Merchandising Category Specialists

This role is for one of the Weekday's clients

Min Experience: 2 years

Location: Chennai, Bangalore

JobType: full-time

The Merchandising Category Specialist plays a critical role in supporting category strategy execution, assortment planning, inventory optimization, and operational coordination across merchandising, buying, and supply chain functions. This role partners closely with Buyers, Planning, Design, and Logistics teams to ensure merchandise plans align with customer demand, financial targets, and retail execution across both in-store and online channels.

This position combines category merchandising support, buyer assistance, inventory analytics, and shipping/PO coordination, contributing to a seamless and efficient retail value chain.

Key Responsibilities

1. Category Merchandising Execution

• Support the development and execution of merchandise plans for assigned categories.
• Assist with seasonal assortment planning, range building, and visual merchandising alignment.
• Analyze product performance to recommend improvements in mix, pricing, placement, and lifecycle decisions.
• Partner with Design teams to drive product excellence and innovation.

2. Buyer & Category Support

• Provide day-to-day operational and analytical support to Buyers and Category Managers.
• Assist with product setup, item creation, costing, and vendor onboarding in merchandising systems.
• Maintain seasonal line sheets, assortment plans, and category documentation.

3. Inventory & Assortment Management

• Monitor stock levels, sell-through, and inventory health across categories.
• Recommend reorders, markdowns, or allocations based on performance trends.
• Identify slow-moving or out-of-stock items and collaborate with Planning and Supply Chain teams to resolve issues.

4. Merchandising Analytics & Reporting

• Generate and analyze reports covering sales, margins, inventory turns, and KPIs.
• Track planogram execution and visual merchandising compliance.
• Provide actionable insights to improve category performance and operational efficiency.

5. Shipping & Logistics Coordination

• Oversee and coordinate outbound shipping activities aligned with merchandising timelines.
• Prepare and manage shipping documentation, compliance filings, and customs paperwork where applicable.
• Collaborate with logistics partners, warehouses, and vendors to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery.
• Track carrier performance and support freight issue resolution.

6. Purchase Order & Product Data Management

• Own end-to-end PO coordination including creation, updates, tracking, and follow-ups.
• Coordinate with vendors and logistics partners to ensure on-time deliveries.
• Create and maintain item masters, SKU attributes, images, and classifications across systems (ERP/PLM/PIM).
• Ensure data accuracy and consistency across merchandising platforms.

7. Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Planning, Marketing, E-commerce, Supply Chain, and Store teams.
• Support product launches, promotions, markdowns, and seasonal transitions.
• Gather store and customer feedback to inform category decisions.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong understanding of retail KPIs, planning, allocation, and merchandising analytics.
• Passion for retail and innovation with a customer-first mindset.
• Strong organizational and communication skills, both verbal and digital.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced retail environment.
• Experience working with merchandising systems and digital tools.
• Leadership exposure or experience managing junior team members is a plus.

Skills

Merchandising
Category Management
Retail Analytics
Inventory Management
Buyer Support
Shipping & Logistics
Purchase Order Management
Product Data Management