Merchandise coordinators work with a retail company's products, making sure everything is displayed and priced properly. Some companies expect their coordinators to work as quasi-marketing professionals, taking photos and overseeing website promotion. Others expect merchandising coordinators to work more as administrative assistants, making sure all the paperwork is in place and helping coordinate teams. The salary for a merchandise coordinator varies depending on how much management his job entails and how much technical expertise he needs. According to the Glassdoor job site, the average yearly salary for merchandising coordinator is $42,000 as of 2014.

Education and Experience

The required education and experience to get a merchandise coordinator job varies depending on what the company expects the coordinator to do. The usual requirement is a high school diploma, though some companies might give preference to those with associate's or bachelor degrees in a related field. Most of these jobs require some type of previous retail experience. Some specify that the experience must be in a leadership or management role. You'll have a better chance of getting the job if your work experience is related to the type of products the company sells. For example, it helps to have fashion experience for a clothing store or experience in food retail for an organic food store.

General Responsibilities

Merchandise coordinators take products from the stockroom to the floor, help with how the products are set up in the store, work to create eye-catching displays, keep up with the products' sales and oversee markdowns. They might also need to perform data entry to ensure the store's inventory stays current. Some determine when a stock keeping unit is activated and when the SKU for a product is deactivated and unsold products are removed from the store. They often work with vendors to order new products and make sure the inventory stays up-to-date with current consumer trends.

Online Coordinators

Some merchandise coordinators work with online stores rather than bricks-and-mortar stores. For these jobs, the coordinator must oversee different categories of website products and help coordinate inventory with marketing campaigns. In this role, she determines which merchandise needs a special marketing campaign and what's selling fine on its own. For example, at a shoe store the coordinator might look at how many pairs of boots are in stock, then determine which ones aren't selling very well and need to be moved faster with an online sale. The coordinator might also create new ways of displaying online products, such as using a rotating online carousel, special popup articles about products, and promotions for featured products. She must understand current SEO practices so products are found quickly in web searches.

Personal Qualities

A merchandise coordinator should be good with numbers and able to analyze products both quantitatively and qualitatively. She should be able to manage working relationships without tension and help oversee teams. She also should be adept at developing successful relationships with outside vendors. In addition, merchandise coordinators should be efficient planners -- not procrastinators -- because they must plan what items will be on display months or even seasons in advance.