Merchandising and Buying Operations

Types of Degrees Merchandising and Buying Operations Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many merchandising and buying operations graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Undergraduate Certificate	78
Basic Certificate	34
Master’s Degree	19
Graduate Certificate	2
Associate Degree	1

What Merchandising and Buying Operations Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to merchandising and buying operations and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Merchandising and Buying Operations Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in merchandising and buying operations should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Skills for Merchandising and Buying Operations Majors

When studying merchandising and buying operations, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Abilities for Merchandising and Buying Operations Majors

As you progress with your merchandising and buying operations degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Merchandising and Buying Operations

Some degrees associated with merchandising and buying operations may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to merchandising and buying operations have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	14.8%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	21.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	10.9%
Some College Courses	8.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	12.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	36.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.3%

Online Merchandising and Buying Operations Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	2	1
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Merchandising and Buying Operations

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to merchandising and buying operations.

Major	Number of Grads
General Sales, Distribution, and Marketing Operations	3,378
Professional Sales	1,267
Retailing and Retail Operations	960
Other General Merchandising, Sales, and Related Marketing Operations	226

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Nick Nijhuis under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.