Merchandising director vs merchandising supervisor

The differences between merchandising directors and merchandising supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a merchandising director, becoming a merchandising supervisor takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a merchandising director has an average salary of $145,282, which is higher than the $34,175 average annual salary of a merchandising supervisor.

The top three skills for a merchandising director include apparel, gross margin and direct reports. The most important skills for a merchandising supervisor are customer service, HR, and drive sales.

Merchandising director vs merchandising supervisor overview

	Merchandising Director	Merchandising Supervisor
Yearly salary	$145,282	$34,175
Hourly rate	$69.85	$16.43
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	81,434	179,796
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	39	43
Years of experience	10	6

What does a merchandising director do?

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.

What does a merchandising supervisor do?

Merchandising supervisors are professionals who create a pleasing shopping environment to entice customers to purchase additional products and gain maximum profit. These supervisors are required to identify trends and make sales predictions based on product popularity, past sales data, and information gained by attending product shows. They are required to make attractive point-of-sales displays so that the customers can easily locate the merchandise. Merchandising supervisors must also handle inventory levels by keeping track and submitting order requests to the purchasing department.

Merchandising director vs merchandising supervisor salary

Merchandising directors and merchandising supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Merchandising Director	Merchandising Supervisor
Average salary	$145,282	$34,175
Salary range	Between $103,000 And $203,000	Between $27,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	-
Highest paying state	Nevada	-
Best paying company	Coty	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between merchandising director and merchandising supervisor education

There are a few differences between a merchandising director and a merchandising supervisor in terms of educational background:

	Merchandising Director	Merchandising Supervisor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Georgia	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Merchandising director vs merchandising supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between merchandising directors' and merchandising supervisors' demographics:

	Merchandising Director	Merchandising Supervisor
Average age	39	43
Gender ratio	Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1%	Male, 43.7% Female, 56.3%
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, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 6.7% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	9%

Differences between merchandising director and merchandising supervisor duties and responsibilities

Merchandising director example responsibilities.

Manage and train associates on shop operations including customer service standards, checking in merchandise, operating QuickBooks POS.
Lead website development committee, including RFP development, ROI analysis, marketing, brand-enhancement strategies, and back-end integration solutions.
Input all merchandise information in to AS400.
Identify, negotiate, purchase and implement new POS software systems.
Develop comprehensive marketing plan including print and digital, utilizing negotiate funding to support events and driving additional revenue and margin.
Set annual and semi-annual ROI, sales, margin, and turn goals for all divisions in the company.

Merchandising supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage a group of supervisors and hold weekly SWAS meetings.
Assist store leadership in effectively leading, managing and developing store and/or department operations and associates to maximize sales and profitability.
Co-Manage the firearms and hunting departments with hardlines management team.
Handle SWAS meetings for all merchandise specializing in top merchandise.
Supervise merchandising and associate relations for the hardlines area of the store.
Lead IMS team ensuring trucks are unloaded and perpetual inventory are accurate.

Merchandising director vs merchandising supervisor skills

Common merchandising director skills

Apparel, 9%
Gross Margin, 8%
Direct Reports, 5%
Product Development, 5%
Product Categories, 4%
Merchandise Sales, 4%

Common merchandising supervisor skills

Customer Service, 24%
HR, 20%
Drive Sales, 18%
Store Operations, 15%
Sales Floor, 5%
Store Management, 2%

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Merchandising Director
Merchandising Director vs Merchandising Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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