Associate Merchandise Planner: Inventory & Analytics Lead

Lids; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Lids Sports Group is seeking an Associate Merchandise Planner to build financial sales, gross margin, and inventory plans across pre-season and in-season periods. You will partner with Buying & Merchandising teams to create local assortment strategies that maximize sales and profitability.

The role supports development, execution, and communication of plans, delivering analytics and insights to leadership on business performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, Fashion Merchandising, or a related field.
• 0–3 years of experience in merchandising, planning, buying, or equivalent experience preferred.
• Strong understanding of retail math and measurement used in financial reporting.
• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Ability to operate a computer and use relevant software programs.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret quantitative and qualitative data to identify meaningful insights.
• Financial and business acumen with the ability to evaluate performance indicators and translate data into actionable recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the development of annual, seasonal, monthly, weekly, and daily merchandise plans.
• Construct merchandise purchase schedules, including initial product deliveries and in-season merchandise flow.
• Manage monthly department-level Open-to-Buy (OTB) activities.
• Provide analysis on trends and recommendations to influence cancellations, future purchases, and assortment strategies.
• Analyze historical performance to identify areas of opportunity and risk.
• Prepare preseason promotional and markdown strategies in partnership with Buying and Merchandising teams.
• Develop, maintain, and update tools and reports to support business needs.
• Establish processes and tools to review product assortments; provide data and analysis to support decision-making.

Skills

Retail math

Analytical skills

Independent work

Computer literacy

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business/Finance/Marketing/Fashion Merchandising

Tools

Excel

Planning tools

Data visualization platforms

Job description

Lids Sports Group is seeking an Associate Merchandise Planner to build financial sales, gross margin, and inventory plans across pre-season and in-season periods. You will partner with Buying & Merchandising teams to create local assortment strategies that maximize sales and profitability.

The role supports development, execution, and communication of plans, delivering analytics and insights to leadership on business performance.