Merchandising Planning Specialist

Cellular Sales Verizon Authorized Retailer•Knoxville, TN

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Merchandising Planning Specialist plays a key role in shaping national merchandising decisions by delivering insights, performance analysis, and planning support across a fleet of 800+ retail locations. This role is responsible for transforming complex data into clear, actionable insights that influence merchandising strategy, campaign performance, and go-to-market execution. The Specialist partners cross-functionally with Merchandising, Operations, Buying, Marketing, and Analytics to support high-impact initiatives from planning through post-launch evaluation. This position is ideal for a highly analytical, detail-oriented individual who enjoys solving problems, identifying opportunities, and contributing to data-driven decision making to scale.

Requirements

High School diploma or GED
4-year degree
2–4 years of experience in retail analytics, merchandise planning, or a related role (or strong demonstrated capability)
Strong proficiency in Excel and working knowledge of Power BI or similar reporting tools
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail
Ability to translate data into clear observations and actionable insights
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment

Nice To Haves

4-year degree
2–4 years of experience in retail analytics, merchandise planning, or a related role (or strong demonstrated capability)
Project management experience a plus

Responsibilities

Analyze merchandising performance data (sales, execution, compliance, inventory, display capacity) to identify trends, uncover root causes, and surface actionable opportunities.
Synthesize multiple data sources into clear insights that inform planning, prioritization, and optimization decisions.
Prepare concise summaries and reports that translate data into meaningful business insights.
Conduct ongoing market and industry research to support forward-looking merchandising strategies.
Partner with Merchandising leadership and BI teams to track and analyze key performance indicators.
Support test-and-learn initiatives, including pilot programs, control group analysis, and pre/post-performance comparisons.
Validate data accuracy and proactively identify inconsistencies to ensure insights are reliable and decision-ready.
Translate performance results into clear learnings that inform future merchandising strategies.
Build and enhance Power BI reports and dashboards that provide visibility into merchandising performance, execution, and key KPIs.
Support the development of scalable reporting tools used across merchandising and cross-functional teams.
Continuously improve reporting clarity, usability, and actionability.
Support planning and execution of national merchandising initiatives and product launches.
Analyze store capacity, historical performance, and market differences to inform rollout strategies.
Contribute to store clustering and segmentation analysis to optimize execution across diverse markets.
Develop and support marketing briefs for merchandising initiatives, ensuring alignment across cross-functional teams.
Maintain and update merchandising calendars within internal merchandising management systems to support planning visibility and coordination.
Assist in building campaign launch materials, including decks and planning documents used for internal alignment and field execution.
Support pilot testing and pre-launch analysis to refine strategies before full-scale deployment.
Partner with Merchandising, Operations, Buying, Marketing, and Analytics teams to provide insights that influence planning and execution decisions.
Provide analytical context to support prioritization, readiness, and performance discussions.
Communicate insights clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to ensure alignment on campaign objectives, timelines, and deliverables through briefs, calendars, and launch materials.
Analyze merchandising performance related to new store formats, remodels, and layout changes.
Support post-launch evaluations by preparing performance summaries and identifying key learnings.
Ensure insights reflect real-world execution conditions and market variability.