Ria Gupta

Responsible for end-to-end buying process across three different categories. Played a pivotal role in increasing sales by at least 26% across all three different categories.

• Achieved the following growth in sales for the three categories within my domain: Food – 53% growth YoY (YTD 24 vs YTD23), Toys (Gifts and Souvenirs) – 34% (YTD 24 vs YTD23), Liquor – 26% (YTD 24 vs YTD23)
• Trained to become the effective category manager for toys within first 6 months of commencement
• Developed an overall toy strategy for the company that included customised strategies for over 60 stores nationally. The strategy document has now been adopted as the template across all other categories.

Assist in execution of end-to-end buying process for furniture and homeware products. This included assisting on all assigned duties related to the cultivation of new season collections.

• Coordinated with various stakeholders including planners, logistics, quality control and marketing to ensure critical path is being managed and completed on time
• Formed strong relationships with our larger suppliers and achieved an average 13% discount on products (largest discount in our category) and improved the ETA’s
• Cut down freight costs on multiple products by reducing CBMs through innovative design updates
• Independently responsible for completing multiple, large purchase orders and managing movement of returned/damaged inventory
• Identified and created efficient methods to optimise the working processes amongst cross functional teams
• This included developing a new Smartsheet to streamline the product photography process across the sales, buying and marketing teams respectively
• Creating weekly reports to show the market analyses, competitor comparison and new treads coming in the market
• Own the creation of the summer 2023 catalogue process in combination with the in-house graphic team.

Overall responsibility for designing and managing the combined online and offline operations of Synalinx Pty Ltd. This included managing the operations including the end-to-end factory to customer life cycle of Synalinx products (mattresses and bedding, medical supplies etc).

• Review and analyse tenders and RFQs, ensure accurate client quotations that consider technical considerations, overall quality, lead time whilst simultaneously negotiating better pricing outcomes
• Overall responsibility for design of digital marketing campaigns and newsletters
• Responsible for significant reduction in packaging costs by forming innovative packaging solutions
• Conceive aesthetically appealing displays and product presentations to enhance the retail shopping experience for customers
• Responsible for marketing operations including trade shows, social and online marketing, and web design
• Manage and oversee day to day activities of operations, including planning and coordinating with other units (tender management with governments)
• Train and on-board 4 new staff members.

Responsible for overall set design and managing all aspects of end-to-end set execution for advertisements and photoshoots for global brands (Cadbury, Nestle, Nivea etc).

• Provided set design consultations and maintained relationships with vendors and production teams
• Prepared construction plans, co-ordinated build out and developed drawings and sketches with impeccable attention to detail
• Led teams of up to 15 people whilst simultaneously co-ordinating with directors and photographers to ensure their visions and goals were met.

Responsible for product design and assisting in major buying decisions for the furniture & homeware department of a major global retailer based out of India, with more than 300 retail outlets nationwide.

• Created and modified designs of furniture and homeware product ranges for one of India’s largest retailers (‘Fabindia’)
• Assisted senior buyer in making purchasing decisions of respective products in the furniture and homeware department
• Organised visual merchandising for furniture and homeware departments for 6 stores
• This included creating well-received new concepts for windows, floors, department displays, and promotions
• Managed logistics regarding supply of products in the whole of India
• Maintained monthly reports on performance of furniture and homeware products in India.