Home Merchandise Planner Resume template
Merchandise Planner resume template
A clean starting structure with example content grounded in what merchandise planners actually do day to day, not generic filler. Download and replace the bracketed placeholders with your own details.
Which resume format should you use?
Reverse chronological
You have a steady work history. This is the format almost every recruiter and ATS expects by default.
Functional
You're changing fields or have gaps in your employment. Leads with skills rather than a job-by-job timeline.
Combination
You're early career or have worked consistently but for only a few employers. Blends a skills summary with a shorter chronological history.
This template uses the reverse chronological format: the one most merchandise planners should default to, since most Australian recruiters and ATS software expect it.
Professional summary
Merchandise planner with a background in retail forecasting and inventory management. Skilled at building range plans that balance sales, cash flow and shelf space across stores and online channels. Experienced in using data to drive markdown and replenishment decisions.
Key skills
- Data analysis
- Financial analysis and modelling
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Inventory management
- Merchandising and stock presentation
- Supply chain planning
- Microsoft Excel
- Power BI
- SAP Retail
- Anaplan
- Blue Yonder
- Stakeholder management
Experience: example bullet points
- Analysed sales history across 30 stores to forecast seasonal demand and set initial allocations, reducing stockouts on key lines.
- Built range and option plans within open-to-buy budgets, aligning buying decisions with cash flow targets.
- Monitored sell-through and markdown performance, adjusting replenishment parameters to clear slow sellers without deep discounting.
- Reported margin and inventory outcomes to buying and finance teams, supporting a shift to more frequent, smaller replenishment cycles.
Education
A bachelor degree in business, commerce or retail management is common, though a diploma or advanced diploma in merchandising is also a well-regarded pathway into the role.
Keywords an ATS is likely to scan for
Applicant tracking systems match your resume against terms in the job ad before a person ever sees it. Only include the ones that actually apply to your experience, but if a term below matches something you've done, use the same wording the job ad uses.
- Open-to-buy
- Sell-through
- Markdown management
- Range planning
- Stock allocation
- Replenishment
- SAP Retail
- Anaplan
- Power BI
- Excel
- Forecasting
- Inventory management
- Supply chain
- Merchandise planning
- Australian Retailers Association
Getting past ATS screening
- Match the specific skills, certifications and terms used in the job ad, not just your own wording for the same thing.
- Keep formatting simple: no tables, text boxes, columns, headers/footers or graphics. Parsers frequently drop content placed in these.
- Submit as .docx or PDF unless the job ad specifies otherwise.
- Use standard section headings (Experience, Education, Skills) rather than creative alternatives.
- List your core skills and technical competencies in their own section so a keyword scan can find them instantly.
This is a starting point, not a guarantee of interviews. Tailor every bullet point to your own real experience and the specific job ad.