A Career in an Ever-Changing Industry: An Alumni Feature on Tatum Snelling
With the ever-changing trends and constant swing of the pendulum, fashion is one of the most fast-paced and high data industries. Tatum Snelling, an Auburn University 2022 graduate, is forging her path by using consumer behavior data with merchandising techniques to help GAP Inc. create their best collections yet amidst the changing trends.
Tatum discovered her passion for both products and people when working at a boutique in high school. This realization led her to pursue a degree in Apparel Merchandising at Auburn University. At Auburn, Tatum interned year-round with the RFID lab where she worked as a customer experience analyst. In this role, Tatum worked with partners of the RFID lab to improve customer experience in their storefront based on data from RFID smart mirrors that are in store. Tatum explained that this allowed her to develop knowledge in consumer behavior and gave her product experience. Her internship with the RFID lab combined with her Auburn education prepared Tatum for understanding consumer data and what factors can enhance the customer experience. The work and research done during her time with the RFID lab set Tatum Snelling apart from other candidates when applying for jobs and internships.
In the summer of 2021, Tatum experienced the corporate workforce for the first time as an intern at Victoria’s Secret. Here, Tatum worked as a panty buyer and learned merchandising skills and daily operations. Victoria’s Secret also taught her the soft skills necessary for succeeding in the corporate world. When reflecting on this internship, Tatum explains that getting an internship in a corporate position before her first job granted her valuable exposure to the corporate workforce which helped set her up for her first job.
After graduation, Tatum accepted an offer into the Rotational Management Program at GAP Inc. This competitive and leadership-driven program teaches end-to-end process in areas of inventory management, merchandising, or design. Trainees in the program are given hands-on opportunities to analyze competitors, plan product strategies, and have training and project opportunities. Once the program ended, Tatum was named Assistant Merchant at GAP specializing in tops, skirts, and dresses where she has been for a year now. In our interview, Tatum went into detail on the category trends and how fast-paced the industry is. She explained that in her role, she analyzes the business by looking at reporting and financial documents to determine what types of products worked best for the company and what didn’t. Tatum stated, that this industry “is very exciting, but also very fast-paced, so you must keep up with the market and the customer. When we analyze business, it is very action-oriented on what we are going to keep doing based on what is working to continue to fuel that trend for the seasons to come.” This information helps build the business strategy as well.
In her current role as Assistant Merchant, she is combining data from seasons past with predicted trends to inform the designers on what pieces are needed for the Summer 2025 assortment. The whole goal of this carefully picked assortment is to comp the business and drive more sales from this year. Additionally, Tatum is working to wrap up Spring 2025 adoption and doing a lot of customer testing at GAP. Through customer testing, customers rate and rank pictures of a current assortment of products from GAP, and Tatum shares results with the team. Tatum explains that “every day is a new opportunity to get as close to customers as possible.” This customer analysis also allows her to reflect on her time at the RFID lab and the knowledge she learned about consumer behavior while there.
From working in a small boutique to getting her Apparel Merchandising degree at Auburn University, each decision Tatum made helped shape her career into what it is today. Throughout this journey, she fostered her passion for working with products and enhancing customer’s experiences. Her time at the RFID lab allowed her to see the importance of the customer’s journey which is knowledge she keeps on hand today as she works with customer testing. At Victoria’s Secret, she was able to get a taste of working at a corporate level and develop the skills needed for this field. The GAP Rotational Management Program showed her the need to lead with curiosity and to keep up with trends. All of these experiences prepared her for the role of an Assistant Merchant at GAP Inc. and prepared her for success in an ever-changing industry.
