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The differences between customer specialists and customer service retail associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a customer specialist has an average salary of $38,371, which is higher than the $30,002 average annual salary of a customer service retail associate.
The top three skills for a customer specialist include customer transactions, client facing and phone calls. The most important skills for a customer service retail associate are POS, customer service, and customer orders.
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Retail Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $38,371 | $30,002 |
| Hourly rate | $18.45 | $14.42 |
| Growth rate | -4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 202,965 | 580,336 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
A customer specialist is responsible for assisting customers with their needs and concerns about the products and services offered by the company, addressing their inquiries timely and accurately. Customer specialists evaluate the customers' issues and provide immediate solutions through remote communication. In some cases, a customer specialist may send technical staff to the customer's location for problems that cannot be resolved over the phone or e-mail. They also take orders from the customers, process their payments, and explain the features and functions of the product.
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.
Customer specialists and customer service retail associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Retail Associate | |
| Average salary | $38,371 | $30,002 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $66,000 | Between $23,000 And $37,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Bellevue, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | AbbVie | Tractor Supply |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer specialist and a customer service retail associate in terms of educational background:
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Retail Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer specialists' and customer service retail associates' demographics:
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Retail Associate | |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5% | Male, 33.3% Female, 66.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 6.5% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |