Merchandise Planner

Role Overview

The Merchandise Planner plays a key role in crafting a detailed inventory demand plan ahead of each season's launch, covering Wholesale, Retail, and Ecommerce channels. This position collaborates closely with teams such as Merchandising, Allocations, Supply Planning, and Retail Operations to build an inventory blueprint and forecast demands, aligned with a merchandising strategy and open-to-buy goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Generate sales forecasts by analyzing past sales data, trends, and merchandise strategies across all sales channels.
• Develop a detailed inventory plan broken down by SKU, distribution location, and monthly timing, ensuring comprehensive company coverage.
• Manage the distribution of open-to-buy funds by considering store inventory, sales objectives, and promotional activities.
• Lead post-season evaluations with the Merchandising team to guide future product-line decisions and SKU optimization.
• Track and give insights on return and exchange rates to inform strategy adjustments.
• Facilitate monthly Sales and Operations demand review meetings to recognize emerging trends and opportunities.
• Assess inventory for upcoming seasons and propose strategies to handle slow-moving or obsolete stock.

Performance Metrics

• Accuracy of sales forecasts.
• Adherence to open-to-buy limits.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Minimum of three years’ experience in planning, allocations, merchandising, forecasting, or financial modeling.
• Background in the apparel industry, preferably within retail or omni-channel brand environments.
• University degree in mathematics, economics, statistics, business management, or related fields.
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking abilities.
• Strong communication skills to effectively present complex information to diverse audiences.