Associate Category Merchant

Staples • Framingham, MA

18h

About The Position

As an Associate Category Merchant for Staples, you will manage various product lines in Retail Stores and Dotcom, helping drive an integrated omnichannel assortment and customer experience. This portfolio offers opportunities for an up-and-coming Merchant. The role develops and executes category strategies, manages financial and inventory performance, collaborates with vendors and internal teams, and supports retail and Dotcom execution.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Minimum of 3 years of total experience in buying-related functions, including Buying-Merchandising, Planning, and Inventory Management.
• General knowledge of industry trends, assortment planning, Planograms, customer buying patterns, inventory management, logistics, and marketing techniques.
• Knowledge and understanding of financial analysis and forecasting.
• Negotiation skills.
• Influencing skills.
• Verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to use performance data and customer insights to support merchandising decisions and identify opportunities to improve sales, margin, and customer experience across channels.

Nice To Haves

• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft and Excel skills.
• Ability to drive sales and margin results.
• Ability to build partnerships.
• Experience working in an omnichannel environment.
• Strong attention to detail in managing item setup, product content, imagery, attribution, pricing accuracy, and online promotional execution.
• Ability to evaluate competitive assortments, identify whitespace, and recommend opportunities to improve customer experience and category growth.

Responsibilities

• Develop an understanding of customer needs and shopping behavior across stores and ecommerce channels, as well as upcoming marketplace trends and brands.
• With leadership support, develop and execute omnichannel category strategies that align store and Dotcom assortment, pricing, promotions, content, and inventory availability.
• Identify products suited to core assortments, trend-right expansion, extended aisle opportunities, online-only assortments, Dotcom expansion, and omnichannel growth initiatives.
• Negotiate with vendors for lower total delivered cost, volume incentives, rebates, advertising, funding, and other applicable allowances.
• Work with vendors and cross-functional partners to develop and execute omnichannel go-to-market plans aligned with company, business unit, and category strategies, driving sales and margin opportunities.
• Merchandise the assigned category portfolio to meet service levels with minimum inventory investment and maximum gross margin.
• Manage supply-chain impact by applying knowledge of inventory turns and logistics.
• Review and approve financial and item forecasts with Planners; forecast and model financial trends, own category financials, and present regularly to upper management.
• Monitor and analyze omnichannel sales, margin, traffic, conversion, average order value, online availability, customer ratings and reviews, and item-level performance to identify growth opportunities and address performance gaps.
• Collaborate with internal omnichannel teams, including Marketing, POG, Promo, Inventory Management, Store Operations, Portfolio, Site Merchandising, Content, Category Management, and Pricing, to achieve corporate goals.
• Partner with the private label team to manage transitions and develop on-trend products to the highest quality.
• Interpret financial statements, Circana market-share data, and other merchandising metrics to understand current and future trends.
• Lead and coach the Merchandise Specialist on retail and Dotcom execution, including item setup, content accuracy, promotional execution, vendor follow-up, and performance tracking.

Benefits

• Bonus plan.
• Generous paid time off, including one Floating Holiday each year.
• Flexible work arrangements, including flexible work hours.
• 401(k) plan with company match.
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance.
• Optional benefits.
• Associate store discount.
• Discounts on mobile plans, movie tickets, and other perks.
• May be eligible for other forms of variable compensation in addition to base pay.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level