Merchandising Analytics Expert

Job Description

Experience: 12 - 15 Years Location: India Industry: Retail Function: Merchandising Analytics Employment Type: Full-time About the Role We are seeking a seasoned Merchandising Analytics expert with a deep understanding of retail and merchandising, combined with strong pre-sales, consulting, and solutioning skills. This individual will play a key role in shaping client strategy and winning business through compelling analytics-led merchandising solutions. Key Responsibilities Categorized by Capability Area 1. Strategic Advisory Act as a trusted advisor to clients by translating merchandising and category challenges into data-driven strategies. Lead client discovery workshops, assess current-state analytics maturity, and develop transformation roadmaps. Advise retailers on AI/ML use cases for pricing, assortment, inventory, and promotion optimization. Share thought leadership via industry forums, whitepapers, and client presentations. 2. Business Development Support the sales team in qualifying leads, understanding client pain points, and positioning analytics solutions effectively. Own the solution design during RFP/RFI responses and client proposals. Build strong client relationships, influence buying decisions, and drive revenue growth in merchandising analytics offerings. Develop business cases and ROI models to help clients quantify the value of proposed solutions. 3. Product Management Liaise between clients and product teams to align product capabilities with market needs. Provide inputs into product roadmaps, based on emerging trends and customer feedback. Conceptualize new analytics modules (e.g., markdown simulator, OTB optimizer) tailored to merchandising use cases. Create user stories and functional requirements for enhancements and demo assets. 4. Solutioning Expertise Design end-to-end analytics solutions for merchandising use cases: assortment optimization, price elasticity, inventory planning, etc. Build and present proof-of-concepts, demos, and visualizations using tools like Power BI/Tableau. Collaborate with data science and engineering teams to validate feasibility and scalability of proposed solutions. Ensure seamless handover to delivery teams with clear documentation and expectations. Required Qualifications Experience: 10+ years in the retail domain, with at least 3-5 years focused on merchandising (buying, planning, category management, etc.). Strong domain expertise across retail KPIs, merchandising workflows, and the impact of analytics on product, price, promotion, and placement. Demonstrated success in a pre-sales, consulting, or solution architect role for retail clients. Proficient in storytelling and stakeholder engagement, with the ability to communicate complex analytics solutions to non-technical audiences. Experience working with global retailers or in an omnichannel retail environment is highly desirable.