Retail Merchandise & Planning Specialist lululemon

Arion Retail Group; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Arion Retail Group in Amsterdam leads international fashion and partners with lululemon to optimize merchandise across Europe. The Retail Merchandise and Planning specialist will own product flow from the Netherlands distribution centre to stores, balancing assortment, stock levels, and timing for multiple markets.

You will translate data into strategy and partner across Buying, Merchandising, Marketing, and Store teams to drive guest-focused growth and multi-market success.

Qualifications

• Experience in merchandise planning, allocation, buying, or product planning in multi-store or multi-market retail.
• Background in apparel, athletic wear, fashion, retail, or consumer goods.
• Proven track record managing sales, inventory, and margin plans.
• Experience working with AI applications.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category merchandise strategies across European markets.
• Build and manage seasonal assortment plans across channels.
• Own the flow strategy for product allocation across Rest of Europe.
• Analyse market trends, guest behaviour, and competitive activity to identify growth opportunities.
• Collaborate with Product and Merchandising teams to optimise assortment and lifecycle management.
• Lead monthly plan review processes: developing sales, markdown, receipt, and inventory re-forecasts.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Operations teams to improve inventory flow and efficiency.
• Spend time with store teams to gather frontline feedback and refine allocation decisions.

Skills

Merchandise planning

Allocation

Buying

Product planning

Analytical skills

Strong communication

AI applications

Tools

Excel

ERP systems

BI systems

Job description

Arion Retail Group is a leader in international retail, developing a large portfolio of international, iconic brands across 14 European countries from their headquarters in Amsterdam.

As we continue our rapid expansion across Europe, we are building the foundations that will support the next stage of our growth.

We are now looking for a Retail Merchandise and Planning specialist for lululemon, to help lead and evolve our merchandise planning and allocation function across the region.

This role is best suited to someone who has worked in premium retail, fashion, or fast‑growing international retail operators, or in a scale‑up environment, rather than a highly centralised corporate structure where merchandising and planning activities are managed by large specialist teams.

The team

Our Buying MP&A team is the commercial engine behind every product decision — translating guest insights, market trends, and financial targets into assortment and inventory strategies that drive results.

We work closely with Buying, Visual Merchandising, Retail, Operations, Marketing, and the lululemon product team to ensure the right product lands in the right store at the right time. We care deeply about getting it right for our guests and our stores, and we genuinely enjoy doing this work together.

About the Role

You love everything about product, inventory, and numbers.

You are commercially sharp, analytically driven, and energised by the complexity of building a brand across multiple European markets.

As our Retail Merchandise and Planning specialist, you will own the flow of product from our Netherlands distribution centre to stores across Europe, making key decisions on what goes where, in what quantity, and when.

You will be a critical business partner across the organisation, turning data into strategy and strategy into results.

You’ll be successful in this role if you enjoy balancing analytical rigour with commercial instinct, if you find energy in collaborating across teams rather than working in isolation, and if you take genuine pride in seeing a well‑planned assortment come to life on the shop floor.

You’ll thrive here if you’re comfortable navigating ambiguity in a growing, multi‑market business, and if you believe that good numbers and good relationships go hand in hand.

Key Responsibilities

Merchandise Strategy & Assortment Planning

• Develop and execute category merchandise strategies aligned with business goals and guest demand across European markets.
• Build and manage seasonal assortment plans across channels and markets, partnering closely with the Buying team.
• Own the flow strategy for product allocation across all Rest of Europe markets.
• Analyse market trends, guest behaviour, and competitive activity to identify growth opportunities.
• Partner with Product and Merchandising teams to optimise assortment selection and product lifecycle management.
• Support seasonal line reviews and contribute to assortment recommendations.
• Support budget planning for the product buy.

Demand Forecasting & Financial Performance

• Build and maintain demand forecasts at category and SKU level.
• Monitor financial performance against targets — identifying risks and opportunities in real time.
• Make key financial decisions to maximise sales, gross margin, and inventory productivity.
• Lead monthly plan review processes: developing sales, markdown, receipt, and inventory re‑forecasts.

Inventory Management & Allocation

• Plan and manage product allocation from the NL distribution centre to stores across all European markets.
• Develop allocation and replenishment strategies to maximise product availability and sell‑through.
• Monitor inventory health and proactively address excess stock and stock‑out risks.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Operations teams to improve inventory flow and efficiency.
• Recommend markdown, exit, and liquidation strategies when required.

Store Partnership

• Spend time connecting with our incredible store teams — gathering frontline feedback to continuously refine allocation and replenishment decisions.
• Use store‑level insight to ensure every market gets the assortment its guests deserve.
• Collaboration Partner with Marketing teams across European markets, sharing product performance data, category insights, and guest audience intel to inform campaign planning.
• Provide collection content and product information to support seasonal and campaign‑driven marketing initiatives.
• Collaborate directly with the Visual Merchandising team to drive optimal in‑store product visibility and impactful merchandise presentation.

Performance Analysis & Business Insights

• Analyse category, product, and SKU performance to surface trends and unlock opportunities.
• Track and report KPIs including Sales, Gross Margin, Sell‑Through, Inventory Turnover, Weeks of Supply, Forecast Accuracy, and Markdown Rate.
• Prepare and present business reviews to senior leadership with clear, data‑driven recommendations.
• Exhibit initiative to look beyond the everyday business for opportunities to maximise sales potential.

What You Bring

Experience & Background

• Experience in merchandise planning, allocation, buying, or product planning — ideally in a multi‑store or multi‑market retail environment.
• Background in apparel, athletic wear, fashion, retail, or consumer goods strongly preferred.
• Proven track record managing sales, inventory, and margin plans.
• Experience working with AI applications.

Skills & Technical Proficiency

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
• Experience with planning, ERP, and business intelligence systems.
• Strong financial and analytical acumen — you can interpret large data sets and translate findings into clear business strategies.
• Excellent communication skills, written and verbal, with the ability to influence across functions.

Nice to Have

• Experience in a franchise or fast‑growing retail operation.
• Familiarity with allocation and planning tools and retail intelligence systems.
• Additional European languages beyond English.

Interpersonal skills

• Acknowledges the presence of choice in every moment and takes personal responsibility for their work and impact.
• Possesses an entrepreneurial spirit and continuously innovates to achieve great results.
• Communicates with honesty and kindness and creates the space for others to do the same.
• Fosters connection by putting people first and building trusting relationships.

A Schengen Work permit is mandatory for this role, as well as ability to travel across Europe, and work on site.