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The differences between customer service associate/cashiers and customer service specialists 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 specialist. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, 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 specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $26,933 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $12.95 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 253,728 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| 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 specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
Customer service associate/cashiers and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $26,933 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $33,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Dell |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer service associate/cashier and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 41% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service associate/cashiers' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Customer Service Associate/Cashier | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |