Job Details
**Merchandise Planner**
Florida - Jacksonville / Buying & Merchandising Buying & Merchandising / Salaried **Company Overview**
Fanatics is the global leader in licensed sports merchandise and changing the way fans purchase their favorite team apparel and jerseys. Through an innovative, tech-infused approach to making and selling fan gear in today's on-demand culture, Fanatics operates more than 300 online and offline stores, including the e-commerce business for all major professional sports leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, MLS, PGA), and more than 200 collegiate and professional team properties, which include several of the biggest global soccer clubs (Manchester United, Real Madrid, Chelsea). Fanatics offers the largest collection of timeless and timely merchandise whether shopping online, on your phone, in stores, in stadiums or on-site at the world's biggest sporting events. At Fanatics, were a diverse, passionate group of employees aiming to ignite pride and passion in the fans we outfit, celebrate and support. We recognize that diversity helps drive and foster innovation, and through our IDEA program (inclusion, diversity, equality and advocacy) at Fanatics we provide employees with tools and resources to feel connected and engaged in who they are and what they do to support the ultimate fan experience.
**About the Team**
Our merchandise is the key component to the Fanatics engine. The merchant team at Fanatics is responsible for planning, buying & selecting the merchandise we sell across all platforms and the hundreds of sites we operate. We keep our finger on the real-time pulse of the sports world and work with world-class vendors, such as Nike, Adidas, Under Armour and our own in-house Fanatics Brands division, driving overall top and bottom line results. Teamwork is what we rely on and working collaboratively across the entire Fanatics organization is an essential aspect to everything we do.
**PRIMARY PURPOSE** The Merchandise Planner will assist with the pre-season and in-season sales, receipt, inventory and margin planning, analysis, reporting and forecasting for Merchandising at the league, department and class level in order to help maximize the company financial goals and values. The Merchandise Planning team will focus all planning, analysis and reporting activities around driving profitable top line sales. This role will be responsible for executing timely and accurate analysis to assist the teams in making better business decisions.
**Assortment Planning / Pre -Book Process (Help Develop the Merchandise Assortment):** Assist with key analysis to improve the assortment planning decision-making process **Reporting and Analysis (Identify key trends, hot sellers, poor performers):** Analyze key business trends daily / weekly and develop recommendations to drive profitable top line sales Provide timely and accurate reports / summaries to include ad hoc requests Responsible for the analysis, data interpretation and helping to develop solutions / action plans **Annual Planning Process (Build the Financial Plan)** Collaborate with respective buying team to develop annual sales, receipt, markdown and inventory plans by department and category Identify uptrend, maintain and downtrend businesses plan accordingly Develop historical analysis (team, classification, vendor, player, etc.) to assist with the pre-season planning activities Establish sales targets that align with corporate strategies and historical performance Ensure monthly inventory levels are appropriate to support sales and align with other key financial goals **Inventory Management:** Assist with end to end inventory management - understand sales trends, inventory levels and on order Identify potential sales opportunities (macro and item level) Identify and react to fast / slow sellers with special emphasis on MVP items (key items) Monitors daily/weekly/monthly in-bound receipts to ensure alignment with financial targets **Weekly / Monthly Forecasting Process:** Formulates weekly sales, receipts, inventory updates and direction Responsible for driving the monthly forecast process with the respective merchandising team Identify key issues and opportunities and collaborate cross-functionally to develop appropriate action plans Focus on timely and accurate forecasts the lead to more proactive business decisions **Hot Market Pre and Post Event Analysis (Championship Games, Key Events, etc.):** Provide pre and post event analysis (buy quantities, sales, sell thru, etc.) **Systems Development and Support:** Intense focus on data integrity and report accuracy Helps identify system and reporting enhancements **Internal / External Collaboration**: Merchandise collaboration to include reporting and analysis, monthly forecast process to identify key business opportunities sales first focus Attend and actively participate in weekly team meetings and monthly training / development sessions **QUALIFICATIONS** Intense passion for the business, sports and people Proven team building, leadership and analytical abilities Possesses innovative, team-oriented traits Ability to influence team members through building trust and demonstrating business expertise Strong interpersonal skills; excellent written, verbal and listening communication abilities Self-motivated with ability to inspire, motivate and influence others Accountable for personal career and skill development Ability to evaluate financial and business indicators and translate data into actionable solutions Possess a clear understanding of financial measurements and how to impact them Strong analytical and problem-solving skills High aptitude and desire to learn technical applications quickly Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Access or other Data Warehouse / Business Intelligence tools Bachelors degree required (GPA 3.0 or greater) 2-3 years of retail buying/planning or retail experience required *Tryouts are open at Fanatics! Our team is passionate, talented, unified, and charged with creating the fan experience of tomorrow. The ball is in your court now.*
Ensure your Fanatics job offer is legitimate and dont fall victim to fraud. Fanatics never seeks payment from job applicants. Fanatics recruiters will only reach out to applicants from an @fanatics.com or @fanatics.co.uk email address. For added security, where possible, apply through our company website at
Fanatics is committed to responsible planning and purchasing (RPP) practices, working with its business partners across its global and multi-layered supply chain, to ensure that planning, sourcing, and purchasing decisions, along with other supporting processes, do not impede or conflict with the fulfillment of Fanatics fair labor practices.
**NOTICE TO CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS/APPLICANTS**: In connection with your application, we collect information that identifies, reasonably relates to or describes you (Personal Information). The categories of Personal Information that we collect include your name, government issued identification number(s), email address, mailing address, other contact information, emergency contact information, employment history, educational history, criminal record, and demographic information. We collect and use those categories of Personal Information about you for human resources and other business management purposes, including identifying and evaluating you as a candidate for potential or future employment or future contract positions, recordkeeping in relation to recruiting and hiring, conducting criminal background checks as permitted by law, conducting analytics, and ensuring compliance with applicable legal requirements and Company policies.