How To Become A Merchant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a merchant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

All of us buy our needs from stores. We get food, raw ingredients, household items, clothing, and other items from a variety of stores. Sometimes, we even get our goods from weekend markets, directly from the sellers. This is where we can even talk to the sellers and maybe even haggle a bit. It might be an old term, but these sellers may be called merchants.

Merchants, in the most basic sense, sell goods. They offer us what we need in exchange for money. This is how they earn a living. While it may sound very straightforward, there are a lot of things that merchants need to consider. They need to account for the cost of raw materials. They also need to scope their competitors' pricing. They also need to ensure that their products are appealing.

This is a very interesting career, especially if you have an entrepreneurial mindset. Just make sure that you are also passionate about this because you need to be in it for the long run.

ScoreMerchantUS Average

Salary

5.9

Avg. Salary $74,999

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 7.40%

Black or African American 8.50%

Hispanic or Latino 23.31%

Unknown 5.16%

White 55.08%

Gender

female 57.85%

male 42.15%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.5

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.5

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a merchant

Explore merchant education requirements

Most common merchant degrees

Bachelor's

56.8 %

Associate

16.7 %

High School Diploma

16.2 %

Start to develop specific merchant skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Development	8.26%
Gross Margin	7.31%
Market Trends	6.96%
Customer Service	6.32%
Strong Analytical	6.09%

Complete relevant merchant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New merchants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a merchant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real merchant resumes.

Research merchant duties and responsibilities

Partner with production on achieving IMU targets and in store deliveries.
Manage merchandise deliverable deadlines: photography, copy, and inventory.
Manage the OTB to ensure seasonal sales, inventory levels, and margin objectives are met.
Lead online visual merchandising decisions base on in-depth understanding of weekly KPI s and high investment products.

Prepare your merchant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your merchant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a merchant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Merchant Resume templates

Build a professional Merchant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Merchant resume.

Apply for merchant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a merchant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do merchants rate their job?