Field Merchandiser Responsibilities

Field merchandisers are involved in selling the manufacturer's products to various small and large scale companies, businesses, and organizations. Field merchandisers carry out the promotional activities of the manufacturer's products and services, advertising the same in the target market, and carry out after sales reviews for record maintenance.

Key Responsibilities of a Field Merchandiser

Field merchandisers have to analyze previous sales records, schedule sales trip with various business organization and individual businessperson, schedule appointments for carrying out sales activities, and conduct market research for optimizing the sales opportunities. They have to be competent enough to beat other competitors in price and quality of the service offered.

The key responsibilities of a field merchandiser comprise:

• Providing product samples, sales brochures, informational references, and other incentives like coupons, etc., for persuading the customers to buy products from the concerned brand / merchandise
• Managing the product display appropriately as per the current trend, seasonal cycle, and discount offers; preparing a schedule of store visits accordingly, and ensuring the merchandising policies of the store as per the standard guidelines
• Supervising the product display, shelving system, and product stacking as per the floor plan, ensuring proper removal of the damaged / defective products, and replacing the same with new products accordingly
• Installing the display banners, posters, display flags, etc., on the floor for enhancing the product value of the merchandise, and distributing information regarding new collections, holiday items, product quality, and exclusive offers to respective stores for attracting more customers
• Providing recommendations on product change and store makeover to the supervising authorities if required, assisting in providing store layout change as per the convenience of the customers, and preparing the store schedule on the basis of revenue collections
• Performing store inspection for inspecting the repairs, modifications, replacements, and new installations if required, along with validating the product stockings, merchandising items, and other items for display accordingly
• Interacting with sales professionals, store staffs, and other marketing representatives about upcoming store projects, time deadline, and customer requirements, educating store staff regarding progressive trends in business, latest business updates, and further progressive plan for business expansion, and devising innovative sales strategies accordingly for attracting more customers
• Demonstrating the showcased products with explanation regarding method of usage, additional services, etc., persuading the customers accordingly for buying the demonstrated products, and recording all demonstration related information like the coupons distribution and the questions asked by the audience
• Suggesting specific products to the customers as per their needs, identifying the interested customers and providing them additional information for facilitating the sales, and preparing or modifying the presentation contents as per the requirements of target customers
• Keeping the area clean while on work, returning the items back on shelf on its current location once the customer has departed, and arranging the display accordingly so as to attract new customers
• Keeping up to date knowledge about the competitor's products and the customer's interests and concerns for answering the questions accordingly or providing detailed information on the same, visiting trade shows, other departmental stores, community organizations, and other venues for demonstrating the products and services or for answering the queries raised by prospective customers
• Practicing demonstrations in free time for ensuring perfect presentation of the product, researching and investigating about the detailed products information to be presented for preparing demonstrations accordingly, and training the product demonstrators to present a company's products and services
• Transporting, assembling, and disassembling the materials and instruments used in the presentation, recommend product or service improvements to employers, stocking the shelves with products on time, and contacting the business establishment / small scale organization for arranging their exhibition cum sales merchandise

Required Qualifications and Skills

The basic qualification required to be eligible to obtain a position in the field of field merchandising is a graduate / postgraduate degree in business management, retailing and retails operations, or other related field in sales and marketing. Apart from the educational qualification, one also needs to possess certain relevant experience in the same profile. The profile of field merchandising primarily deals with selling and marketing of products and services, hence it is necessary for one to possess certain skills related to advertising, sales, and marketing. Skills requirement for accomplishing the role of field merchandising comprise:

• Excellent oral, written, and verbal communication skills
• Exceptional leadership and organizational skills
• Critical thinking and problem solving skills
• Effective time management skills
• Ability to work in team or in a solitary condition
• Ability to work under pressure
• Relationship management and interpersonal skills

Salary Compensation

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary of a field merchandiser falls in the range of $62,720 per year. The lowest salary offered to them is lesser than $62,720 per year, while the highest salary comes close to $108,750 per year. The salary of a field merchandiser basically depends upon the manufacturer / retailer he is associated with, industrial setting of the work, and the job location.

Field merchandisers have lots of scope of growth in future, and as they progress in this field, they can make a successful career in this field. If you are interested to make a progressive career in this field, it is advisable to have a thorough look at the field merchandiser responsibilities.