November Merchant Academy - USR Merchandise Specialist

The Merchandise Specialist at Staples Retail is transforming modern work and learning. Our Omni Merchandising organization offers entry-level opportunities with training, mentoring, and promotional opportunities to grow within the Merchandising team. Starting as a Merchandising Specialist, you will learn about competitive analysis, promotional planning, market research, identifying trends and new products, SKU set-up/maintenance, proofing marketing assets, website metrics, and more. Our people are the heart of our success, and we believe in collaboration, curiosity, and continuous learning in all that we think, create, and do. You will gain exposure to a wide variety of cross-functional teams including Merchandising, Marketing, Inventory Planning, Store Operations, eCommerce, and Stores, to name a few.

Learn about and impact store merchandise and sales:

• Attend vendor meetings to collaborate on business plans and gain exposure to new products
• Conduct market research, gather industry data, track trends, competitive shopping
• Work with vendors and internal teams to launch new-to-market products, vendor program agreements, and price change worksheets
• Obtain samples and assist with POG and Promo set up at the Lab
• Manage the ad sign-off process and digital marketing assets with support
• Proactively manage the SKU and vendor setup and maintenance process
• Process product returns, price changes, price protection, coupons/rebates, and markdowns
• Retrieve/source financial data/reports to review performance with Buyer
• Answer communication from stores on products and vendors; other responsibilities as assigned

Essential skills and experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Merchandising, Marketing, Finance or related field
• Strong Microsoft Office skills
• Strong Excel skills; ability to use a pivot table and calculate/enter formulas such as v-lookups, SumIf and IfError.
• Strong organizational skills
• Enjoy working in teams and being highly communicative
• Able to multitask and be flexible with new initiatives

Preferred skills and experience:

• Interest in learning about retail and merchandising
• Strong math skills

Get great perks.

• Generous amount of paid time off 
• Flexible work arrangements, including hybrid and flexible work hours 
• 401(k) plan with a company match, variety of benefits and options, associate resource groups
• Associate store discount and more perks (discounts on mobile plans, movie tickets, etc.)
• Corporate office includes a café (i.e., coffee, cappuccinos, teas), 24/7 fitness center, convenience store, on-site dry cleaning, Chef Louie’s Cafeteria, and more