Eric Nelson Email & Phone Number

• Strategized, executed, and managed all eCommerce initiatives on B2C Magento eCommerce platform with website annual sales exceeding $1 million dollars.
• Maintained e-mail marketing database and creates comprehensive e-mail marketing and digital campaigns to increase online presence in emerging media outlets.
• Regularly monitored the competitive landscape by examining strategies of best-in-class brick and mortar and online retailers to understand emerging trends and recommended changes based on customer and competitor.
• Utilized traditional and digital marketing efforts to create relevant, value-added and engaging customer shopping experiences and to ensure maximum customer acquisition, engagement, retention, loyalty, and revenue.
• Leveraged insight into sports retail to monitor and manage inventory performance and developed financial strategies to achieve sales plans for pre-season, in-season, and hot-market opportunities.
• Collaborated and worked closely with third-party agencies to increase eCommerce traffic and sales, improve conversion and profitability, and optimize online advertising and marketing efficiencies.

Tallahassee, FL, US

• Managed top-down product demand forecast based on open-to-buy and financial targets to maximize sales and attain desired inventory targets. Provided product forecasts and proactively identified risks or opportunities.
• Tracked, analyzed, and reported 12-month moving average figures to gauge the direction of the current product line trend with the removal of seasonal fluctuations.
• Attended weekly planning and budget meetings to discuss companywide financial targets including product gross profit margins, estimated EOY inventory valuation, and inventory overages or shortages.
• Identified and analyzed product mix potential by utilizing GMROII analysis to identify top SKU effectiveness by collection and profitability by product.
• Planned and procured in-season purchases and tracked orders with on-time delivery. Responsible for price negotiation, purchase order creation and issuance, maintenance, and receipt of finished goods.
• Managed purchases of more than $1.9M annually – Maintained average initial product gross profit margin of 74.6% with an average blended gross margin of 45.6%.

US

• Developed, planned, and executed seasonal product assortments and financial plans with annual departmental sales exceeding $19.8M. Initiated sales plans using corporate goals and strategies to maximize sales and profits.
• Sourced and assembled corporate-wide product mix; negotiated prices and established production and delivery guidelines with 50+ vendors.
• Communicated with vendors on an ongoing basis regarding product availability, pricing, minimums, terms, graphic options, shipping schedules, and other related concerns.
• Prepared merchandising tools such as style/SKU reports, product flow, and assortment pages, and merchandising grids.
• Communicated vendor and product information to the planning management team including product assortment plans, lead times, and product style sheets.
• Partnered with planners to review decisions impacting the product category including sales and margin forecasting, seasonal markdown direction, and pricing and promotional activity.

US

• Executed general merchandise purchasing for 10 stores in the South region totaling over $5.7M annually in retail sales.
• Generated sales plans and market growth strategies for the region.
• Managed Open-to-Buy process by store location to support inventory goals including sales, gross margin, and inventory turnover.
• Selected product assortments with style and graphic options for diverse markets.
• Maintained proper size, color, and style balance to meet demands for each location.
• Performed weekly analysis of sales and inventory availability and initiated fulfillment orders.

US

• Developed product assortments for collegiate retail store with an annual sales volume of more than $2.75M.
• Maintained 44% gross margin while companywide standard set at 42%.
• Consistently met and exceeded corporate annual growth factor of 5%, 2004-2008.
• Attended trade fairs to select and assemble product mix.
• Collaborated with licensed manufacturers on exclusive product development.
• Worked with campus licensing director reviewing product standards, resolving vendor issues, and examining market trends.