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The differences between merchandising directors and visual merchandising managers 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 visual merchandising manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a merchandising director has an average salary of $145,282, which is higher than the $97,250 average annual salary of a visual merchandising manager.
The top three skills for a merchandising director include apparel, gross margin and direct reports. The most important skills for a visual merchandising manager are customer service, POS, and store operations.
| Merchandising Director | Visual Merchandising Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $145,282 | $97,250 |
| Hourly rate | $69.85 | $46.75 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 81,434 | 23,486 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 39 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 6 |
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 visual merchandising manager is responsible for facilitating the arrangement of visual displays to attract customers to purchase the products. Visual merchandising managers monitor the sales performance of the store and develop effective merchandise strategies to boost revenues and increase profitability. They also assist in creating promotional events and discount offers, as well as designing the store's layout during special occasions. A visual merchandising manager must have excellent leadership and communication skills, especially on guiding the staff's performance and implementing techniques to maximize productivity.
Merchandising directors and visual merchandising managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Director | Visual Merchandising Manager | |
| Average salary | $145,282 | $97,250 |
| Salary range | Between $103,000 And $203,000 | Between $67,000 And $139,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Bridgeport, CT |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Coty | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Retail |
There are a few differences between a merchandising director and a visual merchandising manager in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Director | Visual Merchandising Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Specialized Sales And Merchandising |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between merchandising directors' and visual merchandising managers' demographics:
| Merchandising Director | Visual Merchandising Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1% | Male, 31.7% Female, 68.3% |
| 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, 8.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 9% |