Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between merchandise planners and assistant merchandise buyers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a merchandise planner and an assistant merchandise buyer. Additionally, a merchandise planner has an average salary of $69,460, which is higher than the $52,001 average annual salary of an assistant merchandise buyer.
The top three skills for a merchandise planner include gross margin, strong analytical and math. The most important skills for an assistant merchandise buyer are apparel, kids, and purchase orders.
| Merchandise Planner | Assistant Merchandise Buyer | |
| Yearly salary | $69,460 | $52,001 |
| Hourly rate | $33.39 | $25.00 |
| Growth rate | 19% | - |
| Number of jobs | 32,301 | 19,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 82% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A merchandise planner is responsible for monitoring the adequacy of stock inventories and requesting purchase orders by researching current market trends to meet customer demands. Merchandise planners assist with marketing campaigns and promotional offers of the business, selling goods and services to the customers based on their needs and budget requirements. They also write sales reports, inspect the validity of merchandise, and maintain an attractive visual display of items. A merchandise planner resolves and escalates customer complaints timely, processes replacements, and issues refunds as needed.
Assistant merchandise buyers are skilled employees who are responsible for assisting other buyers and managers in purchasing products and maintaining the inventory of their store. These buyers must maintain positive relationships with vendors so that they can negotiate product specifications and prices of merchandise. They must prepare budgets and purchase orders so that they can purchase items and ensure on-time delivery of goods. Assistant merchandise buyers must also perform forecasts on their purchasing trends while compiling reports on the performance and statistics of their existing products.
Merchandise planners and assistant merchandise buyers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandise Planner | Assistant Merchandise Buyer | |
| Average salary | $69,460 | $52,001 |
| Salary range | Between $46,000 And $102,000 | Between $40,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Pandora | Gap Inc. |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Retail |
There are a few differences between a merchandise planner and an assistant merchandise buyer in terms of educational background:
| Merchandise Planner | Assistant Merchandise Buyer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 82% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Specialized Sales And Merchandising |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between merchandise planners' and assistant merchandise buyers' demographics:
| Merchandise Planner | Assistant Merchandise Buyer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.1% Female, 62.9% | Male, 22.1% Female, 77.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 6.1% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 5.9% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |