The purpose of a merchandise analyst is to monitor inventory and follow and chart the profits and sales of a store or company. They also watch consumer patterns, such as seasonal purchasing, and present their findings to store managers, buyers, planners, and corporate executives. Additionally, they offer insight on ways to alter merchandise assortments in order to increase revenue and minimize loss.
The duties that merchandise analysts execute are monitoring store category sales, supervising physical inventory, identifying trends in sales, monitoring the timing and scope of seasonal changes, maintaining desired inventory levels and assortments, scheduling deliveries and overseeing shipping, and developing supply strategies to minimize stock outs while maximizing inventory turns. Educational requirements include a bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, or similar field. Although a high school diploma or equivalent is also acceptable, the caveat is the right combination of retail, buying, and allocation experience. A blend of merchandising and data analysis experience are desirable.
The average hourly salary for the position is $27.95, which amounts to $58,138 annually. In addition, the career is expected to grow 20% in the following years to come, resulting in new opportunities emerging all over the United States.
Merchandise Analyst Overview
Working as a Merchandise Analyst
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a merchandise analyst. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.95 an hour? That's $58,138 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 20% and produce 139,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Merchandise Analyst Do
There are certain skills that many merchandise analysts have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, analytical skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a merchandise analyst, we found that a lot of resumes listed 17.6% of merchandise analysts included product category, while 8.3% of resumes included powerpoint, and 5.1% of resumes included ensure accuracy. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the merchandise analyst job title. But what industry to start with? Most merchandise analysts actually find jobs in the retail and manufacturing industries.
How To Become a Merchandise Analyst
If you're interested in becoming a merchandise analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 69.8% of merchandise analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.9% of merchandise analysts have master's degrees. Even though most merchandise analysts have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a merchandise analyst. When we researched the most common majors for a merchandise analyst, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on merchandise analyst resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a merchandise analyst. In fact, many merchandise analyst jobs require experience in a role such as assistant buyer. Meanwhile, many merchandise analysts also have previous career experience in roles such as sales associate or store manager.
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Merchandise Analyst Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a merchandise analyst can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as assistant buyer, progress to a title such as buyer and then eventually end up with the title supply chain manager.
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Average Salary for a Merchandise Analyst
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Acushnet Holdings Corp Kjus | Associate Ecommerce Merchandising Analyst Kjus | Associate Ecommerce Merchandising Analyst | Acushnet Holdings Corp Acushnet Holdings Corp | 01/12/2021 01/12/2021 | $40,00001/12/2021 $40,000 |
Randstad Merchandise Analyst Merchandise Analyst | Randstad Randstad | 06/19/2019 06/19/2019 | $37,56606/19/2019 $37,566 |
ICER Brands Services LLC Merchandising Retail Analyst Merchandising Retail Analyst | ICER Brands Services LLC ICER Brands Services LLC | 03/18/2019 03/18/2019 | $47,34103/18/2019 $47,341 |
Zulily, LLC Merchandise Strategy Analyst Merchandise Strategy Analyst | Zulily, LLC Zulily, LLC | 03/07/2019 03/07/2019 | $85,00003/07/2019 $85,000 |
Nordstrom, Inc. Merchandise Analyst Merchandise Analyst | Nordstrom, Inc. Nordstrom, Inc. | 03/01/2019 03/01/2019 | $49,08803/01/2019 $49,088 |
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Top Colleges for Merchandise Analysts
1. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Public
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Public
4. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Public
5. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Public
6. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
7. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
8. University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE • Public
9. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
10. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Public
Top Skills For a Merchandise Analyst
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.6% of merchandise analysts listed product category on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and analytical skills are important as well.
- Product Category, 17.6%
- Powerpoint, 8.3%
- Ensure Accuracy, 5.1%
- SQL, 4.8%
- Business Partners, 4.6%
- Other Skills, 59.6% See All Merchandise Analyst Skills
Best States For a Merchandise Analyst
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a merchandise analyst. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, Delaware, Alaska, and Washington. Merchandise analysts make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $74,677. Whereas in Delaware and Alaska, they would average $74,049 and $71,765, respectively. While merchandise analysts would only make an average of $68,533 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Delaware
$74,050
Avg. Salary
2. Rhode Island
$67,291
Avg. Salary
3. New Jersey
$74,677
Avg. Salary
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