
• Competitive on prices ensured to book good business across brands
• Managed team to deliver goods on time
• Worked along with trend which ensured continuous business with brands
• Ensured smooth cross function relation with-in the organization
• Minimized production wastage which in turn ensured high profit

Accomplishments:

• “Awarded for excellence” at Gokaldas Images for 2006-07

         L T KARLE AND COMPANY. BANGALORE

           Sr. Merchandiser (Sept 2001 - Jan 2003)

• Instrumental in the design and set up of Merchandising calendar
• Worked on very effective process calendar
• Recognized as efficient merchandiser from the organization

B'Tech ( Textile Engineering )