How To Become A Merchandise Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a merchandise analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Cheryl Dorsey

A Merchandise analyst or merchandise planner is in charge of planning and monitoring a company inventory. Merchandize analysts also follow the charts of the sales, profits, or losses of the company or store they work for. Some of the responsibilities of a merchandise analyst include analyzing consumer patterns and presenting the data analyses to store managers, planners, and executives of a company for key decision making. Merchandize analysts often offer insights and help plan strategies that can help increase a company's revenue and minimize loss. You will also assist in planning implementation and reviewing a company's inventory allocation strategies, merchandise assortment, and other related strategies.

A bachelor's degree in business, supply chain management, finance, and other related fields is needed for this role. In addition to this, a merchandise analyst must have a good analytic ability, excellent problem-solving skills, and be good at making decisions. Good communication skill is also needed for this role as well as a good sense of time management, negotiation, and organization. Merchandize analysts are must be good with data entry and inventory reporting. The average yearly salary of a merchandise analyst is $72,280.

What general advice would you give to a merchandise analyst?

Cheryl Dorsey

Lecturer, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology

Overall, for a new graduate starting their career, I would suggest that you be flexible and try to learn as much as possible to develop additional skills. This will make you more marketable in the future.

ScoreMerchandise AnalystUS Average

Salary

5.3

Avg. Salary $67,933

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.13%

Asian 10.70%

Black or African American 5.10%

Hispanic or Latino 12.17%

Unknown 4.98%

White 66.92%

Gender

female 63.41%

male 36.59%

Age - 34

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 34

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a merchandise analyst

Explore merchandise analyst education requirements

Most common merchandise analyst degrees

Bachelor's

83.2 %

Associate

8.2 %

Master's

6.2 %

Start to develop specific merchandise analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
PowerPoint	14.10%
SQL	8.14%
Data Analysis	7.33%
Digital Marketing	5.39%
Gross Profit	4.63%

Complete relevant merchandise analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New merchandise analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a merchandise analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real merchandise analyst resumes.

Research merchandise analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage a team of allocation analysts who distribute fashion jewelry to more than a thousand stores
Analyze and forecast sales, manage inventory levels and determine distribution strategy to all Marshalls stores.
Manage and maintain the OTB for specific departments by preparing forecasts, evaluating performance, and maximizing profitability while minimizing liabilities.
Allocate product to the appropriate stores using JDA system.

Prepare your merchandise analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your merchandise analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a merchandise analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable merchandise analyst resume templates

Build a professional merchandise analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your merchandise analyst resume.