Strategic Merchandise Planner — Retail Inventory & Analytics

Lids; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Lids Sports Group in Indianapolis, IN is seeking a Merchandise Planner to build financial sales, gross margin, and inventory plans for both pre-season and in-season periods. You’ll partner with Buying & Merchandising to shape local assortment strategies that maximize sales and profits.

You will be responsible for developing, executing, and communicating financial and inventory plans, and providing analytics to the Merchandising organization and Executive leadership on performance and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, Fashion Merchandising, or related field.
• 3–5 years merchandising, planning, buying, or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding of retail math and financial reporting.
• Proven ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Advanced Excel; knowledge of Access, PowerPoint, and Word.
• Ability to interpret qualitative and quantitative data.
• Ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Ability to solve problems with rigorous logic.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate annual, seasonal, monthly, and weekly merchandise plans.
• Construct merchandise purchase schedules, initial product deliveries, and in-season merchandise flow.
• Manage monthly department level open-to-buy activities.
• Provide expert analysis on trends to influence future purchases.
• Analyze historic performance to identify opportunities or risk.
• Prepare preseason promotions and markdown strategy with buyers and merchandising teams.
• Develop, maintain, and update tools and reports to support business needs.
• Establish processes and tools to review product assortments for decision making.
• Maintain business processes and serve as SME for improvements.
• Partner with allocation & supply chain to implement in-season replenishment strategies.
• Develop enterprise-wide risk mitigation plans and execute when appropriate.
• Coordinate product assortments and allocations with store needs.
• Manage hot market events by communicating opportunities.
• Manage location intensive assortments and regional solutions.
• Support and adhere to company policies and guidelines.

Skills

Retail math

Data analysis

Independent worker

Excel skills

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, Fashion Merchandising, or related field

Tools

Excel

Access

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

Lids Sports Group in Indianapolis, IN is seeking a Merchandise Planner to build financial sales, gross margin, and inventory plans for both pre-season and in-season periods. You’ll partner with Buying & Merchandising to shape local assortment strategies that maximize sales and profits.

You will be responsible for developing, executing, and communicating financial and inventory plans, and providing analytics to the Merchandising organization and Executive leadership on performance and