Build practical skills for a creative career in merchandising
Welcome to the Retail Merchandising Simulation!
We’re thrilled to have you join us for an interactive, hands-on journey into the fast-paced world of apparel merchandising. Whether you’re curious about how products go from concept to customer or you’re eager to sharpen your analytical and creative skills, this program is your entry point.
Across four engaging tasks, you’ll step into the role of a merchandising analyst, work with real-world-inspired data, and make strategic decisions that influence product performance and business outcomes. You’ll explore sales analysis, create professional merchandising tools, and evaluate competitor strategies — all while thinking like a merchandiser and acting like a strategist.
Get ready to analyze, create, and make informed decisions as you experience the exciting challenges of driving success in the retail apparel industry.
This program is self-paced. It takes approximately 3-4 hours to complete.
Skills Learned:
- Create an on-order log
Using purchase order data, create an on-order log by location- Data Analysis
- Critical Thinking
- Excel
- Excel Pivot Tables
- Line sheet
Using the on-order log, create a visual representation of the data at the SKU level- Merchandise Planning
- Inventory Management
- Merchandising
- Full-price sell-through
Practice applying a sell-through at the style level to forecast full price sales and vice versa- Mathematics
- Excel
- Financial Planning
- Competitor analysis
Analyze competitor products and strategies and deliver a readout of your findings- Critical Thinking
- Market Research
- Communication
- Finish Line
