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The differences between customer service associate/cashiers and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a customer service associate/cashier and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, which is higher than the $26,933 average annual salary of a customer service associate/cashier.
The top three skills for a customer service associate/cashier include front end, cash handling and customer service. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $26,933 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $12.95 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 253,728 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer service associate/cashier is responsible for processing payments for the customers' orders. The customer service associate/cashier inspects the items, ensuring that the pricing and quantity from scanning are accurate. They also check for possible item defects and offer replacements, process payment refunds as needed, issue receipts to keep proof of payment, respond to customer's inquiries about a product, market promotional offers, and operate cash registers. A customer service associate/cashier must have excellent customer service skills and communication skills to boost customer satisfaction and increase sales goals.
Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Customer service associate/cashiers and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $26,933 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $33,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | - | Washington |
| Best paying company | - | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | - | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service associate/cashier and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service associate/cashiers' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 6.5% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |