Hiring a Merchandiser: Job Description Template

Hiring the right merchandiser can be a daunting task. Choose the wrong person, and your store’s visual appeal, product placement, and inventory levels could all suffer, directly impacting sales and customer satisfaction. Not only would you miss out on potential profits, but you’d also run the risk of tarnishing your brand’s reputation. The aesthetics, flow, and presentation of products in your store play an immense role in driving customer purchasing decisions.

Thankfully, with the right guidance and a proven hiring strategy, you can go beyond the merchandiser job description and pinpoint the perfect hire for your brand.

Dive into our expert tips and templates to make the hiring process seamless and foolproof.

Responsibilities & Role of a Merchandiser

• Visual Presentation: Craft and maintain compelling in-store displays and layouts, ensuring the store’s appearance aligns with brand aesthetics and effectively showcases products to entice customer interest.
• Inventory Management: Monitor, manage, and reorder stock based on sales performance and forecasting, ensuring optimal stock levels, minimizing overstocks, and quickly addressing stock-outs.
• Market Research: Stay informed on current market trends, customer preferences, and competitor activities, adapting merchandise strategies accordingly to capitalize on emerging opportunities.
• Vendor Relations: Build and maintain relationships with suppliers, negotiating purchase terms, and ensuring timely and quality product deliveries.
• Sales Analysis: Evaluate sales data and performance metrics to assess the effectiveness of merchandise displays and strategies, refining approaches based on data-driven insights to boost sales and customer engagement.

How to Hire a Merchandiser

1. Know Your Merchandiser Requirements

• Determine Business Goals: Evaluate your short-term and long-term objectives for store layout, sales targets, and brand presentation to clarify the specific skills and experience required from a potential merchandiser.
• Analyze Current Inventory and Sales: Review existing sales data, product turnover rates, and stock levels to understand current performance and pinpoint areas where a merchandiser can bring improvements.
• Identify Market Position and Brand Aesthetics: Understand your brand’s position in the market, its target audience, and desired store aesthetics to ensure the hired merchandiser aligns with and enhances your brand’s vision.

2. Search for the Top Talent

• Industry-Specific Job Boards: Leverage niche job boards or forums related to retail and merchandising, like NRF Job Board, iHireRetail or All Retail Jobs to access a concentrated pool of qualified candidates.
• Portfolio Review: Request portfolios or examples of previous work. A visual review will provide insights into a candidate’s aesthetic sense, creativity, and their ability to create effective merchandise displays.
• Network with Retail Professionals: Engage with industry conferences including NRF Retail’s Big Show, ShopTalk and others. These events can be goldmines for referrals and direct introductions to seasoned merchandisers.
• Check References with Past Employers: Validate a candidate’s past performance, professionalism, and results by speaking to previous employers or clients, ensuring you’re hiring a proven talent.

3. Look for Professional Qualifications

The qualifications of a merchandiser play a pivotal role in ensuring they have the technical skills and knowledge to excel in the role. A combination of education, certifications, and industry-specific training can set apart top-tier candidates.

• Educational Background: Seek candidates with a Bachelor’s degree in Merchandising, Retail Management, Fashion Marketing, or related fields, indicating a foundational understanding of the industry.
• Certifications: Recognized industry certifications like the Visual Merchandising and Retail Design (VMRD) Certification or the Certified Master Retailer designations, both of which are available through regional and local retail associations and training centers.
• Technical Skills: Familiarity with merchandising software or tools like JDA MMS or PlanogramBuilder among others, and a grasp on retail analytics platforms, can ensure a candidate is adept at modern merchandising techniques and data interpretation.
• Industry Associations: Membership in professional organizations like the National Retail Federation (NRF) or Shop! Association can demonstrate a candidate’s dedication to staying current in the field.

4. Analyze Their Work Experience

• Review Past Roles: Examine the brands and retailers they’ve previously worked with, prioritizing those with experience in similar markets or product categories as yours.
• Assess Display Creativity: Seek instances where they’ve transformed store spaces, created unique visual displays, or adapted to seasonal merchandising needs.
• Check Duration and Stability: A consistent track record with longer stints suggests commitment and value, whereas frequent job-hopping may warrant a deeper probe.
• Evaluate Results: Look for quantifiable achievements in their work history, such as increased sales, improved inventory turnover, or successful promotional campaigns they’ve spearheaded.

5. Conduct a Comprehensive Interview Process

• Begin with a Scenario: Present a hypothetical store layout or merchandising challenge, gauging their creative solutions and strategic thinking.
• Discuss Past Work: Ask them to explain the thought process behind specific projects in their portfolio, emphasizing results and challenges faced.
• Probe for Industry Knowledge: Test their awareness of current merchandising trends, tools, and the competitive landscape to ensure they’re up-to-date.
• Evaluate Cultural Fit: Discuss brand values and aesthetics, ensuring their vision aligns with your company’s ethos and direction.
• Inquire About Vendor Relations: Explore their experience in managing suppliers and negotiating terms, as these are crucial for effective stock management and cost-efficiency.

6. Get to Know Them Through Their References

When calling a reference for a merchandiser candidate, you’ll want to hone in on questions that elucidate their professional capabilities and how they’ve contributed to previous employers.

Here are the three most important questions to ask:

• Impact on Sales and Brand Presentation: “Can you describe a specific instance where the candidate’s merchandising strategy or visual display significantly improved sales or elevated the brand’s in-store presentation?”
• Adaptability and Problem-Solving: “Were there occasions where the candidate had to quickly adjust to unexpected stock changes or market shifts? How did they handle such challenges and what were the outcomes?”
• Collaboration and Vendor Management: “How effectively did the candidate work with cross-functional teams, especially when it came to vendor negotiations, product placements, and promotional campaigns? Can you provide an example of their collaboration skills in action?”

These questions not only give insights into the candidate’s professional achievements but also offer a glimpse into their problem-solving abilities, adaptability, and collaborative skills—all critical for a merchandiser role.

Avoid These Red Flags During the Hiring Process

When hiring a merchandiser, it’s essential to be vigilant for potential red flags that might suggest the candidate isn’t the right fit.

Here are some to consider:

• Lack of Specific Achievements: If a candidate speaks in general terms and doesn’t provide clear, quantifiable results from their past roles (like percentage increase in sales, improved stock turnover rates, or successful promotional campaigns), it’s a cause for concern.
• Over-Reliance on Aesthetics: While visual appeal is essential, if a candidate focuses solely on aesthetics without consideration for practicality, sales optimization, or customer experience, they might lack a balanced approach to merchandising.
• Poor Vendor Relations: If a candidate speaks negatively about past vendors or doesn’t demonstrate a track record of successful vendor management, it could hint at potential collaboration or negotiation issues.
• Lack of Current Market Awareness: A merchandiser should be aware of the latest trends, tools, and technologies in the industry. If they seem out of touch with recent developments or cannot discuss modern merchandising techniques, it’s a red flag for their ongoing professional development.

Merchandiser Job Description

Note: It’s important to tailor this template to your company’s specific needs and the specific role you are looking to fill. This template assumes a fairly broad role, but you may need to modify it if the role is specialized.

How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Merchandiser?

Recruitment Costs

• Online Job Boards: Posting on relevant job boards like the NRF job board is free for members but costs $299 for non-members and can cost up to $499 for a premium listing if you’re not a member.Other sites like All Retail Jobs charge per job posting with prices starting at $335 for one job posting. 
• Recruitment Agencies: Agencies that specialize in merchandising include 24seventalent, Solomon Page and FourthFloor. The pricing for these companies varies depending on your specific needs and ranges from 15% of the merchandiser’s first-year salary, to a lesser percentage with an up-front retainer.
• Professional Associations: Different associations offer different pricing tiers depending on the benefits offered. For example, being a member of the National Retail Federation might come with a yearly fee ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 based on the size and type of your business. Others, like VMSD (Visual Merchandising and Store Design) offer a free subscription for a year.

Salary and Benefits

The most prominent direct cost is the base salary, which varies based on location, company size, and the individual’s experience. Entry-level merchandisers might expect salaries in the range of $30,000 to $50,000 annually, while those with significant experience or in senior roles could command $70,000 to $100,000 or even higher in large metropolitan areas or at major corporations. 

In addition to the base salary, employers should factor in benefits. Common benefits include health insurance, dental and vision coverage, retirement contributions, and possibly performance bonuses or stock options. These can add an additional 20-40% to the base salary costs.

Training and Onboarding

Directly, companies might incur expenses for formal training programs or courses to familiarize the new hire with industry-specific software, tools, or methodologies. This can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, especially if specialized training or certifications are involved. Additionally, there’s the cost of training materials, such as manuals, digital resources, or proprietary software.

Equipment and Software

On the software front, merchandisers often require specialized retail management or visual merchandising software, which can assist in product placement, inventory management, and sales forecasting. Licenses for these applications can range from $20 to $200 per month, or even more for advanced enterprise-level solutions. 

Additionally, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, Point of Sale (POS) systems, and other analytics tools might be necessary, depending on the role’s complexity and the company’s scale.