M&S to 'shape future of retail buying and merchandising' with new appointment

Marks & Spencer has appointed Sital Nakarja as its Transformation Lead for its Planning Programme, across its fashion, home and beauty departments. She said she is looking to "shape the future of retail buying and merchandising operations".

Nakarja brings 15 years of leadership experience to her new role, and joins M&S after a brief stint as Head of Merchandising Innovation at AllSaints.

Prior to this, she spent four years as System Implementation Lead for buying and merchandising at Primark, where she helped drive a shift toward more agile, data-driven planning by modernising planning processes.

She has also worked across buying and merchandising roles in River Island, Miss Selfridge and ASOS, and spent two years as General Manager at Chiquita Bacana, an apparel supplier for the likes of New Look, Topshop and River Island.

"The opportunity to join an iconic brand like M&S, helping to modernise planning, strengthen data-led decision making and to help shape the future of retail buying and merchandising operations, was one I felt I couldn’t pass up," Nakarja shared in a LinkedIn post.

The appointment highlights Marks & Spencer's commitment to strengthening its data-led decision making within its core retail functions.

The new appointment follows the announcement in March of the launch of a new monthly “faster to market” trend-led capsule programme under the name ‘The Love That Drop’.

The programme is in response to demand from customers for more frequent newness and greater trend credibility, with shoppers increasingly buying fashion pieces throughout the year rather than solely around traditional seasonal peaks.

Behind the scenes, the programme is the result of a more streamlined supplier model created specifically for it, working with a small number of strategic supply partners to enable faster decision-making and shorter timelines from concept to launch, improved consistency in colour, fabric and fit, and order sheets turned around in as little as two weeks.