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Item Planner

💰 $55,000 - $95,000

Supply ChainMerchandisingInventory PlanningRetailOperationsDemand Planning

🎯 Role Definition

The Item Planner is responsible for driving SKU-level assortment, demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and replenishment strategies across assigned categories. This role partners closely with merchants, demand planners, supply planners, vendors and operations teams to translate sales plans into executable purchase orders and inventory positions that maximize availability, minimize markdowns, and protect margin. The Item Planner leverages forecasting models, ERP/MRP systems, and advanced Excel/BI tools to continuously refine plan accuracy, manage promotional cadence, and respond to supply disruptions.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Merchandise Analyst / Assistant Planner
  • Demand Planning Analyst / Inventory Analyst
  • Retail Operations Coordinator

Advancement To:

  • Senior Item Planner / Category Planner
  • Merchandise Planning Manager
  • Demand & Inventory Planning Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Category Merchandiser
  • Supply Planner
  • Commercial Analyst / Supplier Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop and own SKU-level demand forecasts and inventory plans for assigned categories using historical sales, trend analysis, promotional calendars, seasonality adjustments, and market intelligence to meet service level and margin objectives.
  • Create and maintain cadence-based replenishment plans (weekly/monthly) using ERP/MRP systems and automated planning tools, translating forecasts into purchase orders, allocation plans, and transfer recommendations.
  • Collaborate with merchants to build assortment strategies, product lifecycle plans (introduction, replenishment, clearance), and launch/phase-out schedules that align with merchandising goals and space constraints.
  • Set and monitor target inventory metrics (turns, sell-through, weeks of supply, cover) and drive actions to correct deviations through reorders, price/promotional recommendations, or inventory transfers.
  • Manage promotional planning and event forecasting, coordinating with marketing and category teams to model lift, cannibalization, lead time changes, and temporary allocation strategies.
  • Conduct SKU rationalization and lifecycle analysis to identify slow-moving SKUs, propose consolidation or discontinuation, and recommend clearance strategies to reduce carrying costs and free up working capital.
  • Partner with supply planning and vendor management to negotiate lead times, minimum order quantities, and production schedules, ensuring alignment between commercial plans and supply capacity.
  • Monitor and report on forecast accuracy, bias, and variance at SKU and category levels; implement corrective actions and model enhancements to continuously improve forecast performance.
  • Build and execute replenishment rules, safety stock algorithms, and order templates within planning systems to automate routine ordering while ensuring governance and exception management.
  • Lead daily/weekly exception management reviews: prioritize critical stockouts, overstock risks, and inbound discrepancies; coordinate corrective actions with operations and suppliers.
  • Analyze and model price elasticity, markdown cadence, and promotional ROI to inform pricing recommendations and markdown timing that minimize margin erosion.
  • Provide detailed inventory and sales analyses to senior merchandising and finance partners to support assortment decisions, inventory investments, and promotional funding requests.
  • Maintain master data hygiene for SKUs (lead times, pack sizes, case pack, UPC, category attributes) and work with data governance teams to correct or enhance item attributes that drive planning accuracy.
  • Coordinate seasonal buy planning and financial plan reconciliation, ensuring that planned receipts and inventory align with merchandising financial targets and P&L expectations.
  • Drive cross-functional release and allocation of limited inventory for high-demand launches or constrained supply situations with fair and strategic distribution methodologies.
  • Implement continuous process improvements and automation opportunities (macros, macros-to-MRP, macros-to-BI) to reduce manual work and accelerate decision cycles.
  • Execute root cause analysis for supply chain disruptions (delays, quality issues, purchase order changes) and lead mitigation plans to minimize lost sales and excess inventory.
  • Partner with E-commerce and omnichannel teams to optimize inventory visibility and fulfillment rules for click-and-collect, ship-from-store, and ship-to-customer strategies.
  • Prepare and present weekly and monthly planning reviews, inventory health dashboards, and KPI scorecards for merchandising leaders and operations stakeholders.
  • Drive compliance with company inventory policies, purchase order change protocols, and vendor lead-time agreements to protect supply reliability and financial controls.
  • Manage ad-hoc analysis for product line extensions, test-and-learn assortment pilots, and geographic rollouts to quantify inventory impact and expected ROI.
  • Oversee returns and reverse logistics considerations for planned inventory, including refurbishment, resale, and disposition strategies that recover margin.
  • Mentor and train junior planners and cross-functional partners on planning tools, forecasting methodologies, and exception management best practices.
  • Participate in systems selection and upgrade projects (APS, OMS, ERP, Forecasting tools) providing category-specific requirements and UAT testing to ensure planning workflows are supported.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist in cross-functional projects such as vendor onboarding, promotional planning, and seasonal planning workstreams.
  • Serve as the subject matter expert for assigned item attributes and planning rules in merchandising tools.
  • Represent the planning function in supplier performance reviews and S&OP/IBP meetings.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced demand forecasting and inventory optimization techniques (time-series forecasting, causal models, safety stock calculation, EOQ).
  • Hands-on experience with enterprise planning systems (SAP APO/IBP, Oracle Demantra, JDA/Blue Yonder, Manhattan).
  • Proficient in Excel (pivot tables, Power Query, advanced formulas, VBA/macros) for large dataset manipulation and model building.
  • SQL skills to extract and transform transactional sales, inventory and PO data for analysis and reporting.
  • Familiarity with business intelligence and visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) to create dashboards and performance reports.
  • Strong understanding of merchandising metrics: sell-through, turns, weeks of supply, markdown rate, OTB (open-to-buy).
  • Knowledge of supply chain concepts: lead time variance, safety stock, allocation logic, vendor managed inventory (VMI), EDI processes.
  • Experience modeling promotional lift, elasticity, and cannibalization effects to forecast incremental demand.
  • Ability to build and maintain replenishment rule sets, order templates, and automated workflows within planning systems.
  • Comfortable working with large datasets and applying basic statistical methods to detect seasonality, trend, and outliers.
  • Familiarity with PLM/assortment management tools and product master data governance.
  • Experience with omnichannel inventory strategies, store replenishment, and fulfillment rules (ship-from-store, BOPIS).

Soft Skills

  • Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance availability, margin, and inventory investment trade-offs.
  • Excellent cross-functional communication; able to convey complex analytical findings to merchants, suppliers, and operations succinctly.
  • Proactive problem-solving and decision-making under tight timelines and ambiguity.
  • Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills to manage multiple SKUs, supplier relationships, and planning cycles simultaneously.
  • Stakeholder management and influencing skills to align competing priorities across merchandising, finance, and supply chain.
  • Continuous improvement mindset; comfortable challenging the status quo and driving process automation.
  • Analytical curiosity to interrogate data, identify root causes, and recommend practical business actions.
  • Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced retail environment with seasonal peaks and rapid assortment changes.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Economics, Statistics, Data Analytics, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree (MBA or MS in Supply Chain, Analytics, or Business) or relevant professional certifications (APICS/CPIM, CSCP, CBIP, Certified Planner).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Supply Chain Management
  • Business Administration / Merchandising
  • Data Analytics / Statistics
  • Economics
  • Operations Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of retail merchandising, inventory planning, demand planning, or supply chain experience.

Preferred: 3–7 years managing SKU-level planning responsibilities in a multi-channel retail environment, experience with enterprise planning systems (SAP/Oracle/JDA), and demonstrated success improving forecast accuracy and inventory turns.

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