Merchant, Perigold Physical Retail - Wayfair

This is a hybrid positions requiring M-TH in office and remote on Fridays. Office is located in Boston, MA.

At this time, Wayfair is unable to hire candidates that require visa sponsorship now or in the future for this position.

We are seeking a Category Merchant to help drive Perigold’s physical retail agenda.  The Perigold brand offers a unique opportunity to drive strategy for Wayfair’s newest brand, targeting the luxury home market. We are focused on providing an unparalleled assortment of luxury home goods through an elevated omnichannel shopping experience for our customers.  We believe there is a white space in the brick-and-mortar market and an opportunity to create a differentiated retail experience that showcases the breadth and depth of our catalog.  The Category Merchant will play a key role in the overall Physical Retail Merchandising Team that will help craft and execute Perigold’s strategy as we stand up and scale stores across North America.

The Category Merchant will support the merchandise direction and strategy for their product categories, to ensure achievement of company business goals.  As a category expert, they will be responsible for owning the category product assortment and presentation to our customers, from conceptualizing and developing the merchandise strategy, defining product assortments, and proactively analyzing and optimizing the product offering in their categories.  They will collaborate closely with several cross-functional partners (e.g., Allocation, Visual Merchandising, Creative, Store Operations).  The Category Merchant will develop a deep understanding of the customer, the market, and our business, and pair this with the strategic thinking, creativity, leadership and bias to action that will drive success in this highly entrepreneurial environment.  We are seeking someone who can drive strong sales productivity and profitability, and ensure customer satisfaction, in our physical retail business.

This role is based in Boston, with significant cross-functional responsibility and exposure to leaders across Perigold and Wayfair. As the physical retail portfolio grows, the Category Merchant should expect to oversee their categories across an increasing fleet of stores.

Responsibilities:

• Own the outcomes for the performance of your categories in-store (revenue and profitability)
• Build and maintain category assortment strategies, inclusive of developing a shelf space plan and actively selecting, developing and iterating on the product offering
• Identify opportunities for category growth, utilizing competitive analysis and internal performance monitoring as data points
• Partner closely with Visual Merchandising, Creative, and Store Operations to bring selection to life in the store
• Partner closely with Allocation, Forecasting and Supply Chain leadership to ensure inventory needs are met
• Manage regular line review and category review processes to assess performance and revise assortment and space allocation strategy
• Leverage quantitative and qualitative data, along with test-and-learn methodology, to continue to improve performance
• Maintain a pulse on core competitive trends and customer needs
• Adjust strategies in-season where needed and provide appropriate and timely direction in order to react to customer and business needs
• With geographic expansion, establish and test potential for regional merchandising solutions
• Become an expert on your categories, including the customer journey (offline and online), key competitors, market trends, etc.
• Partner with Perigold’s ecommerce team to build an industry-leading omni-channel offering

Requirements:

• ~4+ years of experience within an e-commerce or corporate retail organization preferred. Preferably experience in buying/retail merchandising or retail planning
• Ability to implement strategic plans and drive results with multiple teams and stakeholders; inspire and motivate teams to bring future state vision to life
• Ability to cut data and think critically about the business; ability to understand and interpret sales and performance trends and apply learning to the business  
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal and the ability to influence cross-functionally
• A personable and energetic communicator, eager to build relationships with new business partners
• Ability to “hit the ground running” – a self-starter capable of achieving specific target goals
• Evidence of “scrappy start-up execution” and a “get it done” attitude when time is tight and stakes are high
• A passion or knowledge of industry trends, style and product design
• Thrives in a high growth, ambiguous environment
• Some travel required