Merchandising Product Manager

Merchandising & Product Manager

Purpose Statement

The Merchandising & Product Manager plays a critical role in driving Erin Condren's product assortment strategy, identifying emerging market opportunities, and maximizing product performance across eCommerce and retail channels.

This role combines strong analytical merchandising expertise with a proactive, trend-driven approach to product development. The ideal candidate is both a strategic merchant and a product enthusiast—someone who understands what customers are buying today, anticipates what they will want tomorrow, and translates those insights into compelling, commercially successful assortments.

The Merchandising & Product Manager will own assortment planning, sales and inventory forecasting, product performance analysis, and merchandising strategy while partnering closely with Product Development, Design, Marketing, and Operations to influence the product roadmap.

Success in this role requires balancing creativity with commercial discipline, ensuring Erin Condren delivers innovative, customer-relevant products that drive revenue growth, healthy margins, and strong inventory productivity.

Duties & Responsibilities

Merchandising & Assortment Strategy

• Own and execute a comprehensive merchandising strategy across product categories, balancing revenue growth, profitability, customer demand, and brand positioning.
• Proactively identify assortment gaps, whitespace opportunities, and emerging product trends that can drive incremental revenue and customer acquisition.
• Develop and maintain a strategic assortment architecture, including category mix, product breadth and depth, price positioning, and seasonal offerings.
• Partner with Product Development and Design to influence the product roadmap, providing clear recommendations on new products, category extensions, design trends, and innovation opportunities.
• Evaluate existing product performance to identify opportunities to expand winning products, optimize underperforming assortments, and discontinue unproductive SKUs.
• Balance core evergreen products with seasonal, trend-driven, and limited-edition offerings to maintain a relevant and differentiated assortment.
• Develop seasonal merchandising strategies that align with key shopping occasions, customer needs, and business objectives.

Product Trends & Consumer Insights

• Maintain a strong pulse on emerging consumer trends, competitive assortments, lifestyle trends, and category innovation.
• Translate market research, customer feedback, sales data, and competitive insights into actionable product and assortment recommendations.
• Proactively bring forward new product concepts, category opportunities, and merchandising strategies supported by commercial rationale.
• Monitor competitor product launches, pricing strategies, promotional activity, and merchandising approaches to identify opportunities for differentiation.
• Partner with Marketing, eCommerce, and Customer Experience teams to understand evolving customer preferences, purchasing behaviors, and unmet needs.
• Identify opportunities to attract new customer segments through assortment expansion and product innovation.
• Serve as a key voice of the customer in product planning discussions, ensuring new product decisions are both trend-informed and data-supported.

Financial Planning, Forecasting & Inventory Management

• Own sales and inventory forecasting across eCommerce and retail channels, ensuring alignment with revenue targets and financial objectives.
• Develop and manage category-level sales plans, inventory budgets, margin targets, and assortment productivity goals.
• Analyze product performance using key merchandising metrics, including sell-through, inventory turns, gross margin, SKU productivity, average unit retail, and return on inventory investment.
• Identify sales trends and demand shifts early, proactively adjusting inventory and assortment recommendations to maximize opportunities and minimize risk.
• Partner with Finance, Operations, and Purchasing to optimize inventory investments, replenishment strategies, and inventory availability.
• Develop pricing and promotional recommendations that balance competitive positioning, customer value, and profitability.
• Monitor slow-moving and excess inventory, recommending markdown, promotional, or exit strategies to improve inventory health.
• Provide regular reporting and actionable insights on category performance, assortment productivity, and opportunities for growth.

Product Planning & Launch Execution

• Partner cross-functionally to develop and execute seasonal product launch calendars aligned with customer demand, market opportunities, and revenue goals.
• Influence product development priorities through business cases supported by sales forecasts, trend analysis, competitive insights, and customer demand.
• Establish clear financial and performance expectations for new product launches, including sales targets, margin goals, and inventory requirements.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Design, Marketing, eCommerce, and Operations to ensure successful product launches.
• Monitor new product performance following launch and recommend adjustments to inventory, merchandising, pricing, or promotional support.
• Identify opportunities to scale successful launches into expanded assortments or ongoing product offerings.
• Ensure product launches are supported by the right assortment, inventory availability, and commercial strategy.

Experience & Qualifications

Required

• 6+ years of experience in merchandising, buying, category management, product merchandising, or a related role, preferably within consumer products, lifestyle, stationery, gifting, or retail.
• Proven experience developing and executing product assortment strategies that drive revenue growth and profitability.
• Demonstrated ability to identify consumer trends and translate market opportunities into successful product or assortment recommendations.
• Strong financial and analytical acumen, including experience with sales forecasting, inventory planning, pricing, margin management, and SKU-level performance analysis.
• Experience partnering with Product Development and Design teams to influence product roadmaps and new product introductions.
• Strong understanding of retail and eCommerce merchandising principles, customer purchasing behavior, and product lifecycle management.
• Ability to balance data-driven decision-making with creativity, trend awareness, and commercial intuition.
• Proactive, entrepreneurial mindset with a demonstrated ability to identify opportunities and drive initiatives forward.
• Strong competitive analysis, market research, and consumer insights capabilities.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and senior leadership.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and experience working with merchandising, inventory management, and reporting systems.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven ability to take ownership, make informed decisions, and drive measurable business results.
• Experience managing or collaborating closely with purchasing and inventory planning functions.

Preferred

• Experience in DTC or omnichannel consumer brands.
• Background in stationery, planners, paper goods, gifting, accessories, or lifestyle products. (Bonus points if you’re familiar with Erin Condren!)
• Experience launching new product categories or expanding existing assortments.
• Demonstrated success identifying emerging trends and translating them into commercially successful products.
• Experience managing and developing direct reports.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Merchandising, Business, Marketing, Retail Management, or a related field preferred. Equivalent professional experience will also be considered.

Key Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Revenue & Margin Growth: Achievement of category sales and profitability targets.
• Assortment Productivity: Improved SKU performance, sell-through, and inventory efficiency.
• Product Innovation: Identification and successful introduction of new products and assortment opportunities.
• Forecast Accuracy: Improved demand planning and inventory alignment.
• Inventory Health: Reduced excess inventory, improved turns, and minimized stockouts.
• Strategic Contribution: Measurable impact on the product roadmap through consumer insights, trend identification, and merchandising recommendations.

We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.