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The differences between retail merchandisers and sales people can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales person has an average salary of $42,010, which is higher than the $28,678 average annual salary of a retail merchandiser.
The top three skills for a retail merchandiser include customer service, store management and POS. The most important skills for a sales person are basic math, phone calls, and POS.
| Retail Merchandiser | Sales Person | |
| Yearly salary | $28,678 | $42,010 |
| Hourly rate | $13.79 | $20.20 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 477,794 | 378,132 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A retail merchandiser is responsible for determining the accuracy of sales and analyzing market trends to ensure that the business can follow stock movements and adjust plan budgets as needed. Retail merchandisers' duties also include planning strategies that would provide satisfaction for the customers while meeting the company's objectives, and coordinating with the suppliers and distributors for timely deliveries and price negotiations. Retail merchandisers also assist customers, analyze sales performance, and monitor inventories regularly.
A salesperson is in charge of ensuring that the products, goods, or services of the company get sold to customers. They are trained to market the products well, understand what the customer needs, and find the product that best fits the customer's needs. As such, the salesperson should be familiar with all of the company's products and should be able to explain the features of each. They should know how to approach customers and to close out sales. Salespersons are expected to have good communication, interpersonal, and persuasion skills.
Retail merchandisers and sales people have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retail Merchandiser | Sales Person | |
| Average salary | $28,678 | $42,010 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $36,000 | Between $14,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Oceanside, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Wayfair | Douglas Elliman |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a retail merchandiser and a sales person in terms of educational background:
| Retail Merchandiser | Sales Person | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between retail merchandisers' and sales people' demographics:
| Retail Merchandiser | Sales Person | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9% | Male, 70.5% Female, 29.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 7.5% White, 57.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.3% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |