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The differences between retail sales leads and merchandise leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a retail sales lead and a merchandise lead. Additionally, a retail sales lead has an average salary of $40,781, which is higher than the $35,572 average annual salary of a merchandise lead.
The top three skills for a retail sales lead include math, sales floor and retail sales. The most important skills for a merchandise lead are sales floor, customer service, and customer satisfaction.
| Retail Sales Lead | Merchandise Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $40,781 | $35,572 |
| Hourly rate | $19.61 | $17.10 |
| Growth rate | - | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 442,994 | 72,605 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Retail sales leads are responsible for the recruitment and training of new sales team members, assisting the management in selling products, and creating sales reports. Some duties and responsibilities of a retail sales lead include customer services such as answering inquiries and complaints, providing assistance and product information, suggesting items and opinions. Such experiences are an advantage for them to be promoted if they perform their tasks effectively and efficiently.
A merchandise lead is responsible for strategizing merchandise methods to reach sales performance targets. Merchandise leads assist the consumers in choosing the best products according to their needs and budget limitations. They evaluate the current market trends to generate more revenue resources and increase the company's profitability by negotiating with trusted suppliers and vendors. A merchandise lead must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in helping with marketing and promotional campaigns to attract consumers' interests and meet public demands.
Retail sales leads and merchandise leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retail Sales Lead | Merchandise Lead | |
| Average salary | $40,781 | $35,572 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $59,000 | Between $27,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bellevue, NE | Green Bay, WI |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | PepsiCo |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Retail |
There are a few differences between a retail sales lead and a merchandise lead in terms of educational background:
| Retail Sales Lead | Merchandise Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi |
Here are the differences between retail sales leads' and merchandise leads' demographics:
| Retail Sales Lead | Merchandise Lead | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.4% Female, 53.6% | Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |