Nexcom Merchandising and Marketing Internship
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Capstone Project
The Ask
Over the summer of 2025, I had the privilege of interning with the merchandising and marketing department at NEXCOM, the Navy Exchange Service Command in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I completed a variety of marketing and merchandising related projects over the course of the summer, which culminated in a final Capstone project and presentation to showcase my completed work, research and outcomes.
A Little Bit About Nexcom
“NEXCOM’s mission is to provide authorized customers with quality goods and services at a savings and to support Navy quality of life programs for active duty military, retirees, reservists, veterans, DoD civilians and families. NEXCOM oversees six primary business lines: Navy Exchange (NEX) retail stores and services; NEXCOM Hospitality Group; Ships Store Program; Uniform Program Management Office; Navy Clothing Textile and Research Facility; and Telecommunications Program Office.”
— mynavyexchange.com
Skills Used
Presenting
Microsoft Office
Market Research
Cross-functional Collaboration
Data Analysis
Competitive Shopping
Project 1: NEX Run Club
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During my time at Nexcom, I worked alongside the events planning team. They host a variety of virtual and in person runs for their patrons to celebrate milestones throughout the year. I came up with the idea to rebrand these ongoing running events that they execute into a Run Club format with the intention of increasing community engagement.
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Completed Market Research to back up my idea.
Created marketing mockups for email, social media, and print initiatives.
Formatted a final pitch of the NEX Run Club.
Project 2: Styling Sheets
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Create styling sheets for Nexcom’s private label apparel brand photoshoots.
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Two style guides featuring 10 or more fully styled looks with referenced accessory suggestions.
Used throughout the duration of the photoshoot production by merchandisers, stylists, models, photographers, and camera crew.
Project 3: Women’s Apparel Collections Analysis
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Complete an analysis of trends within women’s collection apparel brands, both externally and internally, with a goal of identifying areas for improvement within Nexcom’s brand assortment.
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Researched trends in the women’s wear market on WGSN.
Analyzed competitors like Dillard's, Macy's, and Nordstrom Rack to observe their strongest brands.
Analyzed internal sales data for collection brands by each Navy Exchange location.
Identified top performing brands, underperforming brands, and inventory imbalances.
Project 4: Athletic Apparel Assortment Analysis
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Complete an athletic apparel assortment analysis for Nike, Under Armour, and Adidas carried at the Navy Exchange with a goal of identifying opportunities for growth and industry alignment.
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Completed an in-depth review of men’s and women’s assortment for each brand, both externally and internally.
Identified top selling items in the market within each brand to identify white space.
Made observations regarding assortment and merchandising through competitive shopping in order to compare what I saw at the Navy Exchange.
Analyzed sales data by brand and item to make suggestions towards opportunities in assortment.
Reviewed customer engagement by brand on Nexcom’s Facebook, and Instagram platforms.
The Process
Let’s take a closer look at each project…
Project 5: Intern Spotlight Campaign
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Coordinate a series of Intern spotlight posts for Nexcom’s LinkedIn, and Instagram pages. This campaign aimed to highlight the interests of the intern cohort, and promote awareness surrounding the opportunity to current students who may be interested, or unaware of the program.
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Drove a total of around 1.1K engagements, and 34.7K views across both platforms.
Allowed interns their time to shine, and connect publicly with the organization.
The Final Presentation
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Upon completing these projects, I created a polished capstone presentation to highlight them.
I Gained stronger communication and collaboration skills through iteration, running practice sessions with mentors and peers, and gathering feedback to present with more confidence.
On the day of the final presentation, our audience consisted of the organization’s C-suite executives, mentors, as well as teams we worked with along the way.
My Takeaways
Throughout this program I was exposed to the retail space by engaging with various teams within Nexcom’s merchandising and marketing departments. I was pushed to observe the relationship between these internal teams, ultimately defining my first impression of a true cross-functional professional environment.
Ultimately, my greatest takeaway was the professional presentation skills I gained from the process of this project. With the number of times, and number of people I presented to throughout the program, I not only repeatedly practiced these skills, but received loads of valuable feedback along the way. As a result, I feel confident in my ability to properly prepare and execute successful professional presentations.
Disclaimer: Some of the data has been blocked out of the slide deck above for privacy reasons.