Merchandising Space Planner

As a Merchandising Space Planner at Milani, your duties will include developing and maintaining planograms for retail partners, ensuring alignment with our merchandising strategies and sales goals. You'll also analyze space productivity using specialized software, support budgeting and financial forecasting, and collaborate with cross-functional teams. Your role is crucial in maximizing retail space efficiency and driving our overall business objectives.

To qualify for the Merchandising Space Planner position at Milani, you'll need a Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Business, or a related field, along with at least 4 years of experience using JDA Space Planning and Category Management software. Additionally, a JDA certification is required, alongside retail sales experience, preferably in the beauty industry. Strong Microsoft Suite skills and excellent communication skills are also essential.

The Space Planning Analyst at Milani plays a pivotal role by optimizing retail space and ensuring that product data integrity is maintained. You’ll provide insights and recommendations based on space analysis, support merchandising strategies, and help foster strong retail partnerships. Your contributions directly impact our sales growth and customer satisfaction, making this role integral to our brand's success.

At Milani, the work environment for the Merchandising Space Planner is flexible and dynamic. You’ll work in a hybrid model, required on-site Tuesday through Thursday, but also enjoy the benefits of working from home. We foster a culture of collaboration and innovation, making it an exciting place for creative professionals like you to thrive.

The annual base salary range for the Merchandising Space Planner role at Milani is between $80,000 and $95,000. The exact salary will depend on factors like your experience, skills, and educational background. At Milani, we value our employees and strive to offer competitive compensation packages.

When answering this question, consider discussing your methodology for analyzing sales data and customer behavior to create impactful planograms. Explain how you use software tools to develop these layouts, and provide examples of how your planograms have led to sales increases.

Be specific about your experience with JDA software, detailing the functions you use regularly and discussing how you've leveraged it to achieve successful merchandising outcomes in previous roles. Highlight challenges you've faced and how you overcame them.

Mention specific teams you've worked with—like Product Development or Marketing—and how you facilitated communication and collaboration to align on merchandising goals. Provide an example that illustrates team collaboration leading to successful projects.

Discuss the critical metrics you focus on, such as sales per square foot or inventory turnover rates. Explain how these metrics inform your decisions and adjustments in space planning to achieve better results.

Explain your methods for staying informed, whether that’s through industry publications, online courses, networking with other professionals, or attending trade shows. Illustrate how this knowledge has informed your merchandising strategies in past roles.

Select a specific challenge you encountered, such as a discrepancy in product placement or unexpected sales data. Describe the steps you took to analyze the problem, implement changes, and the positive effects those changes had on sales.

Emphasize the importance of data analysis in shaping your strategies. Discuss tools you use for data analysis, how you interpret data trends, and how you translate these insights into actionable merchandising strategies.

Describe your approach to prioritization based on project impact, deadlines, and contribution to overall business objectives. Provide an example of how you’ve successfully managed multiple projects simultaneously.

Discuss a mix of technical skills, such as proficiency in space planning software and data analysis, alongside soft skills like communication and adaptability. Offer examples of how these skills have helped you succeed in previous roles.

Talk about your systematic approach to identifying and correcting discrepancies, such as regular audits and checks. Explain the importance of accuracy in planograms and how you ensure data integrity across all retail partners.