Assistant Merchandise Planner

Halfords Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom

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.

As an Assistant Merchandise Planner at Halfords, you’ll be part of a growing and dynamic merchandising team that supports over 500 garages and 250 mobile vans across the UK. This role is focused on ensuring the right stock is in the right place at the right time, working closely with suppliers, depots, and distribution teams to maintain high levels of availability for tyre stock.

It’s a highly data‑driven role, where spreadsheets, reporting, and analytics are at the core of your day‑to‑day work, helping to manage stock intake, flow, and replenishment across the network.

You will have proven experience of advanced Excel and data handling, with a strong ability to interpret, analyse, and maintain accurate reports to support stock management and decision‑making. The role requires meticulous attention to detail, a process‑driven approach, and experience of using reporting tools such as Power BI is advantageous. Strong analytical skills and a proactive mindset are essential, as is the ability to work collaboratively across teams, communicate effectively with suppliers, and support continuous improvement in both processes and systems.

This is an opportunity to join a supportive, close‑knit team in one of the fastest‑growing areas of the business. You’ll have scope for progression, exposure to experienced colleagues, and the chance to make a real impact on the operational performance of Halfords’ garage and mobile network. If you are curious, tenacious, and enjoy problem‑solving in a complex, data‑led environment, this is the role for you.

• Support the team with all aspects of stock management and replenishment, ensuring high availability of tyre stock across multiple depots, hubs, and garages.
• Maintain and interpret daily and weekly reports, including stock cover, availability, and forecast accuracy, to drive decision‑making and operational improvements.
• Manage inbound container and shipping reports, re‑scheduling depot container slots as required to maintain optimal flow of stock.
• Assist in creating replenishment orders and coordinating with suppliers and distribution partners to ensure timely delivery.
• Provide data and insights for supplier presentations and performance reviews.
• Support delivery of all merchandising KPIs, including DC and garage availability, stock turn, forecast accuracy, and DC capacity.
• Contribute to range changes and SKU management for garages.
• Participate in continuous improvement initiatives to enhance processes, reporting, and systems.
• Cover and support team members during holidays or on project work as required.
• Take ownership of self‑development and maintain a proactive approach to learning and skill‑building.

• Proven experience in stock management, replenishment, or analytical roles within a complex supply chain environment.
• Advanced Excel skills, including VLOOKUPs, IF statements, XLOOKUPs, and pivot tables; experience with Power BI advantageous.
• Strong numerical and data‑driven mindset with a meticulous approach to accuracy and reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse data,…