Position Summary: The Planning Analyst is responsible for assortment planning and system support, to meet the demands of the regional and national marketplace and increase program performance. In addition, they collaborate within the entirety of the Marketing and Creative team to stage-out product effectively based on product lifecycle, sales, consumer insight, and market relevance. The Planning Analyst is detail-oriented and analytical, which allows them to effectively verify, forecast, track, and analyze trends, as well as Operational and Sales metrics. Ensuring the optimization of the product placement and creating opportunities for improvement and growth. This seat is also responsible for enforcing standards with internal and external teams with supporting data, while maintaining flexibility to meet unique needs as they arise.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities:
- Building and maintaining digital planograms, pocket counts, fixture and item details and visual aids for field use.
- Assessing, documenting, and executing product attributes for each product release, to facilitate resets and develop Universal Product Code (UPC)/SKU lists for customers.
- Conduct deep analytics on a broad set of internal and external data and play a lead role in problem solving through findings and insights from that analysis.
- Participate heavily in the architecture and build-out of the assortment planning environment to put user-driven analytics in the hands of decision makers.
- Present the “story” of the product analysis, and give suggestions on improvements and direction to maximize sales revenue and brand awareness.
- Work closely with sales force and creative/marketing leaders on overall opportunities for growth.
- Collaborate with colleagues to create new strategies across a wide platform of projects.
- Develop and document specifications and standard work processes for data management with cross-functional teams.
- Help develop and execute system procedures, documents, tools, awareness programs, and train staff in their use.
- Provide useful and relevant process reporting to specific levels of the organization.
- Identify new areas to measure and monitor based on analysis of trends and internal/external stakeholder feedback.
- Document, maintain, and communicate each step of process to key stakeholders.
- All other duties as assigned by direct Supervisor.
Product Assortment Planning:
- Designing and implementing reorder parameters, by program, to meet performance and reorder fulfillment standards.
- Properly plan assortments based on specific account needs, and intentional sales analysis within tight deadlines.
- Be an avid learner of consumer behavior, market knowledge, competitor awareness, and relevance of key product categories in order to optimize the product story.
- Designing Greeting Card product assortments, based on sales analytics, to maximize regional-national program performance.
- Designing Seasonal Greeting Card product assortments, based on sales data/forecasting analytics, to maximize Regional and National program performance.
- Facilitating greeting card assortment resets on an annual basis for all major accounts.
- Designing and refreshing Non-Card Product assortments (this would include paper tableware, stationery + gift, gift packaging, cocktail napkins, and birthday candles), based on sales analytics to maximize regional-national program performance.
Lifecycle Management:
- Collaborate with key leaders within Marketing and Creative during all four phases of the product lifecycle (Introduction, Growth, Maturity, and Decline) on effective strategies to maximize sales.
- Assign and apply the appropriate “stage” for each product within the assigned brand(s) through proper analysis and collaboration.
- Help move inventory by making suggestions to sales on products to that should transition from our “direct channel” of distribution to our “closeout channel” of distribution.
- Make recommendations on key products/product categories missing from the line.
- Make recommendations where product categories are over-, or under-populated.
Convivial Brands Expectations of all Employees:
- Adheres to all Convivial Brands Policies and Procedures.
- Conducts self in a manner consistent with Convivial Brands’ Core Values at all times.
- Maintains a positive and respectful attitude with all contacts.
- Consistently reports to work on time and prepared to perform the duties of the position.
- Meets productivity standards and performs duties as workload necessitates.
- Maintains the privacy of all company proprietary information.
- Treat visitors, vendors, customers, and team members with respect and dignity.
- Able to safely perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
This position does not have any supervisory responsibilities.
