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Merchandise planner skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical merchandise planner skills. We ranked the top skills for merchandise planners based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 7.7% of merchandise planner resumes contained gross margin as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a merchandise planner needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 merchandise planner skills for your resume and career

1. Gross Margin

Here's how merchandise planners use gross margin:
  • Recommended and executed different pricing strategies based on inventory position to liquidate inventory with the highest gross margin return.
  • Perform monthly inventory reporting package with cost variance analysis and reporting related to gross margin and inventory aging.

2. Strong Analytical

Here's how merchandise planners use strong analytical:
  • Utilized strong analytical skills to develop seasonal financial strategies and inventory turn opportunities.
  • Showcased strong analytical skills to resolve backlogged orders in SAP.

3. Math

Here's how merchandise planners use math:
  • Train incoming assistant buyers on retail math and MS excel
  • Used analytical, math and negotiating skills to make informed decisions in the buying process.

4. Historical Data

In a large context, historical data is the total collected data about all/some past events and circumstances about a particular field. Historical data comprises data that is generated either automatically or manually within a given enterprise. This data is used to study and understand correlations, trends, patterns, and other statistical relationships that drive insight into the performance of a business. Historical data has two sub-categories called descriptive and diagnostic data. Descriptive data aims at explaining WHAT is happening while diagnostic data focuses on explaining the WHY behind it.

Here's how merchandise planners use historical data:
  • Monitor store capacity and analyze historical data and current trends to mitigate risks and identify opportunities for profitable growth.
  • Develop seasonal buys by analyzing historical data and current trends to identify risks and opportunities to our assortment.

5. Open-To-Buy

Open-To-Buy (OTB) is an inventory management system that works in association with a retail business. OTB determines the amount of merchandise a retail store can buy during a stated period. It defines the amount of inventory that is needed to meet customer demand and which you can buy while still ensuring positive cash flow. Open-To-Buy planning is necessary to ensure adequate stock for the business. It is essentially the difference between how much inventory is available and how much inventory is needed to meet customer demand.

Here's how merchandise planners use open-to-buy:
  • Maximized sales by identifying top sellers and initiating reorders to support the trend within open-to-buy parameters while optimizing inventory position.
  • Produced and maintained financial departmental reporting, including weekly open-to-buy, margin planning, markdown and inventory budgets.

6. Apparel

Apparel is anything worn especially formal clothes; outerwear; garments; attire; raiment worn on an important occasion to protect, wrap, adorn or beautify the body. Apparel also refers to clothing of a specific type that is sold in stores. Product categories include everything from basic items like underwear, badges, jewelry to luxury items. The general classification of clothing is as follows: men's wear, women's wear, children's wear, and others.

Here's how merchandise planners use apparel:
  • Managed product flow in apparel category; determining order quantities and generating purchase orders for new and replenishment orders.
  • Developed financial plans for multiple categories in fashion and licensed apparel and accessories.

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7. Identify Risks

Here's how merchandise planners use identify risks:
  • Analyzed data to identify risks, inter-branding cannibalization and competitive trending.
  • Identify risks and opportunities for achieving receipt plan and end-of-season stock plan and escalate to leadership as needed.

8. Recap

Here's how merchandise planners use recap:
  • Analyze and recap sales results and inventory forecasts and presented business recaps to senior management at quarterly update meetings.
  • Represented international business at weekly trade meeting, presenting business recap and future strategies to executive committee.

9. Financial Objectives

Financial objectives are a company's financial goals and aims regarding the future. These objectives are determined and achieved through financial planning. Corporations normally set milestones for the fiscal year and build strategies and plan to fulfill those milestones.

Here's how merchandise planners use financial objectives:
  • Constructed division/category/key item plans and forecasts to meet financial objectives and maximize profit and growth.
  • Lead weekly/monthly financial reviews with upper management to ensure in-season financial objectives are being met.

10. Inventory Management

Here's how merchandise planners use inventory management:
  • Performed research and analysis to determine appropriate customer segmentation, sizing, and drive inventory management.
  • Developed inventory management analysis in Finished Fashion category resulting in a +5.5% sales increase.

11. Inventory Productivity

Here's how merchandise planners use inventory productivity:
  • Directed European leather planners on buying, planning and allocation best practices to advance their inventory productivity and profitability.
  • Developed promotional assortment plans to enhance sales, margin, and inventory productivity.

12. Kids

Here's how merchandise planners use kids:
  • Developed and implemented markdown strategies for six departments to help Talbot's Kids division attain financial goals and objectives.
  • Developed financial plans for 3 Kids departments by class, week, month and season.

13. Financial Targets

Here's how merchandise planners use financial targets:
  • Developed seasonal financial targets by department/vendor/class and employed daily and weekly financial projections to meet fiscal goals.
  • Created and maintained sales, inventory and margin plans that tied to financial targets.

15. Business Performance

Business performance is the act of setting and reviewing corporate goals, observing the methods used to accomplish those goals, and then devising ways for administrators to more efficiently accomplish those goals. By collecting and interpreting data, a business can determine what influences managerial changes had on performance and then modify those settings to help create a more productive process.

Here's how merchandise planners use business performance:
  • Prepare weekly reports and analyze business performance to identify potential department risks and opportunities.
  • Analyzed business performance and recommended financial changes to ensure financial parameters were achieved.
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List of merchandise planner skills to add to your resume

Merchandise planner skills

The most important skills for a merchandise planner resume and required skills for a merchandise planner to have include:

  • Gross Margin
  • Strong Analytical
  • Math
  • Historical Data
  • Open-To-Buy
  • Apparel
  • Identify Risks
  • Recap
  • Financial Objectives
  • Inventory Management
  • Inventory Productivity
  • Kids
  • Financial Targets
  • Business Trends
  • Business Performance
  • OTB
  • E-Commerce
  • Receipt Flow
  • JDA
  • Historical Performance
  • Product Categories
  • In-Season Sales
  • Product Flow
  • Markdown Strategies
  • Macro
  • Sales Performance
  • Sales Plan
  • Direct Reports
  • Retail Store
  • Product Assortment
  • Inventory Flow
  • Market Trends
  • Promotional Strategies
  • Allocation Strategies
  • Store Operations
  • ROI
  • IMU
  • Level Planning
  • Exit Strategies
  • Financial Strategies
  • Sales Forecasts
  • Inventory Monitoring
  • Sales History
  • DMM
  • Gross Profit
  • Financial Sales
  • Store Sales
  • Jewelry
  • Level Analysis

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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