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The differences between assistant merchandise buyers and buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an assistant merchandise buyer, becoming a buyer takes usually requires More than 10 years. Additionally, a buyer has an average salary of $54,049, which is higher than the $52,001 average annual salary of an assistant merchandise buyer.
The top three skills for an assistant merchandise buyer include apparel, kids and purchase orders. The most important skills for a buyer are purchase orders, customer service, and logistics.
| Assistant Merchandise Buyer | Buyer | |
| Yearly salary | $52,001 | $54,049 |
| Hourly rate | $25.00 | $25.99 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 19,740 | 23,589 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
Assistant merchandise buyers are skilled employees who are responsible for assisting other buyers and managers in purchasing products and maintaining the inventory of their store. These buyers must maintain positive relationships with vendors so that they can negotiate product specifications and prices of merchandise. They must prepare budgets and purchase orders so that they can purchase items and ensure on-time delivery of goods. Assistant merchandise buyers must also perform forecasts on their purchasing trends while compiling reports on the performance and statistics of their existing products.
A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.
Assistant merchandise buyers and buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Assistant Merchandise Buyer | Buyer | |
| Average salary | $52,001 | $54,049 |
| Salary range | Between $40,000 And $66,000 | Between $37,000 And $76,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Englewood, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Gap Inc. | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Automotive |
There are a few differences between an assistant merchandise buyer and a buyer in terms of educational background:
| Assistant Merchandise Buyer | Buyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Specialized Sales And Merchandising | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | California State University - Bakersfield |
Here are the differences between assistant merchandise buyers' and buyers' demographics:
| Assistant Merchandise Buyer | Buyer | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 22.1% Female, 77.9% | Male, 43.9% Female, 56.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 5.9% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 15% |