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(Retail Merchandiser, Field Representative, Merchandising Representative, In-Store Merchandiser)
Retail & Customer Service
Salary
€26,000 - €38,000/yr
Level
Operational
Outlook
Stable
Sector
Retail & Customer Service
As a Field Merchandiser you travel between retail outlets — supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores and other shops — to ensure that a supplier's or agency's products are displayed correctly, fully stocked and positioned according to agreed planograms. You set up and maintain product displays, rotate stock, check pricing labels and ensure that promotional materials such as point-of-sale units are in place and looking their best. Your working day is largely independent, managing your own route and time across a territory that may cover a county or several towns. You liaise regularly with store managers and retail staff, and report back to your agency or supplier on stock levels, competitor activity and any compliance issues you encounter.
Listen: a day as a Field Merchandiser
Your alarm goes off at 6.45 a.m. Before you leave the house, you check your route sheet on your agency's app — today you have six calls spread across three towns in County Kildare. The app shows you the planogram for each store, which is the supplier's diagram specifying exactly where each product should sit on the shelf, how many facings it needs and what point-of-sale material must be displayed alongside it. You arrive at a large supermarket in Naas by 8.15 a.m., signing in at the customer-service desk as required. You head straight to the breakfast-cereal aisle with your trolley, a box-cutter, a stock count sheet and a handheld device for logging data. You notice that a competitor's product has crept into shelf space allocated to your client's brand, so you politely rearrange the bay to match the planogram exactly, rotate older stock to the front and fill gaps from the back-of-store stockroom.
There are no formal third-level entry requirements for field merchandising; many people begin after completing the Leaving Certificate or a QQI Level 5 certificate in Retail Practice, Sales or Business Administration at a College of Further Education. Leaving Certificate subjects such as Business, Geography (useful for territory awareness) and Irish or English support communication skills valued in the role. A full, clean Category B driving licence is effectively essential for most Irish field merchandiser positions given the travel involved. Some larger FMCG employers or agencies offer structured graduate trainee programmes that accept Level 7 or Level 8 graduates in Business, Marketing or Retail Management for faster progression. No statutory professional registration body governs this occupation, though membership of bodies such as the Marketing Institute of Ireland can support career development at a more senior level.
Most people enter field merchandising directly after school or a short FET course, working for a merchandising agency or a consumer goods supplier covering a local territory. With experience you can move into a senior field role managing a larger territory or a small team of merchandisers. From there, progression leads to roles such as Merchandising Team Leader, National Field Manager or in-house Category Executive with a brand or retailer. Some experienced merchandisers move into buying, category management or brand sales roles within FMCG companies.
AI-powered planogram software and image-recognition tools are increasingly used by retailers and suppliers to audit shelf compliance remotely via smartphone photographs, reducing some of the manual checking work a field merchandiser traditionally does. Automated stock-monitoring systems linked to EPOS data can flag replenishment needs before a merchandiser's visit, making route planning more efficient. However, the physical tasks of building displays, placing point-of-sale materials and resolving in-store issues still require a person on the ground, meaning AI is more likely to support and direct the role than replace it. Merchandisers who are comfortable using digital reporting apps and planogram tools will be better placed as the role becomes more data-driven.
→ Field Merchandiser (Current role)
Organisations in Ireland that employ people in this occupation.
Nationwide
Field merchandising teams cover FMCG brands across Irish retail.
Dublin and Nationwide
Merchandisers support point-of-sale display rollouts for packaging clients.
Nationwide
Field reps maintain battery and lighting displays across Irish stores.
Nationwide
Merchandisers ensure P&G brands are correctly shelved and promoted.
Dublin and Nationwide
Field teams manage planograms and promotions for Unilever product ranges.
Dublin and Nationwide
Irish agency providing dedicated field merchandising services to retail brands.
Nationwide
Specialist Irish agency placing merchandisers in supermarkets and pharmacies.
Dublin and Nationwide
Merchandisers maintain pharmacy and grocery displays for consumer health brands.
Nationwide
Field merchandisers ensure confectionery and petfood planograms are followed.
Nationwide
Merchandisers check cereal aisle compliance and set up promotional units.
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