General merchandising manager

A general merchandising manager (GMM) is the boss of the buyers’ boss. The GMM leads and manages the buyers of all divisions in a retail operation.

What are the responsibilities of a general merchandising manager?

This key administrator is responsible for setting the overall strategy and merchandise direction of the retail operation.

The GMM develops the buying and selling strategies that will, hopefully, maximize business performance and profitability. The GMM ensures that pricing decisions, promotional strategies, and marketing activities support the financial objectives of the merchandising team.

To accomplish this, the GMM must understand not only the competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, and strategies, but also the customers’ demographics, wants, and needs, as well as merchandise trends in all departments.

GMMs set the merchandise direction to ensure a focused continuity on the selling floor. They work with the divisional merchandising managers and buyers to develop competitive merchandise assortments that appeal to customers at the right prices and at the right fashion level.

They also assist the buying staff with securing the best merchandise exclusives, product launches, and deliveries available in the market, as illustrated with Fenty Beauty, a beauty brand collaboration with singer Rihanna and LVHM, and sold through the LVMH subsidiary, Sephora.

In collaboration with LVMH, singer Rihanna developed FENTY, an inclusive beauty line, for distribution through Sephora stores worldwide.

The GMM collaborates with the buying team on which manufacturers or designers, fashion items, and merchandise categories will be carried in depth by the retail organization. GMMs manage, coach, and develop the buying staff, creating an environment that promotes the professional development of the divisional merchandising managers and buyers and enhancing morale among the entire buying team.

While collaborating with the divisional merchandising managers in developing merchandise assortments that support the needs of the customers and the financial objectives of each merchandise division, GMMs are ultimately responsible for overseeing merchandise selection and procurement of goods by the buyers.

The number of GMM positions is limited, as these are top leadership slots available in midsize and large retail operations. Some companies offer GMMs supplementary packages, such as bonuses or stock options, based on increases in the company’s sales volume and gross margin.

In the next step, you will examine the role of the divisional merchandising manager, which is the next step to becoming a GMM.