Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between merchandising representatives and inside sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a merchandising representative and an inside sales representative. Additionally, an inside sales representative has an average salary of $44,413, which is higher than the $32,303 average annual salary of a merchandising representative.
The top three skills for a merchandising representative include little supervision, store management and plan-o-grams. The most important skills for an inside sales representative are customer service, CRM, and outbound calls.
| Merchandising Representative | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $32,303 | $44,413 |
| Hourly rate | $15.53 | $21.35 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 351,931 | 244,168 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Merchandising representatives are professionals who are responsible for providing point-of-purchase and shelf management services to produce sales. These representatives are required to plan and develop merchandising strategies so that they can balance the expectations of customers and the organization's objectives. They must maintain store shelves and display products appropriately so that they can maximize the interest of customers and sales levels. Merchandising representatives must also analyze sales figures, the reactions of customers, and market trends to anticipate their product needs and plan product stock.
An inside sales representative is responsible for selling services and products to clients, driving the company's revenues and increase sales profitability. Duties of an inside sales representative include developing strategic sales pitches, responding to customer's inquiries and requests, offering promotional products and discounts, researching potential clients, creating sales reports, and managing customer's possible complaints. An inside sales representative also provides strategic solutions to share with the sales team to improve their sales performance. Inside sales representatives must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to deal with customers' needs.
Merchandising representatives and inside sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Representative | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $32,303 | $44,413 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $40,000 | Between $28,000 And $69,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Maine | Wyoming |
| Best paying company | ECMD | Berkshire Hathaway |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a merchandising representative and an inside sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Representative | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between merchandising representatives' and inside sales representatives' demographics:
| Merchandising Representative | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.2% Female, 52.8% | Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |