Merchandise Planner

The Guitar Center Company

$90K — $115K *
Retail & Consumer Goods
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in Business, Merchandising/Supply Chain or 4 years of relevant work experience.
  • 4 years of relevant work experience in merchandise planning.
  • 2 years of experience leading others, indicating strong leadership skills.
  • Advanced knowledge of musical instruments, which is critical for accurate forecasting.
  • Experience in managing the Open to Buy process, showcasing financial acumen.
  • Proficient skills in Microsoft Excel for data analysis and planning tasks.
  • Familiarity with Microsoft Office suite, demonstrating overall technical competence.

Responsibilities

  • Review item level forecasts and order proposals to enhance sales and GMROI.
  • Control purchase order activities to ensure budget adherence and sales maximization.
  • Collaborate with merchants for effective market share events and accurate sales forecasts.
  • Contribute to in-season planning and Open to Buy through aggregated forecasts and purchases.
  • Create an Omni-channel strategy for effective sales and inventory management across multiple platforms.
  • Maintain planning system accuracy to boost forecasting precision and receipt performance.
  • Manage and develop an Inventory Analyst for operational efficiency and future career progression.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to build and mentor entry-level talent into future leaders.
  • Engagement in a complex retail environment with a focus on multiple sales channels.
  • Hands-on experience with Omni-channel strategies that enhance skillset and expertise.
  • Work closely with category managers and senior leadership, impacting overall sales strategy.
  • Involvement in product life cycle management, ensuring valuable learning experiences.
Full Job Description
The Merchandise Planner leads the financial and inventory strategy for a category or set of subcategories, in collaboration with the category managers, across all channels and brands. The Planner ensures that item level forecasts and supply strategies drive sales, margin and turn to meet financial goals. The Planner manages an inventory analyst and builds entry level talent to become future leaders. They will be a student of their business looking to maximize opportunities, manage product life cycle in conjunction with merchants to avoid aging and liable product. They will ensure best in class in-stocks online and in store and will perform regular SKU rationalization. They will monitor order flow to stay on time and on budget. They will be critical to the Open to Buy process.

Responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to the following:
  • Reviews item level forecasts and order proposals to drive sales and GMROI
  • Control purchase order activity to maximize sales and stay on budget
  • Collaborate with merchants to drive key market share events and promotions across channels with accurate sales and supply forecasts.
  • Provides roll up of forecasts and purchases to contribute to in season planning process and the open to buy.
  • Creates Omni channel strategy to drive sales, margin and turn for a complex retailer with stores, multiple websites and call centers for subcategories and key items.
  • Maintains the planning system with accurate parameters to improve forecast accuracy, receipt flow and performance of algorithms.
  • Manages and develops Inventory Analyst to resolve purchase order dates, shortages, overages and problem shipment resolution and e-commerce backorders. Prepares them for future career at GC.
  • Supports Director of planning in building assortment parameters for a subcategory to balance customer needs by segment, price point and ensuring powerful presentations.
  • Additional duties as assigned.


Tojoin our band, you'll need the following experience:
  • Bachelor's Degree preferably in Business, Merchandising/ Supply Chain OR 4 years of relevant work experience.
  • 4 years of relevant work experience
  • 2 years of experience leading others.
  • Advanced knowledge of products found in the assigned Musical Instrument category.
  • Experience owning Open to Buy.
  • Skilled proficiency with Microsoft Excel (V-lookups, formulas, filtering, sorting, formatting)
  • Skilled knowledge of Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook)
  • Novice understanding of marketing and promotions functions


Pay Rate: $90,000- $115,000 / annually depending on background and experience.

The job posting is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific employee, which is always dependent on actual experience, education, and other factors. The pay range(s) listed are provided in compliance with state specific laws. Pay ranges may be different in other locations

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