What does a merchandising specialist do?
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.
Merchandising specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real merchandising specialist resumes:
- Work within OPEX budget to achieve company goals.
- Manage the products for service companies in Kroger stores, PoG, doing resets.
- Manage the distribution of POS items as assigned to the region to create brand affinity.
- Verify and manage data for the weekly store ads which includes UPC verification, item description and ad pricing.
- Lead seasonal consolidation/re-assortment of own consignment estate jewelry to strengthen merchandise productivity by door.
- Check in drop shipments, truck shipments, and GEO shuttles.
- Train and work with Apollo and JDA software as POG tools
- Ensure proper input of data information into EDI, track BOL's, sales and purchase orders.
- Assist in daily operations of the store merchandise presentation, processing, markdowns, fitting room, customer service front end.
- Create geo specific apparel assortments per account channel.
- Build key relationships with management of Kroger stores.
- work for the vendors under home depot operation.
- Follow POG to move shelves and product as directed.
- Transmit EDI orders to vendors for new stores and replenishment.
- Used ladders to get items down for customers on high shelves.
Merchandising specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 28% of Merchandising Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Sales Floor, and Cash Handling. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Self-confidence, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Merchandising Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 28%
Provided ongoing excellent customer service while also remaining responsible for creating a supportive, educational and inclusive team atmosphere.
- Sales Floor, 16%
Organized the entire sales floor to its proper standard formation Skills Used -Bilingual ability -Organized merchandise exquisitely.
- Cash Handling, 7%
Cash handling, which includes closing, counting and balancing, cash drawers and store totals.
- Cleanliness, 6%
Maintained organization and cleanliness of stockroom areas.
- Customer Satisfaction, 5%
Placed and expedited purchase orders with vendors to bolster customer satisfaction and timely delivery of goods.
- Ladders, 5%
Endured long hours and constant standing, bending, lifting and climbing ladders.
Common skills that a merchandising specialist uses to do their job include "customer service," "sales floor," and "cash handling." You can find details on the most important merchandising specialist responsibilities below.
Physical stamina. One of the key soft skills for a merchandising specialist to have is physical stamina. You can see how this relates to what merchandising specialists do because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products." Additionally, a merchandising specialist resume shows how merchandising specialists use physical stamina: "participated in physical inventories and assisted with inventory control. "
Self-confidence. Many merchandising specialist duties rely on self-confidence. "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations," so a merchandising specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways merchandising specialist responsibilities rely on self-confidence: "have in depth knowledge and confidence of how to use fixtures and create a compelling floor layout. "
Interpersonal skills. merchandising specialists are also known for interpersonal skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to merchandising specialist responsibilities, because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people." A merchandising specialist resume example shows how interpersonal skills is used in the workplace: "provided excellent customer service utilizing outstanding communication and interpersonal skills. "
The three companies that hire the most merchandising specialists are:
- O'Reilly Auto Parts509 merchandising specialists jobs
- Premium Retail Services452 merchandising specialists jobs
- Acosta409 merchandising specialists jobs
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Compare different merchandising specialists
Merchandising specialist vs. Free lance displayer
A display coordinator manages and oversees the visual presentation of products and services. Despite having different responsibilities depending on their organization or industry of employment, it usually involves conducting market research and analyses, developing and implementing plans, communicating and negotiating with internal and external parties to secure supplies, and spearheading various events such as exhibits and shows. Moreover, a display coordinator manages different teams and coordinates their efforts while conducting assessments to ensure operations adhere to company standards and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a merchandising specialist are more likely to require skills like "customer service," "sales floor," "cash handling," and "cleanliness." On the other hand, a job as a free lance displayer requires skills like "web site," "free lance," "photography," and "adobe photoshop." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, free lance displayers reach higher levels of education than merchandising specialists. Free lance displayers are 6.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Merchandising specialist vs. Display designer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that merchandising specialist responsibilities requires skills like "customer service," "cash handling," "cleanliness," and "customer satisfaction." But a display designer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "graphic design," "autocad," "cnc," and "in-store displays."
In general, display designers achieve similar levels of education than merchandising specialists. They're 1.5% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Merchandising specialist vs. Display coordinator
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from merchandising specialist resumes include skills like "cash handling," "cleanliness," "customer satisfaction," and "ladders," whereas a display coordinator is more likely to list skills in "store opening," "reflect changes," "window displays," and "in-store displays. "
Display coordinators typically earn similar educational levels compared to merchandising specialists. Specifically, they're 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Merchandising specialist vs. Display artist
Even though a few skill sets overlap between merchandising specialists and display artists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a merchandising specialist might have more use for skills like "customer service," "cash handling," "cleanliness," and "customer satisfaction." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of display artists require skills like "adobe creative suite," "cultural interests," "window displays," and "logo. "
Display artists reach similar levels of education compared to merchandising specialists, in general. The difference is that they're 3.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of merchandising specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
