Company Overview

alphabroder products build brands, champion causes, acknowledge achievements and offer limitless solutions. Our more than 6,500 styles from 60+ brands of classic and trending apparel and products like drinkware, bags, journals, and technology work hard for our customers – like promotional product distributors, athletic team dealers, screen printers, embroiderers, online retailers, and thousands of other businesses. Our customers work hard and fast, which is why we have positioned our 10 distribution and production facilities to cover 99% of the US population in a one to two-day ship. Our primary focus is earning the trust of our customers which is why our Vision is:

Be the Most Trusted & Valued Partner

For Branded Products & Services

The Director Merchandising Hard Goods is primarily responsible for the creation of the 3-5 year seasonal hard goods line plan & strategy to include product development and assortment management, suggested pricing strategies, product line volume & profit guidance, margin & GMROII targets, growth opportunities, and product lifecycle transition plans. The interpretation and application of Sales, Customer, Competitor and Industry data and intelligence is integral to the process and a key responsibility.

Other responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Assortment Management

• Review sales performance and market data to create actionable insights that inform the line plan and support achievement of budgeted revenue and EBIDTA goals while establishing product needs at the brand and product class level.

• Develop collaborative working relationships with internal partners in Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Finance, Decoration Engineering and Pricing to align Merchandising strategy within budgetary and capacity constraints.

• Collaborate with apparel merchandising leaders to enhance hard goods assortment product and new brand opportunities.

• Conduct and publish seasonal supplier, competitive and retail market analysis on trends, pricing and customer-oriented experiences to inform & validate product strategies.

• Develop integrated seasonal product selling strategies including sales samples and Marketing and Sales product selling priorities each season.

• Develop strong relationships with Supplier/Brand Partners; Consult as necessary to resolve potential order and delivery issues and product quality issues.

• Create action plans to remedy assortment challenges including special or sale pricing (with Pricing team) Sales and Marketing activity to support selling and / or development of exit strategy for end of lifecycle styles (with Supply Chain, Inventory Management, Finance and Pricing.)

New Product Development

• Manage new style and kitting development, first cost and sourcing location (with Supply Chain,) patent research (with General Counsel,) compliance testing (with Supply Chain), packaging requirements and decoration pre-production testing and costing (with Engineering.)

• Manage initial pricing, decoration methods & costing and stocking locations recommendations for all new styles.

• Assist in development of alphabroder apparel and hard goods kitting strategy with apparel merchandising and decoration engineering teams.

• Collaborate with Supply Chain and Finance for new style opening orders and first year revenue forecasts.

• Manage and maintain product level data accuracy in company data management and erp systems.

• Travel to Retail Trade Shows, Suppliers & Trading Partners (domestic and international) as needed (pending lift of COVID travel restrictions.)

Support cross-functional commercial partners to execute the brand and product vision with Marketing, Sales and Customers.

• Establish & write product features and functions information for web, catalog, and marketing needs. Collaborate with Marketing on photography samples and photography needs and other web and catalog needs.

• Collaborate with apparel Merchandising leaders for combined seasonal new product sales training collateral creation.

• Conduct product training & new style presentations (both in person and virtual) as needed at national and regional sales meetings or industry trade show events.

• Support selling efforts by meeting with Customers at industry events and in person Customer sales calls.

• Support Marketing in management of industry distributor tools (SAGE, ESP, and Distributor Central) spend and data accuracy.

Qualifications

Qualifications

• Bachelors Degree in related field of study or commensurate professional experience.

• 7-10+ years of experience in hard goods product development and merchandising in the promotional products industry.

• 7-10+ years of experience in hard goods product development and merchandising in the promotional products industry including proven track record of effective working relationships with Asian trading companies and manufacturers.

• Prior retail apparel, accessories and hard goods experience a plus.

• Passion for product including prior knowledge of design, hard goods product development and compliance and decoration production processes.

• Analytical thinker and excited to analyze data and use sales and customer feedback to drive assortment decisions

• Technically and computer savvy, eager to learn new systems, and expertise in Microsoft Excel. Proficiency in Tableau a plus.

• Enjoy building strong relationships with internal and external partners.

• Excellent communicator both written and verbal. Strong time management and organizational skills.

• Motivated by challenge and can positively lead through change and ambiguity.

• Comfortable taking calculated risks to achieve results

• Ability to travel up to 20% of the time

Benefits

We offer competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package to those who qualify. This may include:

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance.

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA).

• 401(k)with company match.

• Company-paid Life Insurance and Short-Term Disability Insurance.

• Paid Time Off (Holidays, Vacation, and Personal/Sick).

• Employee Purchasing Program.

• Career Development and Tuition Reimbursement.

  ab| Prime is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, or genetic information.

  For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please review EEO is the Law (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf) EEO is the Law Poster Supplement . alphabroder participates in the E-Verify program. Please click below to learn more about the E-Verify program. E-Verify Participation Poster (English and Spanish) (https://e-verify.uscis.gov/web/media/resourcesContents/E-Verify_Participation_Poster_ES.pdf) Right to Work Poster .