Halfords
Assistant Merchandise Planner
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About us
At Halfords, our mission is to inspire and support a lifetime of motoring and cycling. As a specialist retailer, we lead the market through customer-driven innovation and a distinct product range. We are dedicated to providing our customers with an integrated, unique, and convenient service experience—from e-bike and electric vehicle servicing to on-demand solutions. Our commitment is to foster customer loyalty by offering compelling reasons to keep coming back to our stores, ensuring a lifetime of motoring and cycling enjoyment.
The teams at our Redditch Support Centre work with every other area of our business, putting them at the heart of the action and playing a key role in our success and growth. Everyone brings their individual knowledge and experience to work every day, working as one team to keep things moving smoothly.
If you’re willing to get stuck in, you’ll love it here too. So put yourself at the heart of a dynamic, fast-paced working environment where expertise and focus take people far.
About the role
As an Assistant Merchandise Planner at Halfords, you’ll sit at the heart of our merchandising and supply chain operation, helping ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time for our customers. This is a hands-on, analytical role with real ownership, working end to end across forecasting, stock planning, supplier coordination and distribution centre activity to maximise availability and sales across key product categories.
You’ll work closely with Buyers, Merchandise Planners, suppliers and DC teams to forecast demand, plan stock in and out, and keep everything aligned to open-to-buy and KPI targets. Day to day, you’ll analyse sales performance, identify under- and over-performing lines, and pull the right levers to drive availability and reduce risk. From placing orders to tracking throughput and resolving stock issues, you’ll play a key role in keeping high-volume, fast-moving products on the shelves.
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This role suits someone who enjoys pace, problem-solving and numbers. You’ll be comfortable working with large data sets in Excel, confident engaging multiple stakeholders, and motivated by seeing the direct impact of your decisions on stores and customers. It’s a step up from allocator-style roles, offering full ownership, exposure to the full supply chain lifecycle, and the opportunity to build a strong career foundation in a fast-moving retail environment.
Key responsibilities
- Support end-to-end supply chain and merchandising activity, from demand forecasting through to stock delivery into stores and online
- Analyse sales and stock performance to identify risks, opportunities, and actions to maximise availability and sales
- Assist in building and maintaining forecasts, intake plans, and open-to-buy controls
- Manage stock flow through Distribution Centres, working closely with DC teams to resolve availability or volume issues
- Monitor and support delivery of key KPIs, including stock availability, sell-through, and stock investment
- Collaborate with Buyers, Merchandise Planners, and suppliers to ensure plans are aligned and executed effectively
- Support promotional activity, range changes, and seasonal planning, ensuring stock is in the right place at the right time
- Use Excel and reporting tools to produce regular performance analysis and recommendations
- Act as a day-to-day contact for supplier and store queries, providing timely and accurate support
- Identify and escalate issues early, proposing practical solutions in a fast-paced environment
About you
- Proven retail or supply chain experience, ideally within merchandising, planning, or stock management
- Strong numerical and analytical capability, with intermediate Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups, formulas)
- Comfortable working with large data sets and turning insight into clear actions
- Commercially minded, with a strong understanding of how stock availability drives sales and customer experience
- Confident working cross-functionally and communicating with a wide range of stakeholders
- Highly organised, detail-focused, and able to manage multiple priorities at pace
- Proactive, solutions-oriented, and comfortable taking ownership rather than waiting for direction
- Motivated by fast-moving environments where your decisions have visible impact
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Reward & benefits
- A fair and competitive salary evaluated against market data, annual discretionary bonus scheme, pension, life assurance, 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and enhanced family leave.
- Commitment and dedication to your ongoing personal and professional development. We help you to own and grow your potential so you can be at your best in your current role and to support your future career aspirations.
- We offer hybrid working in our Support Centre, you will be based at our Support Centre 3 days a week with an optional 2 days working from home.
- You will have access to a wealth of employee discounts across the Halfords suite of products and services.
- Wellbeing and inclusion are at the heart of our colleague experience. We offer resources and ongoing support to enhance your wellbeing at work and active Colleague Networks supporting inclusion initiatives across Halfords.
Not sure you meet all the criteria? We'd encourage you to take the wheel and apply anyway! At Halfords we are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for our colleagues. We're an equal opportunities employer and proud to welcome applications from all backgrounds and embrace diversity within our one Halfords Family.
At Halfords, we operate a hybrid working policy with 3 days per week on-site at our Support Centre in Redditch Worcestershire.
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