Anelisa R.
Demand Planner
Notable Highlight
Awarded best stock turn for two consecutive financial years within her department. Improved demand planning accuracy by analyzing sales trends and adjusting forecasts to align stock with customer demand.
Experience Summary
Anelisa was a commercially driven Demand Planner with strong experience in retail inventory management and forecasting. She worked for major South African retailers including PEP (Pepkor) and The Foschini Group, progressing from intern to Demand Planner roles. She specialized in SKU-level forecasting, promotional demand planning, and inventory optimization within high-volume retail environments and demonstrated ability to drive cross-functional alignment between planning, supply chain, and merchandising teams.
Key Achievements
Awarded best stock turn for two consecutive financial years within her department. Improved demand planning accuracy by analyzing sales trends and adjusting forecasts to align stock with customer demand. Produced detailed operational reports and dashboards that enhanced inventory performance visibility and enabled more informed planning decisions.
Skills
Work Experience
Demand Planner
PADOPT · Cape Town, South Africa · Jan 2025 – Present
- Own and maintain rolling demand forecasts at SKU level across assigned categories, incorporating promotions, seasonality, and new product launches.
- Monitor inventory flow, seasonal sell-offs, and validate forecasts for Open-To-Buy management.
- Support new product launches by collaborating with brand and merchandising teams, ensuring accurate demand forecasts and timely stock availability.
- Analyze and reconcile forecast exceptions, incorporating causal factors such as promotions, events, and seasonality.
- Support inventory optimization by identifying risks of excess, obsolescence, and stock-outs, driving early actions to protect service levels and working capital.
- Analyze post-event and promotional data to identify opportunities, refine demand forecasts, and improve future planning accuracy.
- Prepare and present forecast performance, forecast vs. actuals, and key drivers to Category, Merchandise, and Supply Chain stakeholders.
- Generate and deliver accurate reports and dashboards to track performance, forecast accuracy, and stock optimization.
- Maintain optimal inventory levels and forecast accuracy across assigned categories.
- Drive a customer-centric approach by aligning stock and replenishment strategies with market demand, ensuring availability while minimizing excess.
- Develop and validate monthly demand forecasts used to drive replenishment, stock allocation, and financial planning.
- Analyze forecast accuracy, identifying root causes and implementing corrective actions to improve planning reliability.
- Partner with Supply Chain and Merchandise to manage product rollouts, stock-outs, and allocation priorities.
- Provide forecast insights for budgeting, category planning, and commercial decision-making.
Merchandise Controller
PADOPT · Cape Town, South Africa · 2024 – 2025
- Manage inventory flow, replenishment, and promotional stock to support sales plans while controlling stock exposure and ageing.
- Monitor stock on hand, sell-through stock, and weeks of cover to reduce excess and obsolete stock.
- Distribute sales communications and support store-level execution of allocation strategies.
- Execute stock roll-outs, allocations, and promotional launches, ensuring availability aligned to demand plans.
- Compile reports and presentations for sales operations performance reviews.
- Manage replenishment allocation and stock availability, ensuring consistent sales growth across stores.
- Analyze regional sales performance and stock efficiency, producing reports for management to support commercial decisions.
Allocator
T(FG · Cape Town, South Africa · 2023
- Allocate seasonal and replenishment stock to support store performance and optimize sales.
- Conduct sales performance analysis to inform stock movement decisions.
- Maintain strong relationships with cross-functional teams to ensure timely allocation and replenishment.
- Assist in reporting and monitoring stock availability to improve sell-through and minimize stock-outs.
Merchandise Planning Intern
T(FG · Cape Town, South Africa · 2023
- Support senior planners in allocation strategies and sales reporting.
- Assist in forecasting seasonal product demand and reviewing historical sales data.
- Prepare stock analysis reports to support replenishment and allocation planning.
- Gain foundational exposure to retail planning, merchandising processes, and sales analysis.