What is the salary of a merchandiser?

• Like any other profession, the salaries of a Merchandiser are determined in accordance with experience and educational qualifications.
• The highest paying professionals in this profession are people who have climbed the ladder of being fashion artists, designers or assistants to the position of management or executive levels.
• The median salary of a Merchandiser is $36,969 while the lowest 10% professionals earn a salary up to $27,612 per year, the 75 % percentile receive an income of $57,722 annually and the top ten percentile earns $67,258 per annum.
• Salary differs with experience too. Professionals with an experience less than a year earn salary ranging around $20,000 – $50,000 while those with one to five years experience in the industry earn salary ranging around $24,252 – $64,635 annually.
• Geographical location of employment also impacts the salary of aMerchandiser as a professional working in California earns a salary ranging around $27,084 – $75,503 per annum while those working in Washington get between $25,532 and $78,350.
• Merchandiser also enjoy additional benefits apart from their traditional salaries which include health and life insurance policies, paid vacations and paid sick leaves.

Skill set for the post of a merchandiser:

Apart from educational qualifications, there are a few essential skills required to be a Merchandiser. Following are the skills required:

• Excellent Mathematical Ability: These professionals are expected to have strong mathematical skills as they are given the responsibility to prepare financial reports by understanding the sales figures of the company and also to work out the budgets of the sales.
• Excellent communication Skills: This job requires good oral and written communication skills as they deal with manufacturers, supplier’s dealers and customers. There should be able to exercise their ample communication skills in the fashion merchandising field to negotiate prices with the manufacturers.
• Ability to think analytically: Merchandiser should have strong problem solving and analytical ability to overcome with many problems that they face in the industry. They need to have a reasonable sense of how things would fit into a budget and if the retails establishment meets the functional needs of the customers. They must be quick in making decisions as late decision might lead to deal failure. He must have the ability to think logically.
• Ability to act as an analyst: As a fashion Merchandiser, one should have knowledge about the past fashion trends and be updated with the current fashion industry developments. These qualities will prove indispensable in the career of a fashion Merchandiser. As an analyst, this professional monitors the sales flow in the store by identifying and predicting the future fashion trends and the customer needs. He must have the ability to analyze the market and improve the sales within a short period of time.
• Other skills required by a merchandiser are:
• Ability to understand Customers needs.
• Strong business sense which will help to negotiate prices with manufacturers and also manipulate the customer’s to buy the product.
• Ability to work in a team by coordinating with various professionals.
• Ability to cope with pressure of fast-paced work environment.

What does a merchandiser have to do on the job?

The job duties of a Merchandiser may vary from company to company depending on their demands and work activities. It is observed that Merchandiser who employed in the warehouses of a retail establishment are given the duty to just occasionally visit the retails stores at regular intervals, which means that their duties and responsibilities are comparatively less. In other cases, Merchandiser who work in apparel showrooms have spend hours working to audit the non-regional and off-stores of the retail establishment and also for promotional activities.

Following are some the duties of a Merchandiser:

Duties:

• Merchandiser are given the duty to plan the range for products by preparing sales and stocks plans which would be helpful to while describing about the product to the customers.
• It is their duty to produce layout plans for store which would attract attention.
• These professionals predict the profits and sales by optimizing the sales volume and profitability in particular product arenas.
• Another important duty of a Merchandiser to the plan the budget for the retail store including the sales forecasts and figures for the new range products.
• They control the stock levels based on the demand for the products.
• It is the duty of a Merchandiser to monitor slow sellers to take action by reducing the prices or starting promotions that are necessary.
• Merchandiser gather all the customers’ reaction to the products.

Responsibilities:

A Merchandiser needs to execute some versatile responsibilities as part of the profession. Following are some of the responsibilities:

• They are responsible for maintaining a comprehensive library of data related to the latest trends, budget, prices of all products etc.
• Merchandiser are responsible for coordinating the work of visual display staff and other department heads to decide how all the goods must be displayed to maximize customer interest and sales.
• They are given the responsibility to analyze the previous sales of the retail store and prepare a report which would help the current season’s selling pattern.
• They make all the financial presentations required to present to the senior managers of the company.
• These professionals meet the suppliers and managers who distribute the stock and they are responsible for negotiating the cost price of the products, agreeing the delivery dates and completing all the necessary paperwork.
• They are also responsible for analyzing the aspects of the best competitors of the retail industry to ensure that they reach the best sellers potential.
• Merchandiser identify the production and distribution difficulties and they deal to overcome the problems of all the other junior staff, managing department and supervising assistants.

What is the Certification and Licensure given to a Merchandiser?

• Certification and Licensure will give an edge over the other candidates in terms of growth career and also remuneration packages.
• Certification and licensure is given only after completing internship and training programs which gives you experience in the industry.
• The certification given to these professionals is known as Merchandising Awareness and Terminology Certification.
• It is given after the completion of graduation education by the Expert Rating which is a trusted name in the pre-employment testing services in the United State.
• Another certificate given for these professionals is the Certificate of Merchandising.
• It is given to candidates who have completed their study in sales promotional activities, retail merchandising etc.
• Candidates who have completed their diploma in merchandising should also get a certification.
• Certification is obtained based on your specialization like fashion designers are awarded with fashion merchandising and retail business education receives a retail merchandising certification.

Educational Qualifications:

As the Merchandiser forms a key person in any retail management having various numbers of duties and responsibilities to perform, so it is very essential that this professional be a well educated and trained professional. Following are the educational requirements for a Merchandiser:

• The minimum education required to entry this field is a associate degree or a bachelor’s degree in visual merchandising, graphic designing, interior designing, fine arts or marketing.
• A four year degree in the above mention fields gives the candidate best employment opportunities with great future prospects.
• In case of export-import merchandising, the required educational qualification is a Bachelors or Master’s degree in Foreign Trade.
• Master’s degree in marketing, sales promotion, accounting and mathematics are related subjects to enter into this profession.
• The department of Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design offers a two year Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s of Science Degree.
• Training forms an important aspect, as it is through training candidates learn the art of business techniques understanding the consumer behavior.
• It is mandatory to have prior experience in the field of marketing and business.
• In this training period, a Merchandiser can work as a purchase manager in any departmental store.
• Fields of employment for a Merchandiser are fashion or textile industry, pharmaceutical industry, sporting goods etc.
• Candidates with more experience will be given preference in case of an administrative merchandising job.
• Computer knowledge also forms am important requirement for this post.
• The candidate should be aware of all the various procedures for documentation.
• In the export and import foreign trade field, Merchandiser with experience in documentation techniques and procedures are only considered.
• Some community and technical colleges also offer diploma courses in merchandising which helps the students in understanding the basic framework of the field.
• However, a diploma combined with a certificate will fetch you good employment opportunities.

An overview of the Job of a Merchandiser:

A Merchandiser is a professional who is employed with the retail industry and is formally specialized with a great knowledge of marketing, promoting and advertising procedures. A Merchandiser helps customers who enter into the store in choosing the color for the dress of their choice by displaying a variety of options for people who are looking for dresses and giving them options keeping in mind their budget. They have a series of events to perform and all this becomes difficult in the absence of a Merchandiser. These professionals study the latest fashion trends to recommend designs and to advice to the purchase department of the store. He is also given the responsibility to analyze the structure of the market which helps him to decide the age factor that would choose that kind of dress. A Merchandiser also acts as a supervisor and in-charge for the stock that is kept for individual sizes and also colors.

Merchandiser form the core professionals to set up the showroom in a manner that would attract attention of the passers-by so that they will visit the store. However, the design of the showroom is done depending on the latest trends of the market. Apart, from this, a Merchandiser is also given the duty to set cost brackets for all the goods. A Merchandiser forms a vital employee for any apparel showroom because he is also involved in the in-house advertising of the store. He is the person who takes care of the almost countless in-house advertisements that are generated for the store. These professionals trademark their advertisements in order to make it clear that the property is restricted just to their purpose.

In short, a Merchandiser is a professional who is the promoter of a retail establishment and who attracts consumers, catering to their demands by increasing the sales for the store. The employment growth for a Merchandiser is very high with many retail industries realizing the importance of these professionals. Their work load is typically less when compared with the others who operate in this field except they work overtime during special sales promotional events or during the opening of new stores. The prospects for promotion of a Merchandiser are better with large companies and opportunities are lucrative for candidates with particular specialization.