Post job

Assistant merchandise buyer vs wholesale buyer

The differences between assistant merchandise buyers and wholesale 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 wholesale buyer. Additionally, a wholesale buyer has an average salary of $55,762, 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 wholesale buyer are wholesale purchase, market trends, and retail sales.

Assistant merchandise buyer vs wholesale buyer overview

Assistant Merchandise BuyerWholesale Buyer
Yearly salary$52,001$55,762
Hourly rate$25.00$26.81
Growth rate--
Number of jobs19,74014,580
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4444
Years of experience44

Assistant merchandise buyer vs wholesale buyer salary

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

Assistant Merchandise BuyerWholesale Buyer
Average salary$52,001$55,762
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $66,000Between $39,000 And $78,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CANew York, NY
Highest paying stateAlaskaNew Jersey
Best paying companyGap Inc.Outdoor Specialty Products
Best paying industryRetailHospitality

Differences between assistant merchandise buyer and wholesale buyer education

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

Assistant Merchandise BuyerWholesale Buyer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorSpecialized Sales And MerchandisingBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Akron

Assistant merchandise buyer vs wholesale buyer demographics

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

Assistant Merchandise BuyerWholesale Buyer
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 22.1% Female, 77.9%Male, 73.5% Female, 26.5%
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, 7.8% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 5.7% White, 63.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between assistant merchandise buyer and wholesale 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.

Wholesale buyer example responsibilities.

  • Coordinate and provide direction to inventory teams by managing product placement, open-to-buy, and logistics.
  • Evaluate sales records and inventory levels to determine appropriate product requirements for a wide variety of automotive and industrial commodities.
  • Originate BOM structure for production operations.

Assistant merchandise buyer vs wholesale buyer skills

Common assistant merchandise buyer skills
  • Apparel, 9%
  • Kids, 6%
  • Purchase Orders, 6%
  • Math, 6%
  • Historical Data, 5%
  • Promotional Strategies, 4%
Common wholesale buyer skills
  • Wholesale Purchase, 64%
  • Market Trends, 20%
  • Retail Sales, 16%

Browse business and financial jobs