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The differences between demand planning managers and merchandising managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a demand planning manager and a merchandising manager. Additionally, a demand planning manager has an average salary of $104,519, which is higher than the $86,346 average annual salary of a merchandising manager.
The top three skills for a demand planning manager include supply chain, forecast accuracy and kpis. The most important skills for a merchandising manager are sales floor, POS, and apparel.
| Demand Planning Manager | Merchandising Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $104,519 | $86,346 |
| Hourly rate | $50.25 | $41.51 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 69,019 | 268,577 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A demand planning manager is an individual who supervises a team of demand planners in all the demand planning activities of an organization. Demand planning managers must develop effective forecast models based on industry trends and demand patterns and implement solutions to improve demand forecast accuracy. To have a successful demand planning operation, managers must work closely with the management, inventory, supply chain, and sales teams. They also assist in employee recruitment as well as organize training for team members.
A merchandising manager is responsible for supervising stock inventories, retail pricing, and managing product displays by analyzing customer preferences through researching the current market trends that would improve the store's sales condition and achieve profitability goals. Merchandising managers negotiate with reliable third-party vendors, minimizing costs without compromising the quality of the products. They also assist with planning floor layouts for store visuals that would attract customers and marketing promotional offers and special discounts to increase more revenues.
Demand planning managers and merchandising managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Demand Planning Manager | Merchandising Manager | |
| Average salary | $104,519 | $86,346 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $144,000 | Between $64,000 And $116,000 |
| Highest paying City | Petaluma, CA | Woonsocket, RI |
| Highest paying state | California | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Meta | Roku |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a demand planning manager and a merchandising manager in terms of educational background:
| Demand Planning Manager | Merchandising Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between demand planning managers' and merchandising managers' demographics:
| Demand Planning Manager | Merchandising Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6% | Male, 47.7% Female, 52.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |