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The differences between merchandising directors and product 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 product manager. Additionally, a merchandising director has an average salary of $145,282, which is higher than the $111,729 average annual salary of a product manager.
The top three skills for a merchandising director include apparel, gross margin and direct reports. The most important skills for a product manager are product management, QA, and product strategy.
| Merchandising Director | Product Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $145,282 | $111,729 |
| Hourly rate | $69.85 | $53.72 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 81,434 | 125,678 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| 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 product manager is responsible for ensuring product development, providing the best marketing strategies, and effectively handling the sales and marketing team. Product managers' duties include monitoring the market trends and conditions, identifying business opportunities and plan initiatives, and collaborating the product launch process with the appropriate departments. A product manager is also responsible for generating ideas on improving product features, determining timetables and reasonable pricing, and analyzing product sales. A product manager must have excellent strategic and decision-making skills to contribute to its growth and profitability.
Merchandising directors and product managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Director | Product Manager | |
| Average salary | $145,282 | $111,729 |
| Salary range | Between $103,000 And $203,000 | Between $81,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Coty | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Retail |
There are a few differences between a merchandising director and a product manager in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Director | Product Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between merchandising directors' and product managers' demographics:
| Merchandising Director | Product Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1% | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% |
| 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% |