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The differences between grocery associates and merchandise stockers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a grocery associate has an average salary of $35,040, which is higher than the $29,224 average annual salary of a merchandise stocker.
The top three skills for a grocery associate include frozen food, general merchandise and truck deliveries. The most important skills for a merchandise stocker are pallet jack, customer service, and stock shelves.
| Grocery Associate | Merchandise Stocker | |
| Yearly salary | $35,040 | $29,224 |
| Hourly rate | $16.85 | $14.05 |
| Growth rate | 1% | 1% |
| Number of jobs | 202,439 | 204,511 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 36% | High School Diploma, 47% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
Grocery Associates are responsible for assisting with maintaining operations and providing customer service of a grocery store. Their duties include greeting customers, providing product suggestions, conduct product stocking and rotation, assisting with vendor merchandising, and unloading products from trucks. They are also responsible for operating equipment in departments, reporting illegal activities to management, and bagging groceries. Grocery Associates ensure the displays and aisles are clean while assisting customers with product finding and giving directions.
A merchandise stocker is an employee who ensures that shelves and aisles are stocked with the merchandise in retail stores or warehouses. Merchandise stockers must receive the goods, unload or unpack them, mark them with codes to be identified, and stock them on shelves. They help customers to fill orders through mail, web, or phone while preparing the customers' merchandise for shipment. They must also operate a forklift so that they can lift or place merchandise at the assigned shelves.
Grocery associates and merchandise stockers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Grocery Associate | Merchandise Stocker | |
| Average salary | $35,040 | $29,224 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $46,000 | Between $24,000 And $35,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Tacoma, WA |
| Highest paying state | - | Washington |
| Best paying company | - | PepsiCo |
| Best paying industry | - | Retail |
There are a few differences between a grocery associate and a merchandise stocker in terms of educational background:
| Grocery Associate | Merchandise Stocker | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 36% | High School Diploma, 47% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between grocery associates' and merchandise stockers' demographics:
| Grocery Associate | Merchandise Stocker | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 79.4% Female, 20.6% | Male, 67.8% Female, 32.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 6.6% White, 60.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 23.8% Asian, 6.8% White, 53.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |