A Merchandiser plans and develops strategies to better market your product(s). This could be by organising product displays or by calculating an optimal pricing strategy.
From the visual arrangement of your product on the shelves to special promotions and flash sales. The Merchandiser can work on anything product-related that will help maximise your company’s product sales. As such, they can have a tremendous impact on your bottom line.
Typical Merchandiser skills to look for in a candidate include:
- Highly analytical mindset and the ability to distil meaning from vast amounts of data.
- Creative brain that can think outside the box and come up with unique solutions to promote your product better.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and a real team player, as the Merchandiser has to align and collaborate with many stakeholders across your organisation.
- Ability to deliver presentations and pitches on research findings to both direct team members and higher management
Interviewing a Merchandiser
You found a potential candidate for the role, congratulations! That means it’s time to start preparing for the job interview. After all, you need to be just as prepared as they are to ensure that you find the best fit for your business.
Luckily for you, we are here to help. The list below contains a variety of Merchandiser interview questions, ranging from situational questions to questions testing their hard skills. Simply incorporate these questions into your interview process to make finding the right Merchandiser easier.
Do note, though, that these Merchandiser interview questions are best asked during the first interview. They are relatively general to ensure they can be used by anyone hiring a Merchandiser, regardless of your specific business or industry.
How to open the job interview
Before you dive right in with difficult questions, you might want to consider using some icebreakers first. Even the most confident interviewees can feel nervous during a job interview. And the more nervous they are, the bigger the chance they won’t give you their best possible answers. Nerves can stifle someone, which in turn prevents you from truly getting to know the candidate.
So instead of feeding into these nerves, try to start the interview with a few easy opening questions. These questions shouldn’t go into the role’s details too much.