Assistant buyer vs merchandise buyer

The differences between assistant buyers and merchandise buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes More than 10 years to become both an assistant buyer and a merchandise buyer. Additionally, an assistant buyer has an average salary of $49,586, which is higher than the $49,264 average annual salary of a merchandise buyer.

The top three skills for an assistant buyer include purchase orders, vendor relations and customer service. The most important skills for a merchandise buyer are vendor relations, purchase orders, and customer service.

Assistant buyer vs merchandise buyer overview

	Assistant Buyer	Merchandise Buyer
Yearly salary	$49,586	$49,264
Hourly rate	$23.84	$23.68
Growth rate	-	19%
Number of jobs	15,090	22,291
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	-

Assistant buyer vs merchandise buyer salary

Assistant buyers and merchandise buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Assistant Buyer	Merchandise Buyer
Average salary	$49,586	$49,264
Salary range	Between $36,000 And $67,000	Between $37,000 And $64,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Fairview, NJ
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	Fashion Nova	Bob's Discount Furniture
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between assistant buyer and merchandise buyer education

There are a few differences between an assistant buyer and a merchandise buyer in terms of educational background:

	Assistant Buyer	Merchandise Buyer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities	University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Assistant buyer vs merchandise buyer demographics

Here are the differences between assistant buyers' and merchandise buyers' demographics:

	Assistant Buyer	Merchandise Buyer
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 23.5% Female, 76.5%	Male, 37.2% Female, 62.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 6.6% White, 75.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	15%	15%

Differences between assistant buyer and merchandise buyer duties and responsibilities

Assistant buyer example responsibilities.

Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.
Inspect, grade and appraise agricultural commodities, durable goods, and merchandise for sale.
Train employees on POS system to keep accurate sales, inventory levels, and employee hours.
Collaborate with DMM and GMM to complete accurate financial strategy to be sign off by CEO.
Partner with advertising to execute POS and brand driven events through mailers, email blasts and marketing.
Analyze product trends and historical data at classification level; review IMU, AUR and penetration variances.

Merchandise buyer example responsibilities.

Prepare the merchandise assortment plan for the company, manage the OTB and purchase the merchandise.
Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.
Perform allocations pulls in JDA program on inbound shipments and back-stock merchandise from distribution centers.
Assist in implementing the POS system and develop pricing policies.
Enter data into the appropriate POS systems and create new identifications for new product purchases.
Create open to buy, allocation buying, pricing, and direct the visual presentation of all apparel.

Assistant buyer vs merchandise buyer skills

Common assistant buyer skills

Purchase Orders, 16%
Vendor Relations, 10%
Customer Service, 8%
Math, 7%
Apparel, 4%
Open-To-Buy, 4%

Common merchandise buyer skills

Vendor Relations, 14%
Purchase Orders, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Apparel, 6%
Trade Shows, 5%
Product Categories, 4%