Department lead vs retail sales lead

The differences between department leads and retail sales leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a department lead and a retail sales lead. Additionally, a department lead has an average salary of $42,113, which is higher than the $40,781 average annual salary of a retail sales lead.

The top three skills for a department lead include cleanliness, safety procedures and customer service. The most important skills for a retail sales lead are math, sales floor, and retail sales.

Department lead vs retail sales lead overview

	Department Lead	Retail Sales Lead
Yearly salary	$42,113	$40,781
Hourly rate	$20.25	$19.61
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	204,534	442,994
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

What does a department lead do?

A department lead's responsibilities will vary in an organization or company. It will, most of the time, revolve around overseeing the progress of work in a particular area and evaluating department staff's performance. Other responsibilities include setting goals and implementing the company's policies and guidelines. They may also carry out administrative tasks such as approving and signing paperwork, producing reports and presentations, and crafting guidelines and strategies to help reach goals. Furthermore, as a department head, it is important to encourage staff and shape them into valuable company members.

What does a retail sales lead do?

Retail sales leads are responsible for the recruitment and training of new sales team members, assisting the management in selling products, and creating sales reports. Some duties and responsibilities of a retail sales lead include customer services such as answering inquiries and complaints, providing assistance and product information, suggesting items and opinions. Such experiences are an advantage for them to be promoted if they perform their tasks effectively and efficiently.

Department lead vs retail sales lead salary

Department leads and retail sales leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Department Lead	Retail Sales Lead
Average salary	$42,113	$40,781
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $79,000	Between $27,000 And $59,000
Highest paying City	New Haven, CT	Bellevue, NE
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Tufts Medical Center	Microsoft
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Professional

Differences between department lead and retail sales lead education

There are a few differences between a department lead and a retail sales lead in terms of educational background:

	Department Lead	Retail Sales Lead
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 39%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Department lead vs retail sales lead demographics

Here are the differences between department leads' and retail sales leads' demographics:

	Department Lead	Retail Sales Lead
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3%	Male, 46.4% Female, 53.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between department lead and retail sales lead duties and responsibilities

Department lead example responsibilities.

Implement inventory management system to effectively manage on-hands, assist with correct replenishment and maintain an acceptable level of over-stock.
Operate POS system, and receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debit.
Oversee the completion of all POS transactions, maintain cash office records and assistant in training of all new cashiers.
Conduct geotechnical and geological investigations and mineral resource evaluations for commercial, industrial and governmental clients using the above-mentioned drilling techniques.
Develop unique SQL, cloudbase, and ADHOC telephony query techniques resulting in the identification of previously undiscovered nefarious networks.

Retail sales lead example responsibilities.

Support payroll, company administration, managing of multiple location including schedules and projects.
Manage reports for data analysis including monetary reconciliation, payroll, and client tracking.
Partner in managing operations of multiple retail outlets, including hiring, performance management, scheduling, and merchandising management.
Train new employees to operate POS systems, activation programs, and communicate with customer service via phone or online methods.
Sanitize pet washes, clean store, take stock of pet supply items.
Create and execute numerous projects using PowerPoint to help develop a staff phone directory.

Department lead vs retail sales lead skills

Common department lead skills

Cleanliness, 12%
Safety Procedures, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Store Management, 8%
Inventory Management, 7%
Sales Floor, 6%

Common retail sales lead skills

Math, 13%
Sales Floor, 11%
Retail Sales, 11%
Cash Handling, 8%
Product Knowledge, 7%
Customer Service, 6%

Department Lead vs. similar jobs

Department Lead related careers

Department Lead related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Department Lead
Department Lead vs Retail Sales Lead

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse sales jobs