Who is a merchandiser and what does he do?

Merchandising as a concept actually means the art of trading. This is a whole system that promotes the promotion of goods, moreover, such as to involve the seller as little as possible. There is a feeling that sales are going on by themselves, and there is no person who controls the attractiveness of this or that product. But there is such an invisible agent, and he is called a merchandiser.

This position in adaptation translates as "product specialist". The layman may get the impression that the merchandiser simply delivers the goods to the sales area, puts them on the shelves and leaves for another object. But it's not that simple. A merchandiser is actually a multidisciplinary specialist who must please two parties at once: the management - in the level of sales, the buyer - in the comfort of purchase.

The definition of a merchandiser is a retail specialist who delivers a particular brand of product to a retail network, creating a consumer base for that product. Showing a product with a face was valuable even centuries ago, today, in the era of consumption, this skill has become even more important. The profession has previous activities, but merchandisers officially appeared at the end of the 20th century.

It is not enough just to be executive, orderly and responsible to become a good merchandiser. In describing the skills that this specialist needs, there will be good analytical skills, and a willingness to acquire new knowledge, and observation. In marketing, psychology and sociology, or rather, at the junction of these sciences, a direction is being born that studies customer behavior. This is what is basic for the merchandiser, whose task is to become the final link in sales, to make sure that the buyer's hand reaches exactly to the product of his brand on the store shelf.

The work of a merchandiser must be strictly regulated. Otherwise, an employee who, according to the instructions, should be engaged in one, will perform additional functions, solve indirect tasks, etc.

This is what the job of a merchandiser is.

• The specialist determines the way of the optimal arrangement of the goods in the trading floor. The entire range of products that the brand offers to the buyer must be physically and visually accessible to him. How to lay out the goods, marketers decide, and the merchandiser uses their best practices in practice. The correct calculation, by the way, is called fading.
• Product clearance is extremely important. This is a technical component, that is, the condition of the shelves, and cooling / heating of display cases, as well as an aesthetic aspect. The product should be arranged conveniently, the lighting should be pleasant, information and advertising about the product should be enough.
• Convincing product layout - it doesn't have to be hard to find in the store. If the product is included in the premium category, as a rule, the specialist makes a separate island for it.
• The specialist also checks the shelf life of the product, the compliance of price tags and other important characteristics.
• He also conducts reporting work, which helps to adjust subsequent activities, isolate productive actions, and give a real assessment to those that are not the most successful.
• Negotiating with the store management about where and how to put the goods in such a way that the interest of both parties is traced in this.
• Communication with customers. This does not happen so often, but if the buyer turns to the merchandiser to clarify any information about the product, he should engage in a dialogue and answer the question succinctly and competently.
• Determination of the order. There should always be a stock of goods, and you can either decide for yourself, or prescribe it in the recommendation to the merchandiser.
• Rotation. Goods with a risky timeframe are put forward, with a confident margin - they are sent back, otherwise there will be a delay.
• Advertising placement. Posters and curtains, shelf talkers - all this is also in the area of ​​responsibility of the merchandiser.

Sometimes an assessment of the actions of competitors appears in the field of activity of the merchandiser: how they work, what sales tools they use, how they conduct promotions, etc. In many companies a separate specialist is engaged in this matter, but in small firms the function of evaluating competitors is often transferred to the merchandiser. In any case, this should be reflected in the job description.

Types of merchandising.

• Categorical. This is an option when an employee in a certain supermarket or hypermarket is assigned to one category of product. He brings the product into an aesthetic look.
• Visiting. In this case, the employee is not tied to the place of sale, but to the brand. It will work in several locations: in a cafe, in a supermarket, and in a small shop. Lays out the goods, instructs the staff about the requirements for the layout. May have the status of a senior merchandiser, to whom several employees are subordinate.
• Combined. Does all of the above.

A person looking closely at the specialty of a merchandiser wants to know what qualities a specialist should have, what knowledge and skills to own. NSthat understanding will give him the opportunity to assess his own readiness to enter this profession.

First of all, it will be difficult in the profession for a person who cannot work in the hustle and bustle, noise, bright light and other factors of distraction. Not that the merchandiser must necessarily be an extrovert, but still closed people who prefer solitude to everything else will feel extremely uncomfortable in this profession.

But the following qualities will be useful to the merchandiser.

• Sociability. You will have to work not only with shelves, racks and hangers (in case the store sells clothes), but also with commodity experts, sellers, managers and other people.
• Attentiveness. You will have to keep a lot of information in your head, some of it is constantly changing. Therefore, it will be difficult for the absent-minded to cope with professional tasks.
• Goodwill. The product is sold not only by tools, strategies, beautiful packaging and high-quality advertising, but also by people. And the merchandiser too. Even people walking with a cart in a supermarket are more willing to approach those shelves where a benevolent and polite merchandiser lays out the goods.
• Ability to quickly switch. You have to do this too, especially when there are a lot of distractions around.
• Delicacy. You can give everyone a clear example with a cleaning lady: how some representatives of this profession like to grumble at people who “came and stomped”, even though the essence of her work is to clean up after them. Likewise, the merchandiser should be as delicate as possible to people who either accidentally push him, or distract him, or obstruct his view. He works for them, and nothing should interfere with their convenience.
• Self-sufficiency. The merchandiser does not get a standing ovation and glory from the head of the company or any other specialist reaping the fruits of common success. And people who are used to pulling the blanket over themselves will not be able to come to terms with the fact that it is more convenient for the merchandiser to remain invisible. At the same time, within his structure, he can be considered a smart specialist, he will be appreciated and respected, but he will most likely be separated from the enthusiasm of the public.

Experience in trading is, of course, a plus. And key positions are usually occupied by people who have an economic base, know the basics of marketing, understand how the world of trade works, are not surprised by professional vocabulary and have a rough idea of ​​what the essence of the work of colleagues in other positions in their organization is.

The merchandiser must be able to:

• navigate the basics of commodity science;
• know at least the main points in the psychology of advertising and sales tactics;
• write reports and do so with a deep understanding of the concepts, positions, tasks and goals that the leadership assigns to him;
• understand the peculiarities of the production of the goods that he is promoting;
• understand what link in the sales chain he is, and clearly understand what the other links in this chain are doing.

It is great if a merchandiser is an economist, marketer or commodity expert by education, but at the moment this is not a strict criterion for choosing a specialist. You can still come to this area from any other, if there is interest and a willingness to learn. You just need to have a clear idea of ​​what the profession means, how its routine course will look like, what prospects exist.

In many cases, becoming a merchandiser simply has to go through an interview and prove yourself excellently during your internship or probationary period. Sometimes a merchandiser is nurtured within a team, for example, a salesperson becomes one. First, he studies, follows the work of an experienced senior comrade, after which he begins his first professional tests. Perhaps he will be given an exam: he will not have to take several subjects, as at an institute, but he must pass the test confidently.

There are also a lot of merchandising courses today, both face-to-face and distance. For greater confidence, it is worth going through them: both the employer and the applicant will like it, who will not feel like an inexperienced beginner, confused and afraid of the huge amount of knowledge and skills that fall on him.

The gap can be huge, as there is a huge difference between the introductory terms. A beginner with no experience and professional achievements, working with a modest trading structure, can hardly count on a wage of more than 20-25 thousand rubles. However, if the structure is not so small, the starting average salary will be around 30 thousand rubles. A more experienced employee with merit and established reputation receives 40-45 thousand rubles, and those merchandisers who are willing to entice competitors with pleasure earn 60 and 70 thousand rubles (but this must be reached).

Again, the important thing is the schedule, workload, the presence of related responsibilities, etc. Finally, the city where the specialist works is important. Therefore, in the first year of work, the salary can be modest, and after a couple of successful years - an order of magnitude higher.

Are there people who come to a trading structure for the position of a merchandiser, and see themselves on it after 10 years or more - it is unlikely. Almost everyone wants, one way or another, to climb the career ladder. The first obvious rise is getting the 1st category, the second is the status of a senior merchandiser (if the company has such a staff).

In the future, with experience and merit, a merchandiser can become a marketer (and sometimes a leading marketer). It is no secret that many come to the profession to gain experience, after which they leave for free swimming. And even more often they open their own outlet, and their skills in merchandising will be extremely useful to them.

Also today you can get a job as follows: learn a lot in practice and become the theorist who provides the foundation for others. Become a coach, train young merchandisers, maintain a professional account on social media, etc.