Retail Manager

: About the Role: The role will be responsible for end-to-end management of the eyewear retail business, covering brand onboarding, retail operations, sales, business development, commercial performance, team management, and overall category growth. The ideal candidate should have a strong understanding of the eyewear ecosystem, including eyewear brands, optical retail, store operations, product assortment, vendor/brand relationships, sales management, and customer experience. Key Responsibilities: Retail Business Management: - Take end-to-end ownership of eyewear retail operations and business performance. - Develop and execute strategies to drive sales, profitability, customer acquisition, and overall category growth. - Monitor business KPIs including sales, margins, conversion, average transaction value, inventory turns, productivity, and store profitability. - Identify opportunities to improve retail processes, operational efficiency, and customer experience. - Drive consistent execution of retail standards across stores/outlets. Brand Onboarding & Management: - Identify and evaluate potential eyewear brands for onboarding. - Manage the complete brand onboarding process, including commercial negotiations, assortment planning, pricing, margins, and launch strategy. - Build and maintain strong relationships with eyewear brands, distributors, manufacturers, and other key partners. - Review brand performance and develop plans for expansion, optimization, or rationalization. - Stay updated on emerging eyewear brands, market trends, consumer preferences, and competitive offerings. Sales & Revenue Management: - Develop and execute sales strategies to achieve revenue and profitability targets. - Drive store-level and category-level sales performance. - Analyse sales trends and identify opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and improving conversion. - Establish sales targets and performance metrics for stores and teams. - Work closely with marketing and merchandising teams to drive promotional and seasonal initiatives. Store & Retail Operations: - Oversee day-to-day retail operations across the eyewear business. - Ensure compliance with SOPs, operational standards, visual merchandising guidelines, and customer service processes. - Improve store productivity and operational efficiency. - Ensure effective inventory availability, replenishment, stock management, and ageing control. - Work with internal teams to resolve operational challenges and ensure seamless store functioning. Team Leadership: - Lead, mentor, and develop retail/store teams to achieve business objectives. - Define KRAs and performance metrics for retail teams. - Drive a performance-oriented culture with a strong focus on customer service and sales excellence. - Identify capability gaps and implement appropriate training and development initiatives. - Build a strong talent pipeline for the retail organization. Business Analytics & Reporting: - Track and analyse retail and category performance through regular MIS and business reviews. - Prepare performance dashboards and provide actionable insights to senior management. - Identify gaps against targets and implement corrective action plans. - Use data and market intelligence to support business and assortment decisions. Customer Experience: - Ensure a high-quality and consistent customer experience across all retail touchpoints. - Drive initiatives to improve customer satisfaction, repeat purchases, and customer loyalty. - Ensure teams deliver strong product knowledge and consultative selling, particularly around frames, lenses, and optical solutions. Key Requirements: - 10-15 years of overall experience, with significant experience specifically in the eyewear/optical retail industry. - Strong experience in end-to-end retail operations and business management. - Proven experience in eyewear brand onboarding and brand/vendor management. - Strong understanding of eyewear products, brands, optical retail, and category dynamics. - Demonstrated track record of delivering sales and profitability targets. - Experience managing multi-store/multi-location retail operations would be highly preferred. - Strong commercial, negotiation, analytical, and stakeholder-management skills. - Proven people-management and leadership capabilities. - Strong understanding of retail KPIs, inventory management, merchandising, and customer experience. - Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to build and scale the eyewear category.