Head of merchandise buying vs purchaser

The differences between heads of merchandise buying and purchasers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a head of merchandise buying and a purchaser. Additionally, a head of merchandise buying has an average salary of $133,768, which is higher than the $50,031 average annual salary of a purchaser.

The top three skills for a head of merchandise buying include customer service, gross margin and product development. The most important skills for a purchaser are purchase orders, FDA, and POS.

Head of merchandise buying vs purchaser overview

	Head Of Merchandise Buying	Purchaser
Yearly salary	$133,768	$50,031
Hourly rate	$64.31	$24.05
Growth rate	5%	-
Number of jobs	15,827	6,852
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	6	6

Head of merchandise buying vs purchaser salary

Heads of merchandise buying and purchasers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Head Of Merchandise Buying	Purchaser
Average salary	$133,768	$50,031
Salary range	Between $76,000 And $233,000	Between $36,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	-	Atlantic City, NJ
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Barnes Group
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between head of merchandise buying and purchaser education

There are a few differences between a head of merchandise buying and a purchaser in terms of educational background:

	Head Of Merchandise Buying	Purchaser
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Head of merchandise buying vs purchaser demographics

Here are the differences between heads of merchandise buying' and purchasers' demographics:

	Head Of Merchandise Buying	Purchaser
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%	Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 7.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 8.8% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between head of merchandise buying and purchaser duties and responsibilities

Head of merchandise buying example responsibilities.

Manage custom POs and works closely with planning to maintain a proper safety stock of refurbish inventory.
Launch and manage the Americas outsourcing lead generation and qualification process.
Create all financial and OTB plans including sales, inventory, margin and turn goals.
Solidify boutique as a local go-to shopping destination for customers seeking unique clothing and accessories.
Facilitate all RTV's and RA's and maintain all data entry for purchase orders.
Create facebook posts and design customer email newsletters.

Purchaser example responsibilities.

Purchase components for production; run daily production schedule; manage inventory of items; source alternative items for production
Work extensively with customers to identify business and project requirements through RFI's, RFP's, and RFQ's.
Handle RFQ (request for quotation) and the RFB (request for bid).
Insure day to day operations run smoothly.
Operate ERP system in factory and keep the data update.
Order parts & MRO items as needed for production workers.

Head of merchandise buying vs purchaser skills

Common head of merchandise buying skills

Customer Service, 25%
Gross Margin, 19%
Product Development, 11%
Store Management, 5%
Inventory Management, 5%
Inventory Control, 4%

Common purchaser skills

Purchase Orders, 38%
FDA, 7%
POS, 6%
Commodities, 5%
Logistics, 4%
Expedite, 3%