Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between merchandising assistants 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 merchandising assistant and a team leader. Additionally, a team leader has an average salary of $68,817, which is higher than the $34,679 average annual salary of a merchandising assistant.
The top three skills for a merchandising assistant include sales floor, customer service and customer issues. The most important skills for a team leader are customer service, ladders, and patients.
| Merchandising Assistant | Team Leader | |
| Yearly salary | $34,679 | $68,817 |
| Hourly rate | $16.67 | $33.09 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 22,645 | 197,336 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A merchandising assistant is responsible for contributing new goods and services for the business, identifying business opportunities based on the market demands to drive revenues and increase profitability. Merchandising assistants also monitor stock inventories, negotiating with suppliers and other third-party vendors for deliveries, and strategizing on how to minimize costs without compromising the quality. They also help with arranging product displays, developing marketing campaigns, and planning promotional offers to attract customers for purchase. A merchandising assistant must have excellent communication skills, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns, and directing them to the appropriate section for their needs.
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.
Merchandising assistants and team leaders have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Assistant | Team Leader | |
| Average salary | $34,679 | $68,817 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $46,000 | Between $37,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Softpath System | Ropes & Gray |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a merchandising assistant and a team leader in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Assistant | Team Leader | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi |
Here are the differences between merchandising assistants' and team leaders' demographics:
| Merchandising Assistant | Team Leader | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 23.2% Female, 76.8% | Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% 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% |