Category Assortment Planner

Meijer; Grand Rapids (MI); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Weekly pay

Scheduling flexibility

Paid parental leave

Paid education assistance

Team member discount

Advancement programs

Job summary

Meijer is seeking a Category Assortment Planner to develop and execute category plans that align with corporate goals. You will analyze market trends, sales data, and consumer insights to optimize assortments across merchandising, buying, marketing, and supply chain teams.

You will also collaborate on planograms, shelf optimization, and cross-functional initiatives while monitoring performance and reporting insights to leadership. Strong analytical and communication skills are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Merchandising, or related field.
• 3+ years of experience in merchandising, buying, or category management.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret sales data and market trends.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Proficiency in assortment planning and merchandising software.
• Demonstrated strength at presentation to varying levels of leadership.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.
• Preferred Qualifications: Retail experience in a similar category planning role.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis skills.
• Experience with omnichannel retail strategies.

Responsibilities

• Develop comprehensive category assortment plans based on market analysis, sales data, and consumer trends.
• Identify product gaps and opportunities within the current assortment.
• Collaborate with buyers and merchandisers to select products aligned with strategic objectives.
• Balance the mix of products to ensure a diverse and appealing assortment for customers.
• Conduct space-to-sales analytics to deliver on shelf availability and inventory metrics.
• Build physical test sets to showcase changes at shelf and produce core planogram recommendations.
• Project governance of category transition milestones.
• Facilitate market research to understand industry trends and competition (Nielsen, IRI, dunnhumby, Placr.ai).
• Analyze household performance data to identify top-performing products and categories.
• Monitor and report on market changes impacting assortment.
• Track and report assortment performance to senior management.
• Cross-functional collaboration with buying, marketing, and supply chain teams.
• Work with visual merchandising to ensure in-store and online displays align with strategy.
• Track performance: sales, margin, and inventory; provide data-driven recommendations.
• Prepare and present regular reports on assortment performance to senior management.

Skills

Merchandising

Buying

Category management

Analytical skills

Communication

Presentation skills

Organizational skills

Project management

Omnichannel knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Excel

Merchandising software

Planogram software

Job description

As a family company, we serve people and communities. When you work at Meijer, you're provided with career and community opportunities centered around leadership, personal growth and development. Consider joining our family - take care of your career and your community!

Meijer Rewards

• Weekly pay
• Scheduling flexibility
• Paid parental leave
• Paid education assistance
• Team member discount
• Development programs for advancement and career growth

The Category Assortment Planner is responsible for developing and executing category assortment plans that align with the company's overall strategy and goals. This role involves analyzing market trends, consumer preferences, and sales data to create optimized product assortments that maximize sales, profitability, and customer satisfaction. The Category Assortment Planner works closely with merchandising, buying, marketing, and supply chain teams to ensure a cohesive and effective product offering.

What You'll Be Doing:

• Assortment Planning:
  • Develop comprehensive category assortment plans based on market analysis, sales data, and consumer trends.
  • Identify product gaps and opportunities within the current assortment.
  • Collaborate with buyers and merchandisers to select products that align with the company's strategic objectives.
  • Balance the mix of products to ensure a diverse and appealing assortment for customers.
  • Conduct and deliver space to sales analytics to deliver on shelf availability customer metrics, inclusive of item capacity and inventory management.
  • Build physical test sets to showcase changes at shelf.
  • Produce core planogram recommendations.
  • Project governance of category transition milestones
• Market Analysis:
  • Facilitate implementation of market research to understand industry trends, competitive landscape, and customer preferences.
  • Familiar with data solutions such as Nielsen, IRI, dunnhumby and Placr. Ai.
  • Analyze household performance data to identify top-performing products and categories.
  • Monitor and report on market changes that could impact product assortment.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration:
  • Effectively manage key milestones of transition planning with buying partners.
  • Skilled at delivering feedback and navigating thoughtful conversations.
  • Partner with buying team to enable customer centric assortments; delivering against company OSA metrics set forth by senior management.
  • Work closely with marketing teams to support promotional strategies that support the assortment plan.
  • Partner with supply chain teams to ensure timely and efficient product delivery.
  • Coordinate with visual merchandising to ensure in-store and online displays align with the assortment strategy.
• Performance Analysis:
  • Track and analyze the performance of the assortment plan including sales, margin, and inventory metrics.
  • Make data-driven recommendations for adjustments to the assortment plan based on performance analysis.
  • Prepare and present regular reports on assortment performance to senior management

What You'll Be Doing:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Merchandising, or a related field.
• 3+ years of experience in merchandising, buying, or category management.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret sales data and market trends.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
• Proficiency in assortment planning and merchandising software.
• Demonstrated strength at presentation to varying levels of leadership.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple priorities.
• Preferred Qualifications:
  • Experience in the retail industry, preferably in a similar category planning role.
  • Knowledge of consumer behavior and retail market dynamics.
  • Advanced proficiency in Excel and other data analysis tools.
  • Experience with omnichannel retail strategies.