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Assistant merchandise buyer vs senior merchandise buyer

The differences between assistant merchandise buyers and senior merchandise buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an assistant merchandise buyer and a senior merchandise buyer. Additionally, a senior merchandise buyer has an average salary of $55,140, 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 senior merchandise buyer are market trends, trade shows, and product development.

Assistant merchandise buyer vs senior merchandise buyer overview

Assistant Merchandise BuyerSenior Merchandise Buyer
Yearly salary$52,001$55,140
Hourly rate$25.00$26.51
Growth rate--
Number of jobs19,74015,693
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

Assistant merchandise buyer vs senior merchandise buyer salary

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

Assistant Merchandise BuyerSenior Merchandise Buyer
Average salary$52,001$55,140
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $66,000Between $39,000 And $76,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CA-
Highest paying stateAlaska-
Best paying companyGap Inc.-
Best paying industryRetail-

Differences between assistant merchandise buyer and senior merchandise buyer education

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

Assistant Merchandise BuyerSenior Merchandise Buyer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common majorSpecialized Sales And MerchandisingBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Akron

Assistant merchandise buyer vs senior merchandise buyer demographics

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

Assistant Merchandise BuyerSenior Merchandise Buyer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 22.1% Female, 77.9%Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6%
Race ratioBlack 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, 8.9% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 6.2% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between assistant merchandise buyer and senior merchandise buyer duties and responsibilities

Assistant merchandise 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.
  • Partner with site merchandiser to execute sales and POS events.
  • Work closely with the logistics department and internal warehouse to coordinate just in time deliveries and maintain daily inventory reconciliation.
  • Verify store numbers, vendor files, UPCS, descriptions and size information against AS400 information.

Senior merchandise buyer example responsibilities.

  • Coordinate and provide direction to inventory teams by managing product placement, open-to-buy, and logistics.
  • Work closely with the logistics department and internal warehouse to coordinate just in time deliveries and maintain daily inventory reconciliation.
  • Manage business relationship with Japanese OEM of wide-format printer engines.

Assistant merchandise buyer vs senior merchandise buyer skills

Common assistant merchandise buyer skills
  • Apparel, 9%
  • Kids, 6%
  • Purchase Orders, 6%
  • Math, 6%
  • Historical Data, 5%
  • Promotional Strategies, 4%
Common senior merchandise buyer skills
  • Market Trends, 24%
  • Trade Shows, 23%
  • Product Development, 12%
  • Drive Sales, 8%
  • Direct Reports, 7%
  • Gross Profit, 7%

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