INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales positions are at a 5% growth rate, which is slower than average. With that said, there are currently 1,625,700 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 77,600 to 1,703,300 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales jobs was $65,420 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $31,950, and the highest 10% more than $129,200.
Our conclusion? The Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales job market is wide open for candidates.
Top Merchandise Manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Merchandise Manager resume experience section
Merchandise Manager Resume’s Job Experience Checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Merchandise Manager resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Achieved 100% of Ladies' Accessories sales target and 102% of Ladies' Handbags sales target by closely coordinating with suppliers and concessionaires regarding merchandise mix, promotions and planogram.
- Achieved 4% and 6% growth in gross margins of Ladies' Accessories and Ladies' Handbags by sourcing quality products with the most cost-efficient price and by implementing effective promotions with the least impact on margins.
- Analysed effectiveness of promotions and ensured proper execution in stores.
- Created timely and accurate reports essential in reviewing department performance and provided recommendations to improve business.
- Managed the opening of two new stores by determining the right brands for each store, arranging the store layout and convincing brands to enter the stores.
- Achieved 100% of Ladies' Accessories sales target and 102% of Ladies' Handbags sales target by closely coordinating with suppliers and concessionaires regarding product line, promotions and planogram.
- Achieved 4% and 6% growth in gross margins of Ladies' Accessories and Ladies' Handbags by sourcing quality products with the most cost-efficient price and managing the promotions with the least impact on implementing
- Aggresively implemented promotional activities to lower ageing inventory and manage overall inventory level.
- Created timely and accurate reports essential in monitoring department performance and monitoring targets.
- Managed the opening of a new store.
- Senior Leadership position based within H&M AU Support Office, reporting to Head of Merchandising
- Manager for Menswear (2017/2018) & Womenswear (2019/2020)
- Concept expert assigned with driving profitable net growth through setting commercial plans for the category, managing concept WSSI, closing stock & generating top down OTB with Merchandise Planner
- Plan, optimise & review budgets for category based on weekly & quarterly selling, optimise reductions budget, activities, stock risks & opportunities ensuring a structured follow up communicated to wider business
- Experienced in communicating strategies, forecasts & budgets with Country Management Team & wider company, including thorough knowledge in the global & local supply chain
- Manage OTB with Merchandise Planner to secure profitability and stock composition long and short term, in line with developing aggressive local pricing strategies aligned with company goals
- Liaise cross functionally within Sales team functions (Marketing, PR, Visual, Operations) to ensure maximum visibility of category performance
- Optimise the stock package & allocation per store category & per state, across 40 stores in Australia
- Set allocation strategies per store that meet supply and demand, ensured that the correct products were maximised & the stock balance and size curve is always meeting its full potential
- Develop upcoming Merchandising talents & store team members, empowering them to carry out concept strategies and visions
- Senior Business Leader based in the Local Merchandising Function for Australia and New Zealand
- Managing Menswear across Australia and New Zealand with 49 stores, and previously managed Kids, Home and Divided (ladies youth) categories
- Market expert developing, executing and reviewing categories strategies and budgets to drive profitable net growth and presented these to C-suite
- Analysis of trade through WSSI tool; on weekly, monthly and seasonal level devising actions to minimise risk and maximise opportunities and applying accordingly
- OTB management signed off with Head of Merchandising and sent to global buying team
- Affect buying levels and pricing on product level through collaboration with global buying team ensuring long and short term goals are achieved and inline with company strategies
- Creating allocation strategy to ensure ideal stock positioning and managing entire allocation process for 5000 SKUs seasonally including store segmentation
- Product management with particular focus on aged stock ensuring that permanent and short term markdowns proposals are inline with margin targets
- Developing new team members within the Merchandise Function resulting in successful completion of training program and additions to the team
- Drove and communicated product strategies to meet financial objectives, serving as the lead of a collaborative team.
- Delivered healthy comp increases across the 16 years in varying departments - Men's, Wos, Tops, Bottoms, Non-apparel, Retail, Direct, etc.
- Launched new programs including Women's Wrinkle Free Shirts, Men's Nano Khakis, and EB Tech.
- Awarded the Best of Bauer recognition on 3 different occasions.
- Wholesale purchasing and sourcing of esports merchandise
- Curating of the product catalogues at multiple online stores
- Coordinates and supports license initiatives
- Collaborates on online campaigns and marketing
- Lead the merchandise business of DreamHack including ecommerce and the retail in merch stores at more than 20 large gaming events
- Designed and developed the entire DreamHack product catalogue
- Increased ticket revenue by upselling add-ons and merch bundles
- Achieved revenue targets and budget goals on a tight deadline schedule
- Designed and developed the Team Liquid merchandise catalogue
- Established the Team Liquid online store with worldwide distribution from warehouses in Europe and North America
- Designed community websites in the Team Liquid network
- Operational Management of the entire business arm (in-store and online) including the implementation of the retail strategies, range planning and design, KPI and metric forecast and execution, staff recruitment, education and training.
- Overhauled the pricing structure to maximise revenue from high volume selling products in-turn lifting the total revenue of the department by 89% and the Gross Profit by 74% over 3 years.
- Significantly increased the profitability of the off-court category by increasing penetration in underdeveloped sub-categories such as headwear and clothing.
- Developed strategies, analysed and identified opportunities and risks to drive the Department to its highest potential and presented these recommendations to the CEO monthly.
- Produced monthly sales and inventory reports, promotional analysis, and top seller reviews to accomplish sales, meet gross margin and turn goals.
- Ensured proper inventory levels and allocation for all Merchandise.
- Implemented an integrated POS system that enabled real time stock, sales and metrics reporting.
- Accurately forecast daily sales and overall inventory for 50+ unique items for tours spanning 4-12 weeks. Efficiently balance inventory vs. daily sales totals to reconcile discrepancies and maintain < .25% loss.
- Research and establish fair market price for merchandise in 13 countries. Broker in product and pay customs fees, taxes, or tariffs.
- Strictly monitor road inventory to foresee potential item shortages. Remotely reorder product and establish drop shipment instructions.
- Hire, train, and manage staff of 12-16 people to handle merchandise sales of up to $150K/day servicing crowds of 35K individuals.
- Increased merchandise revenue and accuracy annually.
PRO TIP
Check the Merchandise Manager job description for inspiration. Look for similarities between your employer’s values and your experience.
Action Verbs for your Merchandise Manager Resume
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Merchandise Manager Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume Skills Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Skills for your Merchandise Manager resume
- Salesforce
- MS Office
- CRM
- Forecasting
- Cold Calling
- Business Development
- Customer Service
- Project Management
- Relationship Building
- Time Management
- Storytelling
- Research / Information Gathering.
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving.
- Tech Savvy
- Networking
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Merchandise Manager Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Merchandise Manager Resume Header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include a link to your portfolio in your Merchandise Manager resume header. Most companies will require that you include one in your resume, and even if they don’t, it’s an excellent opportunity to directly show them your proudest projects.
Merchandise Manager Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Merchandise Manager resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
You’re not going to get hired simply because of a good summary or objective. However, your recruiter can bump you up in front of similarly experienced candidates who didn’t demonstrate such passion and drive.
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Listing Your Education, Certifications and Courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for your Merchandise Manager resume
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PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Merchandise Manager Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Merchandise Manager Resume Summary best practices
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
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PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Merchandise Manager resume:
Merchandise Manager Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Merchandise Manager resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What Makes a Great Merchandise Manager Resume: Key Takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
