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The differences between merchandising specialists and department specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a department specialist has an average salary of $49,764, which is higher than the $32,920 average annual salary of a merchandising specialist.
The top three skills for a merchandising specialist include customer service, sales floor and cash handling. The most important skills for a department specialist are product knowledge, drive sales, and cleanliness.
| Merchandising Specialist | Department Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $32,920 | $49,764 |
| Hourly rate | $15.83 | $23.93 |
| Growth rate | 4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 49,769 | 55,038 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
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.
A department specialist drives the profitable sales growth of a company through proper planning and execution of corporate merchandise direction. Department specialists develop plans and strategies to achieve corporate sales results through action planning, consistent accountability, and effective communication. They initiate and carry out business-wide software and hardware standardization. Also, they coordinate space utilization or facility scheduling optimization for programs focused on members.
Merchandising specialists and department specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Specialist | Department Specialist | |
| Average salary | $32,920 | $49,764 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $47,000 | Between $35,000 And $70,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | California | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Apple | Springs Charter Schools |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Government |
There are a few differences between a merchandising specialist and a department specialist in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Specialist | Department Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between merchandising specialists' and department specialists' demographics:
| Merchandising Specialist | Department Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.5% Female, 56.5% | Male, 37.6% Female, 62.4% |
| 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, 9.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 7.7% White, 56.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 17% | 7% |