The Assistant Merchant supports the product or category in delivering financial volume expectations of a book of business. Act as the Subject Matter Expert on various retail areas and topics, including, but not limited to, customer intimacy, competitive intelligence, testing execution, product/sample management, visual and comprehensive systems management. The Assistant Merchant supports the strategy of the merchandise assortment through seamless execution.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Strategy
• Drive and execute client intimacy activities developed by the merchant, sharing insights with merchant leaders while making business recommendations
• Provide product strategy recommendations by gathering competitive intelligence on current competition and trends
• Assist in seasonal hindsighting process through the ownership of color ranking and client insights
Customer
• Be the voice of the customer through store travel for tests, market distortions, and new product launches.
• Be in stores and/or on campus on a weekly basis to gain customer feedback and business insights
• Understand the customers lifestyle by staying on top of trends, social media, and pop culture as it specifically relates to the collegiate customer
• Understands the Brand target customer by tracking and experiencing customer attitude and lifestyle and participating in selecting product that appeals to the customer's taste
• Engage in competitive patterning in order to understand the current competition/market trends and influence product strategy.
Product
• Support the merchant/leader in delivering financial objectives and maximizing volume and profit by leveraging intuitive client insights when building seasonal strategies
• Drive accuracy of product detail through excellent execution and management of assortment documentation and communication
• Support marketing/visual strategy and sales education/store operations through consistency and accuracy in line lists, brand guides, sign requests, product information, and assortment details, reacting with urgency while comprehending overall strategy
• Own the accuracy of samples as well as the physical samples for a book of business across multiple seasons.
• Assist in key meeting prep with sample availability, deck preparation, and ad hoc requests and analysis, always staying agile and flexible
• Manage product edits & inputs for multiple floorsets and seasons and by prioritizing tasks and balancing competing priorities.
Financial
• Understand financial parameters and applications needed to drive results in a fashion retail business
• Identify opportunities in regional and store performance in support of the merchant/leader; analyze detailed size and market trends and recommendations to impact a book of business
Collaboration
• Cultivate and maintain strong cross-functional partnerships with clear and accurate communication
• Constantly communicate with the Field and Campus Reps to understand business results and report findings back to business.
• Actively participate in weekly cross functional meetings and calls.
• Consistently demonstrates open mindedness and free thinking when problem solving.
• Regularly share customer insights and business recommendations in cross functional forums.
Talent
• Identify and regularly meet with an internal mentor.
• Responsible for driving own development plan