Data-Driven Merchandising Analyst I

Clark Associates; Lancaster (Lancaster County); Remote; USD 48,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Vision

Dental

PTO

Paid Maternity Leave

Paid Parental Leave

Life Insurance

Disability

Dependent Care FSA

401(k) matching

Job summary

Clark Associates is seeking an entry-level Merchandising Analyst 1 to support the team with building and maintaining product assortment, pricing, and performance evaluation. The role focuses on developing foundational knowledge of category economics, item setup, and reporting while executing tasks accurately and on time.

The position involves data-driven negotiation support, vendor coordination, and collaboration with operations and web teams to enhance category experiences consistent with brand

Qualifications

• 0–2+ years of relevant experience.
• Strong Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups).
• High attention to detail and organizational skills.
• Basic understanding of eCommerce platforms and product lifecycle.
• Communicates clearly and professionally within internal teams; asks questions early and seeks feedback.
• Provides timely status updates to merchant or analyst lead.
• Limited supplier communication, typically tactical and supervised.
• Demonstrates reliability and consistency in deliverables; escalates issues appropriately.

Responsibilities

• Evaluates quotes, supports sourcing decisions, and completes accurate new item setup with strong documentation and data integrity.
• Conducts industry, category, brand, item, and customer trend research to identify early insights and support merchant decision-making.
• Pulls and summarizes performance data to support negotiations, including category, brand, item-level, margin, freight, allowance, and rebate analysis.
• Prepares negotiation materials, summary insights, and recommendations for merchant review.
• Supports vendor initiatives by managing timelines, trackers, status updates, follow-ups, RFQ development, basic product testing, and vendor/product trainings.
• Executes Cost to Serve and pricing strategy support by pulling standard reporting, evaluating financial target metrics, and flagging low-margin, low-velocity, or pricing misalignment opportunities.
• Creates initial shopping documents and annotations for Operations to support accurate execution.
• Executes web enhancements and coordinates with Web Content to optimize category experience while following brand guidelines for launches and product improvements.

Skills

Pivot tables

Lookups

Attention to detail

Organizational skills

Product lifecycle understanding

Clear communication

Status updates

Reliability

Education

No degree required

Tools

Excel

Job description

Clark Associates is seeking an entry-level Merchandising Analyst 1 to support the team with building and maintaining product assortment, pricing, and performance evaluation. The role focuses on developing foundational knowledge of category economics, item setup, and reporting while executing tasks accurately and on time.

The position involves data-driven negotiation support, vendor coordination, and collaboration with operations and web teams to enhance category experiences consistent with brand