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The differences between merchandising interns and merchandising specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a merchandising internship has an average salary of $34,770, which is higher than the $32,920 average annual salary of a merchandising specialist.
The top three skills for a merchandising internship include powerpoint, POS and sales floor. The most important skills for a merchandising specialist are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.
| Merchandising Internship | Merchandising Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $34,770 | $32,920 |
| Hourly rate | $16.72 | $15.83 |
| Growth rate | - | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 58,634 | 49,769 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
In a merchandising internship, an intern's duties will depend on the directives of a supervising staff or manager. Their tasks may involve preparing and processing documents, organizing and disseminating files within the company, answering calls and correspondence, running errands, and participating in creating marketing strategies. They may also assist in monitoring inventories, liaising with clients, and performing market research. Aside from gaining insights while performing support tasks, an intern must also learn and understand the policies and regulations of the company, including its vision and mission.
A merchandising specialist is responsible for managing the promotion of the business' products, arranging creative displays both on the physical store and company website to attract consumers on purchasing the products to generate revenues and increase profitability. Merchandising specialists assist in the development of marketing campaigns, as well as facilitating promotional offers on different communication channels. They also monitor stock inventories, analyze pricing structures, and adjust selling strategies by researching the current market trends, identifying business opportunities to meet customers' demands, and improve the negotiation process.
Merchandising interns and merchandising specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Internship | Merchandising Specialist | |
| Average salary | $34,770 | $32,920 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $47,000 | Between $22,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ALDI USA | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a merchandising internship and a merchandising specialist in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Internship | Merchandising Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Specialized Sales And Merchandising | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between merchandising interns' and merchandising specialists' demographics:
| Merchandising Internship | Merchandising Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 23.1% Female, 76.9% | Male, 43.5% Female, 56.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 17% | 17% |