The head of the merchandising department is becoming one of the hottest positions in the recruitment market. To help you better understand this position, please refer to the following article of Navigos Search to find the most useful information!
1. Overview of the head of merchandising position
The head of the merchandising department is the person responsible for all work related to the order of the unit they are working for. They ensure the best quality of goods and services offered from the stage of raw materials to finished products and ultimately delivered to customers.
People working in this position must also balance the interests of customers, related partners and suppliers through collecting and processing information about customer trends and needs.
The head of merchandising is responsible for all work related to the customers' order
2. The head of merchandising job description
The head of the merchandising department is considered to be the person who builds a solid bridge between the manufacturer, the distribution channel and the customer. Their specific jobs are as follows:
- Work with customers, manage customer relationships, and measure customer performance to achieve revenue and profit to meet the set goals of the business ultimately.
- Receive orders and assist customers in the ordering process. Monitor the situation of products from preparation, sample design to shipment. At the same time, support and make suggestions to customers during the ordering process.
- Maintain and store order databases.
- Propose ideas to arrange merchandise at the location of sales to maximize sales.
- Forecast future sales to optimize the number of orders.
- Plan, balance budget and present sales figures forecast to the line manager.
- Work with the shipping department and partners in charge of shipping.
- Forecast production statistics and sales performance.
- Analyze all aspects of best-selling items in order of sales, number of orders received (e.g. price characteristics, product color, best-selling style, etc,...).
- Track items with few orders, attract few customers and come up with plans to boost sales.
- Collect information about customer’s feedback on products and services provided by businesses.
- Manage, train, coach, give detailed instructions, assign targets to subordinates to perform merchandising tasks according to the assigned plan. Support staff when having problems in contacting, complaining and responding to customers’ feedback.
- Report indicators related to orders to the line managers. Propose appropriate business policies for each customer.
- Research and develop new products and customer databases.
- Develop KPIs, set goals and growth plans for the team.
The head of merchandising is responsible for a heavy workload
3. The salary range for head of merchandising position
Based on the specific job description above, you can see that the workload of this position is very complex. Therefore, the income of the head of merchandising is also quite high compared to the other similar positions in the market. On average, the salary for this position is between 10 - 15 million per month, excluding commissions from successfully signed contracts.
In addition to the attractive salary, the head of merchandising also enjoys the company's remuneration policies such as: insurance, bonus, annual general health check, ... Especially, he or she will be able to work in a dynamic environment to promote their strengths. At the same time, they are offered training courses that can foster professional skills and expand relationships with customers and partners.
4. What qualities are required to become an outstanding head of merchandising?
The head of merchandising position is responsible for many important tasks, acting as a bridge between customers and manufacturers. Therefore, to become successful, you need to possess the following factors:
4.1. Qualification, expertise and experience
To be an outstanding head of merchandising, you need to possess a solid professional background. To be specific, you must graduate from a college or university in related majors such as business, commerce or customer service, accounting, etc. Being properly trained is a stepping stone to help you successfully complete the assigned tasks.
To catch the eye of the recruiter, as a head of merchandising, you must have past work experience from the same position or other equivalent jobs.
You need to meet the qualifications and experience requirements for the head of merchandising position
4.2. Skills
Understanding the business field
This is an extremely important factor for a head of merchandising. You need to understand every step in the business operating, from sales, marketing to customer care,... You don't need to be extraordinary, but you should equip yourself with a certain amount of knowledge to advise customers on services, expenses, and staff management as needed.
You also have to be knowledgeable about the field you are operating in, such as industry characteristics, competitors, understanding the market, target customers, etc. It is said that “to know oneself is true progress", only when clearly understanding the internal and external situation, the enterprise has a chance to succeed in the fiercely competitive business market.
Communication and negotiation skills
It is said that being an excellent head of merchandising, you cannot lack communication and negotiation skills because this position requires regular communication with customers directly and indirectly. Therefore, good communication skills will help you work more effectively when handling customer information.
You also need to listen actively to order complaints and figure out how to resolve them. Effective communication skills will help you listen better and offer the most effective solutions to customers.
You might be interested in : The "golden" secret to help you become a top negotiator
Networking skill
The person in charge of the head of merchandising position will work with many departments in the company, from the warehouse department, engineering to customers,... They must have a wide relationship network to serve the job well and know how to build a strong network is an indispensable skill.
Building a wide and positive working relationship not only helps you build a good image in the eyes of your colleagues, but also creates trust, increases motivation and satisfaction to work more effectively. However, what is the secret to helping you build and improve relationships at your work?
Read now: How to build strong relationships in the workplace?
Proficient in computing
The head of merchandising will be in charge of performing intense computer tasks. Therefore, you need to master computer operations and especially be proficient in data import and export operations as well as information processing.
This is a mandatory standard to fulfill the duties of a head of merchandising, especially as the business is growing more and more complex. The more practical work experience is, the more chances you have to practice the skill. In addition, to successfully complete merchandising tasks, you also need to practice some of the following soft skills:
- Be agile and resourceful at work.
- Be sensitive to numbers, bills, vouchers.
- Be flexible in handling situations that occur with customers and orders.
- Comply with the sales process, bills of lading and warehousing for businesses.
- Be able to work effectively in a team and with other departments.
- Be active and careful at work.
- Be honest and always have the will to make progress in work.
- Not afraid of difficulties, willing to learn.
This job requires a lot of important skills
At this point, you probably have an answer on how to become an excellent head of merchandising and understand the scope of work as well as the corresponding salary offered for this position. Thank you for always following Navigossearch.com. See you in the next articles about the hottest job positions in the market.
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