Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between merchandising directors and business development managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both a merchandising director and a business development manager. Additionally, a merchandising director has an average salary of $145,282, which is higher than the $100,769 average annual salary of a business development manager.
The top three skills for a merchandising director include apparel, gross margin and direct reports. The most important skills for a business development manager are customer service, CRM, and healthcare.
| Merchandising Director | Business Development Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $145,282 | $100,769 |
| Hourly rate | $69.85 | $48.45 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 81,434 | 215,309 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A merchandising director is in charge of spearheading and streamlining merchandising strategies, including promotion and branding. Using their expertise and experience, they conceptualize plans with fellow directors and managers, perform extensive research and analysis, gather and analyze data, set goals and guidelines, establish budgets and schedules, and build positive relationships with external business partners. Moreover, as a merchandising director, they must lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
A business development manager's duties include identifying business opportunities, developing effective models and strategies to improve business performance, searching for potential clients to generate income and attract partnerships. A business development manager must have extensive knowledge of the market trends and adjust strategies as needed to meet the needs of the client. Excellent communication, decision-making, critical thinking, and leadership skills are just some of the key factors that business development managers should possess to communicate and negotiate with the clients.
Merchandising directors and business development managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Director | Business Development Manager | |
| Average salary | $145,282 | $100,769 |
| Salary range | Between $103,000 And $203,000 | Between $67,000 And $151,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Coty | Shearman & Sterling |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a merchandising director and a business development manager in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Director | Business Development Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between merchandising directors' and business development managers' demographics:
| Merchandising Director | Business Development Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1% | Male, 68.6% Female, 31.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |