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The differences between merchandising managers and sales 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 manager, becoming a sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a merchandising manager has an average salary of $86,346, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a merchandising manager include sales floor, POS and apparel. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $86,346 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $41.51 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 268,577 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 39 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 8 |
A merchandising manager is responsible for supervising stock inventories, retail pricing, and managing product displays by analyzing customer preferences through researching the current market trends that would improve the store's sales condition and achieve profitability goals. Merchandising managers negotiate with reliable third-party vendors, minimizing costs without compromising the quality of the products. They also assist with planning floor layouts for store visuals that would attract customers and marketing promotional offers and special discounts to increase more revenues.
Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.
Merchandising managers and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $86,346 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $116,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Woonsocket, RI | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Roku | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Retail | - |
There are a few differences between a merchandising manager and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between merchandising managers' and sales managers' demographics:
| Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.7% Female, 52.3% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| 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, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 7% |