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The differences between senior merchandising managers and sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a senior merchandising manager, becoming a sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a senior merchandising manager has an average salary of $111,266, which is higher than the $73,952 average annual salary of a sales manager.
The top three skills for a senior merchandising manager include direct reports, digital marketing and SR. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Senior Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $111,266 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $53.49 | $35.55 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 66,332 | 119,066 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 39 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 8 |
The primary job of a senior merchandising manager is to monitor market trends for product design, levels, and pricing identification. Senior merchandising managers source, manage and curate the products and/or services and promotional materials of a company. They oversee the purchasing process of corporations. It is part of their job to negotiate with the company's suppliers. Their duties also include predicting the trends and demands of corporate inventory.
Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.
Senior merchandising managers and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $111,266 | $73,952 |
| Salary range | Between $79,000 And $155,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Bruno, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Chewy | Capgemini |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | - |
There are a few differences between a senior merchandising manager and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between senior merchandising managers' and sales managers' demographics:
| Senior Merchandising Manager | Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 39 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 7% |