Deutsch English Español Français Nederlands Português

home tests Role specific skills

Merchandise Planner

Merchandise Planner test

Type: Role specific skills

Time: 10 min

Languages: English

Level: Intermediate

Summary of the Merchandise Planner test

This Merchandise Planner test evaluates candidates’ quantitative skills and their ability to support the sales and margin goals of the business. This screening test will help you hire merchandise planners capable of developing effective merchandise plans.

Covered skills

Applying retail math concepts
Preparing seasonal plans
Identifying risks and opportunities

Use the Merchandise Planner test to hire

Merchandise planners, product assortment planners, retail planners, inventory managers, and any other roles requiring an intermediate knowledge of merchandise planning.

Preview questions

graphic image for role specific skills tests

About the Merchandise Planner test

In today’s highly competitive retail environment, it is paramount that businesses be able to optimally select, manage, display, and price products. A retailer’s goal should be to maximize returns on investment, add value to the brand name and satisfy customer needs – all while avoiding the creation of excess inventory. Hiring a highly qualified merchandise planner can help your retail business achieve these goals.

Candidates with merchandise planner skills can serve as business managers for specific product categories and provide decision-making support for their buying partners in your business. By building sound, well-thought-out seasonal plans, merchandise planners create a framework within which the buyer is able to focus on curating an optimal assortment for the customer.

Retail is a fast-paced and fluid business and requires the ability to constantly evaluate and adjust, based on results. Analytical acumen is important. This Merchandise Planner test will assess the candidate’s comfort level in applying retail math concepts to building weekly and monthly business plans that incorporate key retail metrics such as sales, markup, gross margin, and inventory turnover. It also evaluates candidates’ ability to prepare seasonal plans and identify risks and opportunities for your business.

Candidates who perform well on this Merchandise Planner test will have a strong grasp of retail mathematical concepts and how to leverage these concepts to present revised business scenarios under the theory “The plan is wrong as soon as it is submitted.” This screening test will help you hire merchandise planners who can help your retail business reduce stock holdings and react quickly to new trends.

photo of the subject matter expert for this test

The test is made by a subject-matter expert

Paul H.

Paul has over 30 years of experience in retail, with a career at companies like Federated Stores, Limited Brands and Burlington Stores. Paul’s areas of expertise include merchandise planning, retail strategy and planning systems. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Wharton School of Business, University Of Pennsylvania.

Paul is currently enjoying his best life in retirement in Porto, Portugal with his wife Robin, his children Alexander and Sophia and the family dog, Shadow.

Crafted with expert knowledge

TestGorilla’s tests are created by subject matter experts. We assess potential subject-matter experts based on their knowledge, ability, and reputation. Before being published, each test is peer-reviewed by another expert, then calibrated using hundreds of test takers with relevant experience in the subject. Our feedback mechanisms and unique algorithms allow our subject-matter experts to constantly improve their tests.

What our customers are saying

TestGorilla helps me to assess engineers rapidly. Creating assessments for different positions is easy due to pre-existing templates. You can create an assessment in less than 2 minutes. The interface is intuitive and it’s easy to visualize results per assessment.

Review from

David Felipe C.

VP of engineering, mid-market (51-1000 FTE)

Any tool can have functions—bells and whistles. Not every tool comes armed with staff passionate about making the user experience positive.

The TestGorilla team only offers useful insights to user challenges, they engage in conversation.

For instance, I recently asked a question about a Python test I intended to implement. Instead of receiving “oh, that test would work perfectly for your solution,” or, “at this time we’re thinking about implementing a solution that may or may not…” I received a direct and straightforward answer with additional thoughts to help shape the solution.

I hope that TestGorilla realizes the value proposition in their work is not only the platform but the type of support that’s provided.

For a bit of context—I am a diversity recruiter trying to create a platform that removes bias from the hiring process and encourages the discovery of new and unseen talent.

Review from

High quality assessments

David B.

Chief Talent Connector, small business (50 or fewer FTE)

Use TestGorilla to hire the best faster, easier and bias-free

Our screening tests identify the best candidates and make your hiring decisions faster, easier, and bias-free.

Learn how each candidate performs on the job using our library of 400+ scientifically validated tests.

Test candidates for job-specific skills like coding or digital marketing, as well as general skills like critical thinking. Our unique personality and culture tests allow you to get to know your applicants as real people – not just pieces of paper.

Watch what TestGorilla can do for you

Create high-quality assessments, fast

Building assessments is a breeze with TestGorilla. Get started with these simple steps.

Building assessments is quick and easy with TestGorilla. Just pick a name, select the tests you need, then add your own custom questions.

You can customize your assessments further by adding your company logo, color theme, and more. Build the assessment that works for you.

View a sample report

The Merchandise Planner test will be included in a PDF report along with the other tests from your assessment. You can easily download and share this report with colleagues and candidates.

Download sample report

FAQs

An assessment is the total package of tests and custom questions that you put together to evaluate your candidates. Each individual test within an assessment is designed to test something specific, such as a job skill or language. An assessment can consist of up to 5 tests and 20 custom questions. You can have candidates respond to your custom questions in several ways, such as with a personalized video.

A video question is a specific type of custom question you can add to your assessment. Video questions let you create a question and have your candidates use their webcam to record a video response. This is an excellent way to see how a candidate would conduct themselves in a live interview, and is especially useful for sales and hospitality roles. Some good examples of things to ask for video questions would be "Why do you want to work for our company?" or "Try to sell me an item you have on your desk right now."

Besides video questions, you can also add the following types of custom questions: multiple-choice, coding, file upload, and essay. Multiple-choice lets your candidates choose from a list of answers that you provide, coding lets you create a coding problem for them to solve, file upload allows your candidates to upload a file that you request (such as a resume or portfolio), and essay allows an open-ended text response to your question. You can learn more about different custom question types here.

An assessment is the total package of tests and custom questions that you put together to evaluate your candidates. Each individual test within an assessment is designed to test something specific, such as a job skill or language. An assessment can consist of up to 5 tests and 20 custom questions. You can have candidates respond to your custom questions in several ways, such as with a personalized video.

A video question is a specific type of custom question you can add to your assessment. Video questions let you create a question and have your candidates use their webcam to record a video response. This is an excellent way to see how a candidate would conduct themselves in a live interview, and is especially useful for sales and hospitality roles. Some good examples of things to ask for video questions would be "Why do you want to work for our company?" or "Try to sell me an item you have on your desk right now."

Besides video questions, you can also add the following types of custom questions: multiple-choice, coding, file upload, and essay. Multiple-choice lets your candidates choose from a list of answers that you provide, coding lets you create a coding problem for them to solve, file upload allows your candidates to upload a file that you request (such as a resume or portfolio), and essay allows an open-ended text response to your question. You can learn more about different custom question types here.

Related tests

New test

Salesforce for BDRs

This Salesforce for BDRs test evaluates a candidate’s ability to use Salesforce effectively as part of a Sales team. This screening test will help you hire BDRs who can leverage Salesforce to manage their workload and contribute to sales team goals.

10 min

New test

Six Sigma

This test evaluates a candidate’s problem-solving ability and applied knowledge of Six Sigma concepts, including Lean. This screening test will help you hire experts who can drive high-impact improvement initiatives and solve complex business challenges.

10 min

Accounts Payable

This test evaluates candidates’ skills in identifying, recording, and managing accounts payable. The test helps you identify accountants that have the required skills to deal with accounting matters related to accounts payable.

10 min

Data Science

This Data Science test assesses candidates’ skills in core data science topics such as statistics, machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning. The test is designed to help you identify entry and mid-level data scientists.

10 min

Brand Management

This Brand Management test assesses a candidate’s ability to manage brands, understand target audiences, conduct research, create marketing campaigns, and position brands in crowded markets, helping you hire managers who build long-term brand loyalty.

10 min

Software Engineer

This Software Engineer test evaluates candidates’ knowledge of the basic principles and topics of software engineering. The test helps you identify candidates who can approach problems using “software engineer thinking” to find the best solution possible.

10 min

Scrum Master

This Scrum Master test evaluates candidates’ knowledge of the Scrum Framework and their ability to apply it in real situations active as the Scrum Master. This test will help you identify candidates with practical experience in Scrum practices.

10 min

Salesforce CRM

The Salesforce Customer Relationship Management (CRM) test evaluates candidates’ familiarity with the basic concepts and standard functionality of Salesforce CRM. This test will help you hire candidates who have experience using Salesforce in their roles.

10 min

Artificial Intelligence

This Artificial Intelligence (AI) test evaluates candidates’ grasp of core AI concepts and their ability to solve situational AI tasks. This screening test will help you identify candidates capable of tackling a variety of business challenges using AI.

10 min

DevOps

The DevOps test assesses candidates’ knowledge of DevOps concepts and practices and whether they can apply that knowledge to improve infrastructure, achieve faster time to market, and lower failure rates of new releases.

10 min