How to Hire a Merchandiser

Why hire a merchandiser?

An efficient merchandiser can help your store achieve its revenue and profit targets by making sure it’s stocked with products and by placing products strategically. Merchandisers are also responsible for:

• Planning and creating merchandise strategies
• Reviewing sales numbers, customer reactions and market movements to forecast future needs
• Actively collaborating with suppliers, distributors and buyers to negotiate quantities and prices

Deciding between a full-time vs part-time merchandiser

Before writing a merchandiser job description or interviewing candidates, it’s important to decide if you need a full-time, part-time or freelance merchandiser (and what your budget will allow).

Many merchandisers work on a part-time or freelance basis, especially since much of their work is done overnight or on weekends while the store is closed. Hiring a part-time or freelance merchandiser can give you flexibility and help you meet demands as they come up. However, you may want to hire a full-time merchandiser if you need help with strategy and creative direction as well as ordering products on an ongoing basis and developing relationships with vendors.

What are the different types of merchandisers?

When hiring a merchandiser, it’s important to understand the specific kind of merchandiser you need for your business. Whether you need someone to create visually appealing store displays or rearrange parts of your store, there’s a merchandiser that can get the job done. Here are some of the most common types of merchandisers to help you find one that meets your needs:

• Merchandising assistant: Supports merchandising team by performing admin and data entry tasks, helping place orders for products, tracking purchase orders, following up with vendors, etc. 
• Reset merchandiser: Rearranges a store’s products by stocking or restocking according to new plans. May rebuild whole sections of a store, including shelves and displays. Reset merchandisers often work overnight while the store is closed to customers.
• Traveling merchandiser: Travels to different store locations to install fixtures and signs and complete other merchandising projects.
• Visual merchandiser: Plans, designs and creates visual displays to promote products. May include styling mannequins, navigational signs, fixture blocking and designing seasonal displays. 

Where to find merchandisers

To find the right merchandiser for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Ask for referrals: Reach out to your personal and professional networks and ask if they know anyone with the right skills and experience for your merchandiser role.
• Post help wanted ads: Create eye-catching help wanted signs and post them in your store’s window to attract more merchandiser candidates.
• Post your job online: Try posting your merchandiser job on Indeed to find and attract quality merchandiser candidates.

Skills to look for in a great merchandiser

Merchandisers are an essential part of a store. When hiring a merchandiser, look for these top skills, qualifications and attributes: 

• High school diploma or GED (Associate’s degree is a plus)
• Ability to follow a planogram
• Preferred experience of more than 2+ years’ in retail or merchandising
• Proficiency with MS Office and retail management software
• Experience with store fixture and signage installation
• Current driver’s license with a clean driving record
• Exceptional customer service skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Writing a merchandiser job description

A thoughtful description can help you find qualified merchandiser candidates. A merchandiser job description should include a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your merchandiser job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on merchandiser jobs, according to Indeed data:

• merchandiser
• retail
• hiring immediately
• merchandising
• retail merchandiser
• weekly pay

Interviewing merchandiser candidates

To hire a suitable merchandiser, take the time to vet candidates and ask detailed interview questions to get a feel for their knowledge and skills. Strong candidates for merchandiser roles will be confident answering interview questions on topics like:

• Shelf management and point of sale (POS) services
• Experience managing merchandising for a store
• How they’ve contributed to increased business revenue and profits

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of merchandiser interview questions for examples (with sample answers).