Merchandise Planning Resume Sample
Work Experience
- Build collaborative partnerships cross-functionally
- Lead the teams to develop sales, margin and turn targets that support company financial objectives, ensuring channels and locations are planned and managed to appropriate growth rates and that vendor plans appropriately reflect sales and margin opportunities
- Lead the development of assortment and inventory optimization strategies that places inventory closest to the source of demand while leveraging the omni-channel fulfillment capabilities
- Drive the long-range planning process 95 year plans) to develop a strategic roadmap for the business, highlighting business opportunities with investment needs from cross functional partners (e.g., customer acquisition, space allocation, fulfillment capacity, etc.)
- Determine new store and renovation plans to maximize company profitability
- Partner with the leased business lead to fully develop the overall business strategy
- Experience in merchandise planning
- Responsible for leading, developing and training the planning and operations teams for Soft Goods and Accessories
- Experience leading and developing strategic direction for merchandising planning and inventory management processes, change management and business readiness
- Holds self and team accountable to deliver on agreed commitments
- Run daily reporting
- Support allocation transfer process
- Support data collection for clustering for stores
- Hindsight departments within the business
- Present business to leaders
- Strong track record and interest in team performance through constant sharing of best practices
- At the division/category level, develop sales, gross margin and inventory plans that align with the company’s profit objectives and merchandise product opportunities
- Drive strategic merchandising financial planning and partner closely with Finance to manage the monthly/yearly budget and other financial goals
- Guide the planning and merchandising teams to capitalize on new opportunities and identify risks based on historical data and industry trends
- Analyze and present key metrics to senior leadership team
- Partner closely with the VPs of Merchandising and Director of Bike on financial decisions and inventory management and serve as the gatekeeper for the financial health of the business
- Collaborate with merchandising and marketing teams in the development and implementation of all promotional activities and pricing actions
- Oversee all vendor online dealer agreements and operations to ensure maximum profitability while minimizing potential risks to the organization
- Serve as a key stake holder in the development and implementation of all process and technology improvements that relate to merchandising and planning
- Merchandising Planning experience including management, assortment planning, financial planning, item planning, location planning, inventory management (forecasting, replenishment and allocation) and analysis
Education
Professional Skills
- Attention to detail, strong problem solving and analytical skills
- Experienced in Microsoft Office, especially intermediate Excel and PowerPoint skills. Knowledge of planning and allocation software
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret meaningful trends from quantitative and
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills with emphasis on communicating financial concepts
- Lead, train, develop and retain Planning team members by assessing resident skills and identifying training and development needs
- Adapts easily to changing situations and demonstrates flexibility in re-prioritizing deliverables
- Problem solving skills to identify root cause and potential solves
How to write Merchandise Planning Resume
Merchandise Planning role is responsible for excel, planning, software, reporting, training, organization, powerpoint, leadership, analytical, development.
To write great resume for merchandise planning job, your resume must include:
- Your contact information
- Work experience
- Education
- Skill listing
Contact Information For Merchandise Planning Resume
The section contact information is important in your merchandise planning resume. The recruiter has to be able to contact you ASAP if they like to offer you the job. This is why you need to provide your:
- First and last name
- Telephone number
Work Experience in Your Merchandise Planning Resume
The section work experience is an essential part of your merchandise planning resume. It’s the one thing the recruiter really cares about and pays the most attention to.
This section, however, is not just a list of your previous merchandise planning responsibilities. It's meant to present you as a wholesome candidate by showcasing your relevant accomplishments and should be tailored specifically to the particular merchandise planning position you're applying to.
The work experience section should be the detailed summary of your latest 3 or 4 positions.
Representative Merchandise Planning resume experience can include:
- Proven experience in tops down and bottoms up financial planning processes and systems and a clear understanding of financial measures: sales, gross margin, weeks on hand, weeks of supply etc. and how to maximize them
- Independent decision-making skills
- Communicate effectively and clearly, reflecting an appropriate sense of urgency to all levels of management and with a collaborate management style
- Experience with budgeting, planning, modeling and forecasting systems
- Assess category planning skill gap needs and support with development plans
- Merchandise planning, allocation or financial management experience in a SKU-intensive product category
Education on a Merchandise Planning Resume
Make sure to make education a priority on your merchandise planning resume. If you’ve been working for a few years and have a few solid positions to show, put your education after your merchandise planning experience. For example, if you have a Ph.D in Neuroscience and a Master's in the same sphere, just list your Ph.D. Besides the doctorate, Master’s degrees go next, followed by Bachelor’s and finally, Associate’s degree.
Additional details to include:
- School you graduated from
- Major/ minor
- Year of graduation
- Location of school
These are the four additional pieces of information you should mention when listing your education on your resume.
Professional Skills in Merchandise Planning Resume
When listing skills on your merchandise planning resume, remember always to be honest about your level of ability. Include the Skills section after experience.
Present the most important skills in your resume, there's a list of typical merchandise planning skills:
- Excel skills and data management skills are imperative
- Excellent partnership, collaboration, and presentation skills
- Experience in a retail organization with 2 + years’ experience in a planning function
- Able to diagnose and structure process issues and use rigor and logic to develop & implement streamlined solutions effectively & quickly
- Leadership skills to provide a point of view to C-Level, Product Engine and Regional executives
- Communication skills to clearly articulate complex merchandise plan concepts, strategies and opportunities and influence key decisions
List of Typical Experience For a Merchandise Planning Resume
Experience For Manager, Merchandise Planning Resume
- Proven experience leading/coaching a team
- Strong organization, time-management, and prioritization abilities. Able to work in a fast-paced environment while remaining focused and analytical
- Effectively lead and develop results-oriented team
- Develops a vision for the business and effectively communicates the needs in order to move
- Experience leading a team and developing direct reports in a planning role
- Relevant retail planning experience
- Provide insights that inform prioritization of analytics backlog for buying/planning
- Experience with a replenishable business
Experience For Director of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Experience in a entrepreneurial environment
- Strong attention to detail with broad based business strategies
- Experience leading teams
- Experience in key distribution channels – wholesale, retail, and digital
- Analysis experience
Experience For Senior Director of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Planning/Allocation groups. Review current position against the top-down plan; identify risks and opportunities for optimization
- Builds financial models to support accurate planning and influence decision making
- Develop strategy and approach to planning the assortment buys and ensure that inventory levels are sufficient to support sales while mitigating risks
- Be a thought partner to the heads of Buying, Sourcing and Design
- Find opportunities to enhance current business by streamlining processes and driving strategic initiatives
Experience For Director, Merchandise Planning Resume
- Proficient in all Merchandising and Planning systems
- Ensures adequate planning and allocation of resources to support all merchandise planning initiatives to meet established project timelines
- Create and update inventory productivity analysis including stock aging, pareto, velocity, flow optimization, and seasonal mix
- Work closely with the Category Merchandise Planners, Merchants and GMs, Global Marketing
- Assists in the development of long-range financial planning and annual budgets for Sprouts
- Translate strategic direction of the company into executable processes for the Planning team
- Manage ambiguity of requests and projections by creating approaches that allow for flexibility
Experience For Senior Manager of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Advanced knowledge of the principles of merchandise planning and allocation, and retail operations
- Work with SD of Merchandise Planning to review Merchandise Line Plan and confirm that sku needs are met for each classification and delivery
- Initiatives include Top Volume Drivers, color rollout, door counts, fashion concept placement chart,and pricing strategies
- Provide historical and trend analysis that drives product team collaboration while ensuring maximized business opportunities
- Partners with GMM’s and Merchant team to develop a clear understanding of the customer and product strategies
Experience For Manager of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Partner with the buyers in aligning their team’s efforts with divisional and corporate strategies and goals
- Advanced knowledge of the principles of merchandise planning and allocation as well as retail operations
- Support monthly open to buy meetings; lead cross-functional team in managing opportunities and risks
- Collaborate with Merchandising to determine final class plans
- Analyze selling at retail and recommend strategies
Experience For Global Merchandise Planning Operations Analyst Resume
- Interprets analytics and recommends action steps that are focused on improving the productivity of space in the assigned business areas
- Proficient in Excel, Data Warehouse/Business Objects, Arthur Planning Systems and JDA
- Leads team in developing merchandise plans by business for sales, inventory and receipts
- Ensures identified assortments are developed/ maintained by store/channel to meet demographics of surrounding market
- Develops reporting and diagnostics to enable merchants to analyze their business and refine assortments to maximize sales, improve turn and margin
Experience For Technical Lead-merchandise Planning Systems Resume
- Prepare for monthly open-to-buy review meetings with Merchadising and Finance teams
- Present financial forecast and supporting action plans to open to buy/monthly forecast
- Ensure a holistic view is taken to plan across multiple seasons/channels/distribution points
- Partner with VP of Merchandising and senior buyers to oversee the development of pre-season strategies and financial goals that support finance and marketing objectives for all product categories
- Partner with VP of Merchandising and DMM to determine opportunities for new product categories & markets
- Communicate KPI’s, forecasts, and action plans to executive team
- Partner with your team of planners and their buying counterparts to develop quarterly season code strategies that maximize seasonal selling opportunities and minimize end of season markdowns
- Partner with Marketing/VP Merchandising to ensure promo events are aligned to meet financial goals
- Lead merchandise planning and analysis perspective in all business meetings and ensure strategy is aligned cross functionally
Experience For Director, Global Merchandise Planning Resume
- Develop financial plans and inventory recommendations for holiday promotions and semi-annual clearance events, and present findings to the Executive Leadership team as well as cross-functional teams
- Partner with FC and PLQ teams to ensure inventory initiatives are aligned with operation planning
- Identify and prioritize need for additional systems, tools, and reporting with a focus on creating efficiencies, improved financial performance and data driven decision making
- In partnership with analytics, oversee implementation, communication, and training of new tools and processes across Merchandise Planning and Buying teams to ensure consistency and alignment across functions
- Develop consistent dialogue with cross functional teams, such as Analytics, Marketing and Finance and serve as a Planning team representative for company-wide strategic initiatives
- Partner with merchant team to define and achieve the sales goals for assigned areas on a weekly basis. Ensure that inventory and markdowns budgets are met with sensitivity to the needs of the business
- Manage the timely allocation of product for assigned areas, ensuring that sales, fixture, and store needs are covered, while optimizing the inventory for sell-through and turn
Experience For Merchandise Planning Leadership Role Resume
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to act as an influencer
- Update knowledge and skills to handle new challenges and responsibilities
- Analyze promotional effectiveness and make future recommendations
- +5 years related experience
- Produce KPIs and insights of value weekly, to identify opportunities/risks in the business. Partner across the organization to implement responses
- Lead monthly forecast meetings, and own a timely and accurate forecast and open-to-buy for your assigned business units
- Prepare/present annual merchandise plans for sales, margin, markdowns, and inventory
List of Typical Skills For a Merchandise Planning Resume
Skills For Manager, Merchandise Planning Resume
- Strong understanding of planning, inventory management and merchandising practices
- +8 years merchandise planning/ store planning, inventory or other business planning experience
- Previous experience managing and developing a team
- 10+years’ experience in demand planning, inventory management, and seasonal buying in a wholesale environment
- Buying, planning, or allocation experience in a specialty retail environment
- Demonstrated results-oriented leadership including the ability to model total development and serve as a steward of Dollar General’s mission & values
- Experience influencing stakeholders within an organization
- Strong collaborative and partnership spirit
Skills For Director of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Strong ability to lead and coach a team
- Providing Ecommerce Planning perspective to Omni-Channel decisions including
- Working knowledge of retail math, including return on investments, gross margin, initial markup, etc. is essential
- During the quarterly hindsight and strategy process, provide high level insights that shape seasonal selling, inventory and assortment strategies
- Forecasting Ecommerce Demand by region
- Proposing solutions to opportunities and liabilities
- Drive analytical excellence by coaching and developing new reporting and approaches
- DTC Pre Season Planning-Partner with Company Planning to discuss Top Down vs. Bottom Up Planning, SKU Efficiency Analysis, Seasonal Buy Plans (20%)
- Create and maintain key article ladder plans both pre-season and in-season including managing receipt flow
Skills For Senior Director of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Analyze and compiling data to help identify areas of financial risk and opportunity in forward looking forecasts
- Provide on-going ad-hoc support to merchandise buying teams with data analysis
- Responsible for insuring accuracy of assortment plans and reporting
- Influence cross functional peers across Category Planning & Merchandising
- Hold self and team accountable for outcomes by achieving goals and complying with policies/procedures
- Major in Fashion Merchandising, Planning, Finance, or Economics
- Contingency planning – incorporate customer learning’s, current events, and shifts in consumer behavior into proactive strategy changes
- Foster a positive working environment, encouraging feedback and innovation
Skills For Director, Merchandise Planning Resume
- Partner with Merchandising and Production to develop projected product quantity needs for mills and factories as required on a rolling 12-month basis
- Oversees planners in maximizing sales and profits by forecasting their business by category, theme or key item
- Manage the financial success of the merchandise planning function by meeting sales, margin and inventory turn goals
- Understand the business strategy & deliver supporting processes & practices
- Think & act strategically while managing the details of process execution
Skills For Senior Manager of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Achieve KPI goals through the analysis of current trends and historical data and translating those goals into operational realities
- Provide recommendations to the AVP & VP on how to optimize financial performance within the confines of the Canadian Tire operating model
- Review Tier 1 Marketing Stories across category to ensure alignment of strategy and distribution
- Provide Merch Planning COE with aggregated category/line plans and forecasts
- Manage and refine the planning calendar
Skills For Manager of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Lead strategic planning and go-to-market process improvements and best practices
- Maintain the customer’s perspective as a driving force behind business decisions and activities
- Track record of hitting project timelines
- Proficient in the us of Microsoft spreadsheet and word processing applications
- Advance Microsoft Excel (if statements, linking, pivot tables, etc.)
Skills For Global Merchandise Planning Operations Analyst Resume
- Analyze and present data, and develop financially based merchandising, and insights and direction from hindsight analysis
- Range Planning that influences and partners with product team on line development to include SKU productivity, SKU counts and business penetrations
- Collaborate with VP of Merchandise Planning and VP Sales on account plans that tie to product plans by gender
- Ensure integration of ratio management in merchandising activities
- Manage the financial success of multiple Divisions by meeting sales, gross margin, gross margin return on investment (GMROI) and inventory turn goals
- Position reports to Sr Manager, Merchandise Planning-Online
- Position reports to Sr. Manager of Merchandise Planning, homedepot.com
- Support the open to buy meetings; lead cross-functional team in managing opportunities and risks
Skills For Technical Lead-merchandise Planning Systems Resume
- Supervise and develop team's competencies by coaching
- Train and develop all new planning associates
- Develops merchandise plan for assigned category (one or more) ensuring profitability
- Works with cross functional partners on processes necessary for daily functioning of the business
- Partner with finance and marketing to develop and manage company level sales and inventory plans that support ModCloth’s financial goals
Skills For Director, Global Merchandise Planning Resume
- Develop, communicate markdown strategy and oversee weekly execution by Merchandise Planning team
- Influence broadly across multiple levels, across time zones & cultures
- Support change through the organization & across teams
- Open-mindedness and willingness to change
- Clearly and concisely communicate business performance and strategies to the leadership team
Skills For Merchandise Planning Leadership Role Resume
- Download, analyze and recap actual sales data against plan, previous year, and budget, as well as, promotional results vs. initial forecast. Summarized findings to be shared with all appropriate stakeholders with strategies to maintain appropriate inventory levels and prevent out of stocks
- Build financial sales, gross margin and inventory plans at a weekly level which ties to the companies’ sales, margin and turnover goals. Monitor performance in season during Launch, Promotional, Peak and Markdown periods
- Create, manage and present Open-to-Buy (OTB) analysis to Senior Management and Merchants at Monthly Business Review meetings along with recommended strategies to ensure sales and inventory plans are achieved
- Partner with Executives, Category Merchants, Allocation Analysts and Vendors to execute key business decisions such as: promotional buy opportunities, markdowns, assortment plans, exit strategies, ad-hoc analysis where applicable
- In a merchandise planning or inventory management
- Need to be strong and calm under pressure. This role can require quick thinking to spot trends, evaluate large amounts of data and make sound decisions. Things can change very quickly and there are always deadlines to meet
- In a Merchandise, Logistics or Finance related field
- Provide effective planning support that includes the ongoing management of LOB and Division level weekly financial forecasts, annual planning, and setting monthly operational targets
- Contribute to the evolution of the department through talent development, training and coaching and participation in various process and system improvement initiatives as required
List of Typical Responsibilities For a Merchandise Planning Resume
Responsibilities For Manager, Merchandise Planning Resume
- Assortment effectiveness measures: # of style colors, % to LY performance, IGM % and $, Initial Revenue $ and % to LY
- Review Planners’ 90 day forecasts with a focus on maximizing profit, optimizing inventory, and managing risk across divisions
- Develops budget for functional area. Accountable for area budget and delivering against business goals/objectives
- Leads and manages the Merchandise Planning team in the development, analysis and revision of sales, inventory, markdowns and profit
- Communicate any changes in the Line Plan due to re-ranks, design drops, Internal Line Review, etc. to Planners
- Assist in the preparation of reports which recap and reconcile each season's bookings based on Fashion and Fashion Basics ranks. These reports include corporate classification %s, bookings by concept in units and dollars, delivery flow, major key items by model and delivery (plan vs. actuals)
Responsibilities For Director of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Help others in team to prioritize tasks and ensure achievement of critical individual and group goals; take decisive and timely action to address important short-term and long-term issues
- Provide feedback, coaching and guidance where appropriate to enhance skill development and resolve poor performance; use relevant business metrics, analyses and reports to measure, monitor and improve performance
- Work productively in the face of ambiguity and uncertainty and respond constructively to new demands, priorities and challenges; remove obstacles, redirecting efforts on one’s team to assure quality results
- Provide analytical support for your team and division and be able to synthesize the most critical facts needed to understand problems
- Initiate decisive and timely action to address day-to-day issues and address obstacles and redirect efforts to assure quality results
Responsibilities For Senior Director of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Initiate self-development to build technical and leadership competencies to enhance business results; partner with peers, managers and HR for continued personal development and improved performance against business goals
- Maintain positive relationships and establish relationships across divisions and functions to improve business processes, regularly partner with Merchandising, Forecasting, Marketing, Store Planning, Logistics teams and vendors
- Merchandise Financial Plans aligned across brand, geography and channel partners delivering financial goals
- Actively contribute to weekly business review meetings
- Long range financial plan development
- Leads development of a Financial Assortment Framework that delivers financial goals within seasonal assortments
- Manage monthly open to buy meetings to highlight and articulate key sales, inventory and gross margin opportunities and risks
Responsibilities For Director, Merchandise Planning Resume
- Development of product long range plans that evaluate, challenge and support company 3 year goals
- Drive quarterly meetings that influence and guide the product teams. Provide previous season successes and opportunities through data and analysis
- Deliver/present divisional top-down strategies and financial plans that support the company goals
- Consistent review with team members to make sure everyone is clear of direction and expectations
- Provide input to ensure accurate forecasts
- Analyze historical data and current trends to identify risks and opportunities by Division and Department
- Collaborate with merchandising to develop and communicate a comprehensive strategy that aligns future financial and business opportunities by Division and Department
- Create pre-season sales, gm, and inventory plans by Division and Department that support product strategies
Responsibilities For Senior Manager of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Develop and communicate Division level markdown recommendations and strategies
- Number of direct reports is 6
- Communicate all workflow drivers to store operations on a weekly basis
- Work with cross-functional partners to develop promotional and markdown strategies to maximize profitability
- Ensure planner markdown strategies maximize profit and timely liquidation to better the departmental potential
- Analyze quarterly hindsight for multiple categories
- +Tasks and responsibilities applicable only to Apparel
Responsibilities For Manager of Merchandise Planning Resume
- Collaborate with cross functional teams to improve business processes, regularly partner with other resources such as the Merchandising and Dotcom, Forecasting, Marketing, Merchandise Presentation and Logistics teams
- Build partnerships with vendors to collaboratively improve efficiencies to reduce supply chain costs and maximize inventory investments
- Successfully completed studies in business management or comparable qualifications
- Create and ensure execution of merchandise processes
- Oversee the development, analysis, and revision of category plans for sales, margin realization, inventory and profit (tops down and bottoms up)
Responsibilities For Global Merchandise Planning Operations Analyst Resume
- Ensure all orders fall with in approved Financial OTB parameters
- Executes all strategy for their assigned category in order to maximize the sales opportunity
- Presents information in a concise, clear, and confident manner. Articulates key issues and adapts presentation style to suit needs of audience. Readily communicates important information despite challenges. Makes a compelling and persuasive case for proposals
- Directs immediate team to drive sales and profits through the creation of a category strategy
- Works with the planners on sound inventory management and markdown recommendations
- Works to continuously improve herself or himself, as well as, the development of the member(s) of their team. Provides direct reports with appropriate guidance to ensure sales and margin performance objectives are met. Participates in recruiting, selecting, training and motivating staff
Responsibilities For Technical Lead-merchandise Planning Systems Resume
- DTC in Season Management - Daily Operations, Drive Sales, Effective Inventory Management, Store Partnership, ECOM Partnership (30%)
- Global Brand Planning Hindsight Process – Cross Channel Observations, Attributing Analysis, Incorporate Current (Selling) Trend, Strong partnership with Global Brand Merchandising (20%)
- Demonstrates senior leadership in support of adherence to seasonal calendars for all regional activities
- Global Brand Planning Seasonal Strategy, Financial and SKU Target Setting. Present and align on seasonal strategies (20%)
- Market (Line Review, Buy Roll Up, Projections) (10%)
Responsibilities For Director, Global Merchandise Planning Resume
- Business and Product Strategy development
- Coordinates with the merchant organization to translate strategic vision into store specific and prototypical merchandise plans within assigned business area
- Monitors quality results of space and merchandise plans to ensure all plans are accurate and executable at store level
- Creates and manages documentation for Merchandise Planning Criteria in assigned business areas with consideration for layout, space allocation, category adjacencies, item placement and customer experience
- Participates in the development of new business opportunities working with competitive intelligence, space optimization, and concept testing
- Regularly visits a variety of formats and competitors to review best practices that can be incorporated into SHC merchandise planning and presentation
- Manages the team to ensure best in class analytics behind a comprehensive Regional Hindsight packet highlighting key inventory management wins and opportunities for the region in which they reside
- Supervises and is an active leader in the Regional Hindsight Meeting
- Supports the translation of global sales plans into regional category plans in coordination with Product Managers
Responsibilities For Merchandise Planning Leadership Role Resume
- Supports creation of category level sales and margin targets at the regional level set by the Brand Heads of Product
- Ensures adherence to targets for globalization, SMUs, style and material counts, and MOQ
- Accountable for the management of the daily activities that develop and implement multiple components / processes for Merchandise Planning. Leads the development of strategic recommendations to support stakeholder expectations for assigned area
- Helps to define and translate business goals into viable short and long-range plans with actionable goals. Develops protocols to support improved or recommended processes. Oversees team(s) project assignments and deliverables; ensures successful completion of project goals and objectives
- Collaborates cross-functionally and shares information necessary to improve workflow and deliver end to end approach. Interacts with direct reports and peers in management / customers / vendors to share information and improve cross-departmental processes
- Builds strong partnerships with cross-functional teams in Buying, Assortment Planning, Store Planning, Allocation, Marketing and Finance to drive strategy and manage the business