Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Trading Planner

🎯 Role Definition

The Trading Planner is the strategic heartbeat of the commercial team, serving as the analytical and forecasting powerhouse that drives profitability. This role is responsible for creating and managing the financial roadmap for a product category or an entire channel, ensuring that sales, profit, and inventory goals are not just met, but exceeded. By dissecting performance data, a Trading Planner identifies trends, flags risks, and uncovers opportunities, translating complex numbers into actionable commercial strategies. They are the crucial link between the Buying/Merchandising, Marketing, and Finance teams, ensuring that product assortments, promotional activities, and stock levels are perfectly aligned to maximize performance and delight customers.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Merchandise Admin Assistant (MAA) or Allocator
Assistant Merchandiser / Junior Planner
Data Analyst (Retail/E-commerce)

Advancement To:

Senior Trading Planner
Merchandising Manager or Planning Manager
Head of Trading / Head of E-commerce

Lateral Moves:

Senior Merchandiser
E-commerce Category Manager
Demand Planner

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and manage the Weekly Sales, Stock, and Intake (WSSI) tool to accurately forecast sales, control stock levels, and optimize intake flow, ensuring optimal stock availability and turn.
Conduct in-depth analysis of daily, weekly, and seasonal trading performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) such as sales, margin, stock turn, and sell-through.
Create detailed pre-season financial plans and forecasts by department, category, and channel, aligning top-down business targets with bottom-up product potential.
Collaborate closely with the buying and merchandising teams to build balanced and profitable product assortments that reflect forecasted sales trends and strategic goals.
Strategically plan and forecast the impact of promotional events, markdowns, and marketing campaigns, providing data-driven recommendations to maximize return on investment.
Perform post-event analysis on all major trading and promotional periods, delivering clear insights and actionable recommendations for future activities.
Proactively identify and communicate commercial risks and opportunities to senior management, presenting clear and concise action plans to mitigate risks or capitalize on opportunities.
Manage inventory levels across the product lifecycle, from initial launch strategy to end-of-life markdown and clearance activities, to minimize terminal stock.
Provide comprehensive reporting and commentary on trading performance for weekly trade meetings, monthly business reviews, and executive-level presentations.
Partner with the e-commerce team to optimize on-site product exposure, linking stock depth and sales performance to visual merchandising and category navigation.
Monitor competitor activity, market trends, and customer behavior to inform trading strategy and maintain a competitive edge.
Oversee the allocation and replenishment of stock from distribution centers to stores or online fulfillment centers to ensure optimal stock coverage.
Develop and maintain robust reporting dashboards and data models to provide real-time visibility into commercial performance for all key stakeholders.
Lead the seasonal and annual budgeting process for sales, margin, and inventory, working in conjunction with finance and senior leadership.
Analyze customer data and web analytics to understand purchase behavior and its impact on product performance and future demand forecasts.
Manage the Open-to-Buy (OTB) process, providing buyers with clear financial guardrails to ensure purchasing is aligned with sales forecasts and inventory targets.
Re-forecast sales, stock, and margin in-season based on actual performance, adjusting plans to react to trade and optimize the outcome for the period.
Champion a data-led culture within the commercial team, training and mentoring junior team members on planning principles and analytical techniques.
Work with supply chain and logistics partners to ensure a smooth flow of stock and troubleshoot any intake or delivery issues that could impact availability.
Drive continuous improvement by identifying inefficiencies in planning processes and tools, and leading the implementation of new solutions or methodologies.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis from various business departments.
Contribute to the organization's wider data strategy and the evolution of its planning and reporting tools.
Collaborate with IT and business intelligence units to translate data needs into engineering and reporting requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies if the commercial team operates within an agile framework.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Expert-level proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including complex formulas, pivot tables, data modeling, and macros.
Extensive experience managing and creating a WSSI (Weekly Sales, Stock, and Intake) from scratch.
Strong proficiency with business intelligence and data visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Looker.
Advanced numerical and analytical skills with a proven ability to interpret and synthesize large, complex datasets.
Solid understanding of retail math, financial metrics (margin, OTB, stock turn, sell-through), and P&L statements.
Experience using merchandising, planning, or ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite).
Familiarity with web analytics platforms like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics.
Strong forecasting and statistical modeling capabilities.
The ability to build and present compelling, data-driven business cases and financial models.
Basic to intermediate SQL skills for data extraction and manipulation is highly desirable.

Soft Skills

Exceptional commercial acumen and a deep understanding of the retail/e-commerce landscape.
Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly to diverse audiences.
Excellent influencing and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to challenge and persuade senior leaders.
Meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to accuracy in all outputs.
A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with strong problem-solving abilities.
High level of resilience and the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure trading environment.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet tight deadlines.
A collaborative team player who can also work autonomously and take ownership of their category.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree

Preferred Education:

Master's Degree in a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration, Finance, Economics
Mathematics, Statistics, Fashion Merchandising

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3-7 years of experience in a merchandise planning, demand planning, or commercial finance role within a retail, e-commerce, or FMCG environment.

Preferred:

Experience in a fast-fashion, multi-channel, or pure-play e-commerce business is highly advantageous. Direct experience managing a P&L or a significant product category.