Types of Degrees 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
Associate Degree	18
Master’s Degree	15
Basic Certificate	7
Undergraduate Certificate	1
Graduate Certificate	1

What Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to merchandising and buying operations were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Merchandising and Buying Operations Majors

Merchandising and Buying Operations majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• 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

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to merchandising and buying operations:

• 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

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a merchandising and buying operations student include the following:

• 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

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. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

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 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	3	0
Bachelor’s Degree	1	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	1
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

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	3,252
Professional Sales	1,039
Retailing and Retail Operations	930
Other General Merchandising, Sales, and Related Marketing Operations	187

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.