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The differences between merchandise leads and team leaders can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a merchandise lead and a team leader. Additionally, a team leader has an average salary of $68,817, which is higher than the $35,572 average annual salary of a merchandise lead.
The top three skills for a merchandise lead include sales floor, customer service and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a team leader are customer service, ladders, and patients.
| Merchandise Lead | Team Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $35,572 | $68,817 |
| Hourly rate | $17.10 | $33.09 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 72,605 | 197,336 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A merchandise lead is responsible for strategizing merchandise methods to reach sales performance targets. Merchandise leads assist the consumers in choosing the best products according to their needs and budget limitations. They evaluate the current market trends to generate more revenue resources and increase the company's profitability by negotiating with trusted suppliers and vendors. A merchandise lead must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in helping with marketing and promotional campaigns to attract consumers' interests and meet public demands.
Team leaders are responsible for managing a team for a specific project or work component. They primarily guide the team members and ensure that they are still working towards the set goals. Team leaders create strategies to reach goals, cascade the goals and strategies to team members, assign tasks, conduct periodic check-ups on the roadmap towards the goals, foster an engaging work environment, motivate and coach team members, monitor team performance, evaluate the strategies and come up with mitigating plans as needed. They are also responsible for reporting the team's progress to higher management.
Merchandise leads and team leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandise Lead | Team Leader | |
| Average salary | $35,572 | $68,817 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $45,000 | Between $37,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | Green Bay, WI | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Alaska |
| Best paying company | PepsiCo | Ropes & Gray |
| Best paying industry | Retail | - |
There are a few differences between a merchandise lead and a team leader in terms of educational background:
| Merchandise Lead | Team Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi |
Here are the differences between merchandise leads' and team leaders' demographics:
| Merchandise Lead | Team Leader | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5% | Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |