Associate/team lead vs stores supervisor

The differences between associate/team leads and stores supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an associate/team lead and a stores supervisor. Additionally, an associate/team lead has an average salary of $54,721, which is higher than the $34,046 average annual salary of a stores supervisor.

The top three skills for an associate/team lead include excellent interpersonal, product knowledge and quality standards. The most important skills for a stores supervisor are sales floor, ladders, and store management.

Associate/team lead vs stores supervisor overview

	Associate/Team Lead	Stores Supervisor
Yearly salary	$54,721	$34,046
Hourly rate	$26.31	$16.37
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	247,018	286,651
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

What does an associate/team lead do?

An associate/team lead oversees the performance of team members while ensuring that clients get to receive optimal services. Their responsibilities typically include establishing guidelines and objectives, managing schedules, generating leads, performing market research and analysis, and developing strategies to optimize the daily operations. They may communicate with clients and assist them by identifying their needs, answering inquiries, and resolving issues and concerns. Moreover, as an associate/team lead, it is essential to guide and encourage staff to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.

What does a stores supervisor do?

Store or retail supervisors are management professionals who are responsible for managing a team of staff members to ensure the smooth operation of a retail store. These supervisors are required to arrive early at the store so that they can open the store and disable the alarm system as well as prepare the cash registers. They must maintain inventory level and order new products when necessary while keeping records of every product available in their backroom. Store supervisors must also act as a customer service agent to help customers enjoy their experience in the store.

Associate/team lead vs stores supervisor salary

Associate/team leads and stores supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Associate/Team Lead	Stores Supervisor
Average salary	$54,721	$34,046
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $104,000	Between $26,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Providence, RI
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Citi	Nestlé
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between associate/team lead and stores supervisor education

There are a few differences between an associate/team lead and a stores supervisor in terms of educational background:

	Associate/Team Lead	Stores Supervisor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Associate/team lead vs stores supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between associate/team leads' and stores supervisors' demographics:

	Associate/Team Lead	Stores Supervisor
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 51.8% Female, 48.2%	Male, 48.2% Female, 51.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between associate/team lead and stores supervisor duties and responsibilities

Associate/team lead example responsibilities.

Accomplish requirements, allocating resources, scheduling and coordinating staff and assure accuracy of payroll.
Ensure all sales transactions, refunds and POS system function smoothly and take corrective action when necessary.
Process sales transactions, POS, credit applications, discounts, trade-in allowances, warranties and delivery dates.
Provide leadership and mentoring of team members to increase productivity while ensuring accuracy.
Handle inbound/outbound escalate customer complaints, including executive escalations from various levels of leadership.
Aggregate, analyze and organize information from QC reports into a department-wide WIKI to facilitate information sharing and best practice utilization.

Stores supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage the daily task of a retail pet store, delivering great customer services and increase net sales.
Assist in maintaining department staffing levels to ensure scheduling and service requirements are achieved while maintaining payroll objectives.
Assist store leadership in effectively leading, managing and developing store and/or department operations and associates to maximize sales and profitability.
Handle customer transactions on POS along with getting change for all register and cash room.
Maintain store cleanliness and ensure compliance with safety regulations.
Exercise cleanliness and raise awareness of cleanliness and encourage safety generate work areas.

Associate/team lead vs stores supervisor skills

Common associate/team lead skills

Excellent Interpersonal, 18%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Quality Standards, 9%
Leadership, 7%
Math, 6%
Customer Satisfaction, 6%

Common stores supervisor skills

Sales Floor, 10%
Ladders, 8%
Store Management, 7%
Cash Handling, 7%
Store Operations, 5%
Customer Service, 5%

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Sales Industry
Associate/Team Lead
Associate/Team Lead vs Stores Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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