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The differences between merchandising specialists and retail coverage merchandisers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a merchandising specialist has an average salary of $32,920, which is higher than the $31,695 average annual salary of a retail coverage merchandiser.
The top three skills for a merchandising specialist include customer service, sales floor and cash handling. The most important skills for a retail coverage merchandiser are retail store, customer service, and retail locations.
| Merchandising Specialist | Retail Coverage Merchandiser | |
| Yearly salary | $32,920 | $31,695 |
| Hourly rate | $15.83 | $15.24 |
| Growth rate | 4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 49,769 | 100,999 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| 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 retail coverage merchandiser is responsible for assisting store customers by responding to their inquiries and concerns about a product, directing them to the correct area of their needs, and recommending items according to their requests. Retail coverage merchandisers ensure that the shelves are accurately filled and maintained. They remove outdated products, arrange merchandise accordingly, monitor inventories, create purchase requests, and analyze sales reports. A retail coverage merchandiser coordinates with suppliers and vendors for distribution and resolves order discrepancies.
Merchandising specialists and retail coverage merchandisers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Merchandising Specialist | Retail Coverage Merchandiser | |
| Average salary | $32,920 | $31,695 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $47,000 | Between $24,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Cupertino, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | California | - |
| Best paying company | Apple | - |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a merchandising specialist and a retail coverage merchandiser in terms of educational background:
| Merchandising Specialist | Retail Coverage Merchandiser | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 39% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between merchandising specialists' and retail coverage merchandisers' demographics:
| Merchandising Specialist | Retail Coverage Merchandiser | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.5% Female, 56.5% | Male, 38.7% Female, 61.3% |
| 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% |