NOT

Just got a big, fat whopping $12 for a project I did to help out a merch company doing resets of those el-cheapo movies. They made it sound great like you're really going to get $12 per hour but then in fine print find out you're limited to one hour no matter what. I called one of their representatives to ask about the extra for mileage they were going to give me to make that 162 mile round trip and she said "We don't give mileage. Unless it's in writing we can't do anything." Well, I DO have it in writing and I shall sent to the big magoo who owns the company.

So far I am not impressed with my doing merchandising. I can just smell a Cettie adventure in the making when I have to operate the cardboard baler or forklift when they hide my boxes way up on at the top of those high shelves in the stockroom.

Cettie,
Just like you learn from experience via MS that some companies are worth it, and some aren't. Well, you need to do the same with Merchandising Companies.

OldDog said it, same deal as MS companies - only it is more complicated because many of them these days make you sign on as an employee (and I can understand why because of the frequent back room access and the need for accountability).

You have to weed out the ones that have crappy assignments (though all of them have some crappy assignments and that video one hour job counts ...).

I just did one of those this week in a grocery store and afterward demanded an extra hour and a quarter of pay because there was just so many tasks they expected to be done (put up 2 new displays, service the 4 sided fixture, pack up hundreds of videos for return and then inventory the whole damned lot) and that is after waiting for a manager to get back room access and then digging the order out from under the piles of stuff stacked on top. Grrr. Definitely not a 1 hour job.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2015 11:22PM by Boutique.

I'll try looking around for other merchandising companies who may be a lot better than this one.

I work for Advantage Sales and Marketing and also for Market Connect Group. They are both good companies to work for. I do clothing merchandising in Kohls and also some demos for MCG. I do a lot of grocery store resets for ASM and I really enjoy the work. Also, I have been offered work by SPAR, and I know some people who work for Atlantic Coast and Crossmark who are happy with those companies as well. Merchandising is a great way to fill in the gaps when I don't have any mystery shops to do.

Oh, and both MCG and ASM do give mileage for over a certain amount of miles or from store to store.

Do you know where there may be a list of merchandising companies in addition to these? I'm getting a better vehicle soon and I am interested in this type of work; I've set up the shelving and products in an entire auto parts store once with an inventory company I used to work for a few years ago. Smaller resets would be a piece of cake if nearby.

I think I'm not cut out for merchandising. I like doing my job well, and too often, I found it impossible to do, because whatever merchandiser had last done the assignment had FUBARred it so badly there was no
saving it. Too many hours spent waiting for a Manager to escort me back to where packages for Vendors
are kept, too many hours uselessly hunting for packages that just weren't there. And when you finally
do locate a package, your entire time allotment for the job is already used up. Much, much too stressful for me.

It's bad enough to be responsible for your own mess; I absolutely refuse to be responsible for a mess the guy before me left.

And while I do well with written instructions, I cannot "read" or interpret planograms. When whoever set it up, say it's supposed to be black/white/red, and instead it's purple/green/white, I just get lost. I actually sat in a
Verizon store and cried after spending almost 3 hours trying to fit the planogram I received to the layout actually in the store. An employee came over and asked me what was wrong, and I told him my pictures of what the store set up should be didn't have any correlation with what I was seeing. He looked at my papers and
said, oh, we always just throw these away. Our girls are really great at setting up attractive displays, so we
just let them do them however they like.

The other part I found difficult was submitting reports. They are, for many companies, supposed to be submitted daily. So I get on the computer, do the report, hit "submit", and the dang thing just totally disappears. Or I get a window that says my file is too large and cannot be accepted, when all I've done
is answered every question. Front Row was the worst -- I was supposed to get $20 an hour, but ended up not getting paid one dime, because their website never would accept my report. So I called it in to the girl that was my "scheduler", and she SAID she'd fill it in and submit it for me. I gave her all the info on the phone, but there's no record of the report being submitted. I never got a dime.

InStore, the people I worked with are terrific, I think the manager was Jerry Lawrence. I drove 300 miles, was 100% unsuccessful in getting the assignment completed, and he made sure I was paid $12 to help with my gas expense. Totally unexpected, since I knew I totally failed at the assignment.

To those of you who DO merchandising jobs, my hat's off to ya. I'm a big fat failure at it, so you should take my negative words with a grain of salt!

Like every job, merchandising has a learning curve. It takes a while to cultivate relationships and know where planograms are mandatory and when they are suggestions.

Not all stores fit the same mold and have different floor plans and fixtures. The main goal is to get the product out and looking its best. A reputable merchandising company will give you ample time to complete the task, check stock and have time for clean up and presentation. If not, drop the company and look for a better one. There are plenty out there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2015 08:18PM by kalfini.