Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between merchandising representatives and outside 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 outside sales representative. Additionally, an outside sales representative has an average salary of $60,443, 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 outside sales representative are customer service, work ethic, and sales process.
| Merchandising Representative | Outside Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $32,303 | $60,443 |
| Hourly rate | $15.53 | $29.06 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 351,931 | 218,034 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| 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 Outside Sales Representative specializes in customer service and relations, focusing on reaching sales targets through selling and networking with clients. Among the duties revolve around reaching out to customers through calls, email, or even arranging appointments, monitoring and keeping an organized record of sales, communicating with managers or supervisors, adhering to the company's policies and regulations, and keeping extensive knowledge about the brand and the trends. Besides building rapport with customers, it is also essential for an Outside Sales Representative to be proactive and create strategies to help meet the sales target.
Merchandising representatives and outside sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Representative | Outside Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $32,303 | $60,443 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $40,000 | Between $41,000 And $87,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Minneapolis, MN |
| Highest paying state | Maine | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | ECMD | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a merchandising representative and an outside sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Representative | Outside Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| 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 outside sales representatives' demographics:
| Merchandising Representative | Outside Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.2% Female, 52.8% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| 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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |