How I went from influencing one apparel category to an entire industry
My transition from retail merchandising to analysing trends in data at a B2B retail tech company.
The career path for a retail merchandiser is pretty clear — once you’ve got your foot on that ladder, every rung maps out and you have a good sense of what you’ll need to progress.
What’s not on that path, normally, is a move to a B2B retail technology company! But two years ago that’s the shift I found myself weighing up.
I’d heard of EDITED through my work in merchandising on the footwear team at a large department store. I thought it was cool that they were helping retailers work better and be more competitive by putting data at the heart of decision making.
So when I discovered a job opening on the analyst team, I wanted in! But persuading my sister the switch would be a good one — she’d become rather attached to my department store staff discount — was a slightly harder sell.
As I saw it, the fashion and retail analyst position took existing aspects of my career — data analysis and an understanding of the retail calendar — and fused it with things I love, like fashion writing and research.
Thankfully EDITED agreed, I’ve not looked back. And my sister has realised she didn’t need new shoes monthly anyhow.
I now get to experience retail from a really exciting perspective. In the analyst team, we’re on the front line of industry insights.
We use EDITED’s vast data-set to research and dig deep into trends. It’s our tool for producing informative and commercial reports on both runway and retail. These are used by buyers, merchandisers and other apparel retail professionals all around the world, to help inform buying and strategic decisions.
Autonomy isn’t overrated
From the outset I completely dug the level of ownership I was given for creating and deciding on the content for my own reports. My specialisms are broad — I cover footwear, accessories, nightwear, underwear and swim across all genders. But when I started out I was on childrenswear — that’s the great thing about the team, there’s flexibility within our interests.
Working like many online publications do, we pitch relevant report ideas in our weekly editorial meetings. That’s one meeting I really enjoy, because it means I’m always on the lookout for ideas, whether it’s while watching Love Island (I confess) or reading the news — it feels investigative.
From sneakerheads to dress silhouettes
As a team, despite being deadline-driven and self-motivated, we’re highly collaborative. We tag team on certain articles, are very connected to the global offices with active Slack channels and are very encouraging of one another. We all need to have the guts to suggest new ideas because that’s the only way we can truly help retailers be innovative.
That also means I work across a broad variety of topics. Last week I was writing a trend overview on the sneaker market and spotting profitable opportunities, next week I’ll start sifting through menswear runway images to identify next season’s commercial trends, before analyzing retailers’ promotional strategies for Black Friday.
I’m no longer range building for next season, deciding which lines to markdown or chasing suppliers for delivery. However, there are many ways that’s carried into this job, from identifying which dress silhouettes performed the best and worst last season (steer clear of asymmetric hems is my word!) to analyzing when to launch an online campaign.
The common thread is an analytical mindset and the desire to gain commercial insights from data.
In good company
What I hadn’t anticipated was the opportunity I’d get to collaborate with people from teams company-wide. I’ve attended data workshops with the Product and Engineering teams and sat in on customer discovery calls with the Customer Success team.
That openness is something that gets prioritized in the company culture, which is different to anywhere I’d worked before. From the top down, huge emphasis is placed on relationship building.
We celebrate successes with team days out — the last two analyst team days out involved throwing pottery, wine tasting and wreath making. Now I think of it, most of the analyst socials involve wine tasting…
Team lunches, meditation classes, wellbeing workshops and our famous annual company retreats are just a few of the other social activities in place. Working at a company where everyone is so passionate about creating a world-class product, and where all views are treated equally, is really motivating.
As retailers continue to face shifts in consumer and increasing globalization and digitalization, using data is more essential than ever. It has the power to ensure retailers remain relevant and a step ahead of competitors.
Knowing that my content helps our customers do that this is really cool. It’s pretty thrilling being a part of the innovation EDITED brings to the industry.
If you’re a number-crunching fashion pro, with a good eye for trends and experience in retail, we want to hear from you! We’re growing our analyst team in the New York office and have womenswear and menswear roles open. Check them out here.
