What does an associate retailer do?
An Associate Retailer is responsible for keeping the sales area up to standard and assisting customers while inside the store's premises. Most of the tasks revolve around keeping items on shelves clean and well-organized, greeting and offering assistance to customers, responding to inquiries and locating products, and even providing suggestions or recommendations when necessary and in adherence to the store's policies and regulations. In other stores and retail outlets, the Associate Retailer may also process payments and returns while still putting importance to customer satisfaction.
Associate retailer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real associate retailer resumes:
- Accomplish upselling goals to contribute to company's success.
- Provide excellent retail customer service; manage stock and inventory; operate POS cash register
- Provide excellent customer service while upselling promotional products
- Promote the organization via Facebook, twitter, and blog.
- Used Rf scanners to pull equipment from stockroom and place on the sales-floor.
- Pull items from the queue for restocking, tracking inventory with an RF unit.
- Orchestrate new product releases and branding for the company's best-selling brand, Ezra Fitch ADDITIONALCREDENTIALS
- Tutor elementary students in math, reading, and writing and monitor and report academic progress.
- Assess customer inquiries and pet needs in identifying the services require for particular customer/pet needs and issues.
- Style of fashion have to correlate to the brand to fit in with Abercrombie & Fitch's dress code policy.
- Demonstrate safety precautions associate with heavy lifting and ladders.
- Assist management in maintaining organization and cleanliness of assign retail areas.
- Maintain store appearance and cleanliness to ensure positive shopping experiences for customers.
- Provide instruction to individual students to improve academic performance in math and reading comprehension.
- Develop multitasking and time-management skills when working on various store projects and attending to customers
Associate retailer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Associate Retailers are proficient in Ladders, Sales Floor, and Loss Prevention. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Math skills, and Selling skills.
We break down the percentage of Associate Retailers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Ladders, 23%
Demonstrated safety precautions associated with heavy lifting and ladders.
- Sales Floor, 22%
Performed maintenance responsibility on sales floor and stockroom areas.
- Loss Prevention, 14%
Helped manage inventory by recording data, conducting inventory count and maintaining awareness of potential loss prevention issues and activities.
- Customer Issues, 10%
Maintained appropriate stock levels for inventory and handled customer issues politely and effectively
- PET, 10%
Assist customers with knowledge that helped them decided on what pet to purchase * Kept animal enclosures clean.
- Retail Store, 4%
Inventory Merchandising Associate - Expected to accurately monitor inventory levels for the retail store and warehouse.
"ladders," "sales floor," and "loss prevention" are among the most common skills that associate retailers use at work. You can find even more associate retailer responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for an associate retailer to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what associate retailers do because "a friendly and outgoing personality is important for these workers because the job requires almost constant interaction with people." Additionally, an associate retailer resume shows how associate retailers use interpersonal skills: "showed interpersonal skills by working with coworkers and communicating with customers demonstrated multitasking and organizational skills operated a cash register"
Math skills. Many associate retailer duties rely on math skills. "retail sales workers must have the ability to calculate price totals, discounts, and change owed to customers.," so an associate retailer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways associate retailer responsibilities rely on math skills: "provided instruction to individual students to improve academic performance in math and reading comprehension. "
Selling skills. associate retailers are also known for selling skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to associate retailer responsibilities, because "retail sales workers must be persuasive when interacting with customers." An associate retailer resume example shows how selling skills is used in the workplace: "register: worked with money, provide customer service, process sales, merchandising, overall store cleanliness, loss prevention. "
Customer-service skills. For certain associate retailer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "customer-service skills." The day-to-day duties of an associate retailer rely on this skill, as "retail sales workers must be responsive to the wants and needs of customers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what associate retailers do: "key and alarm holder -customer service -merchandise presentation and facility maintenance -inventory control -safety, loss prevention and procedural compliance -cashier. "
The three companies that hire the most associate retailers are:
- The TJX Companies1,909 associate retailers jobs
- Ross Stores1,893 associate retailers jobs
- Hudson Group
321 associate retailers jobs
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Compare different associate retailers
Associate retailer vs. Customer service retail associate
A customer service retail associate is responsible for providing the highest customer service for the store's customers by responding to their inquiries and concerns and recommending them goods and services that would fit their needs. Customer service retail associates support the marketing campaigns and promotional strategies of the store by offering and demonstrating products to the customers, as well as arranging stock displays, and monitoring the adequacy of inventories. They also escalate high-level complaints to management for immediate resolution and assist with product replacement and issuing refunds as needed.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an associate retailer are more likely to require skills like "ladders," "customer issues," "pet," and "ross." On the other hand, a job as a customer service retail associate requires skills like "product line," "fedex," "strong work ethic," and "retail customer service." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Customer service retail associates really shine in the finance industry with an average salary of $32,384. Comparatively, associate retailers tend to make the most money in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $29,543.customer service retail associates tend to reach similar levels of education than associate retailers. In fact, customer service retail associates are 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Associate retailer vs. Commissioned sales associate
Commissioned sales associates are professionals who conduct sale transactions that can generate additional compensation by increasing selling operations. These associates are must collaborate successfully with fellow associates in regard to sales and commission distribution. They must provide excellent customer service so that they can establish long term relationships with customers and ensure high satisfaction. Commissioned sales associates must also assist the department managers with visual merchandising to arrange racks so that they can place and stock new merchandise.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real associate retailer resumes. While associate retailer responsibilities can utilize skills like "ladders," "pet," "retail store," and "ross," commissioned sales associates use skills like "excellent organizational," "excellent interpersonal," "customer relationships," and "commission sales."
On average, commissioned sales associates earn a higher salary than associate retailers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, commissioned sales associates earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $38,946. Whereas associate retailers have higher pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,543.commissioned sales associates earn similar levels of education than associate retailers in general. They're 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate retailer vs. Footwear sales associate
Footwear sales associates focus on improving sales of all footwear products of a company. The sales associate works with the advertisement and marketing team to develop strategies to increase sales, maximize customer reach, and create a brand people can trust. Responsibilities of a footwear sales associate include monitoring inventory and issuing order requests for the replenishment of supplies, communicating with manufacturers, and keeping the management up-to-date as to the performance of each product in the market.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from associate retailer resumes include skills like "ladders," "customer issues," "pet," and "retail store," whereas a footwear sales associate is more likely to list skills in "apparel," "customer engagement," "advantage card," and "seasonal promotions. "
Footwear sales associates earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $25,465. Comparatively, associate retailers have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,543.Most footwear sales associates achieve a similar degree level compared to associate retailers. For example, they're 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate retailer vs. Apparel sales associate
An apparel sales associate works with customers and makes sales. A sales associate's primary responsibility is to communicate with customers, answer their inquiries about the products, and promote its benefits to encourage a purchase. The apparel sales associate is expected to be knowledgeable about the company's products or services. The associate's other responsibilities are to develop sales techniques to encourage purchases, make a store inventory of products, and receive feedback and comments from customers. They will also work with the sales and marketing department.
Types of associate retailer
Updated January 8, 2025
