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What does a footwear sales associate do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a footwear sales associate do

Footwear sales associates focus on improving sales of all footwear products of a company. The sales associate works with the advertisement and marketing team to develop strategies to increase sales, maximize customer reach, and create a brand people can trust. Responsibilities of a footwear sales associate include monitoring inventory and issuing order requests for the replenishment of supplies, communicating with manufacturers, and keeping the management up-to-date as to the performance of each product in the market.

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Footwear sales associate responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real footwear sales associate resumes:

  • Supervise women's department, manage jewelry department, assist customers on finalizing purchases
  • Complete purchases with cash, credit and debit payment methods while operating a POS system.
  • Administer suggestions in the process of footwear and equipment organization and placement.
  • Maintain inventory and organization of warehouse, implement plan-o-grams, clean, organize, and maintain athletics department.
  • Update daily records of sales orders and maintain familiarity with dealership fleets including staying update regarding competitor products and offerings.
  • Improve customer solicitation pitch to increase Kohl's credit card application solicitations.

Footwear sales associate skills and personality traits

We calculated that 28% of Footwear Sales Associates are proficient in Cash Handling, Apparel, and Customer Engagement. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Interpersonal skills, and Math skills.

We break down the percentage of Footwear Sales Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Cash Handling, 28%

    Provide customer service through cash handling, answering and transferring calls upon customer inquiry and inventory maintenance

  • Apparel, 27%

    Uphold DICK S Sporting Goods standards for merchandise presentation of the best apparel and equipment brands in sporting goods.

  • Customer Engagement, 25%

    Create a world-class customer experience by providing passionate customer service and selling through customer engagement.

  • Merchandise Presentation, 15%

    Uphold merchandise presentation standards by executing visual directives.

  • Customer Service, 2%

    Direct marketing and advertising strategy, display of merchandise, customer service and communication, stock and merchandise education and management.

  • Sales Floor, 1%

    Assisted customers with sizing, fitting, and locating of items on sales floor, in addition to ordering stock.

Common skills that a footwear sales associate uses to do their job include "cash handling," "apparel," and "customer engagement." You can find details on the most important footwear sales associate responsibilities below.

Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a footwear sales associate to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "retail sales workers must be responsive to the wants and needs of customers." Footwear sales associates often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "cashier acquired skills: customer contact and interactions inventory balancing and controls loss prevention and evaluation listening skills and customer retention sales"

Interpersonal skills. Many footwear sales associate duties rely on interpersonal skills. "a friendly and outgoing personality is important for these workers because the job requires almost constant interaction with people.," so a footwear sales associate will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways footwear sales associate responsibilities rely on interpersonal skills: "advanced interpersonal skills with the ability to have customers feel welcomed in a retail environment. "

Math skills. This is an important skill for footwear sales associates to perform their duties. For an example of how footwear sales associate responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "retail sales workers must have the ability to calculate price totals, discounts, and change owed to customers." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a footwear sales associate: "operated cash register while utilizing basic math skills and friendly and efficient customer service. ".

Selling skills. For certain footwear sales associate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "selling skills." The day-to-day duties of a footwear sales associate rely on this skill, as "retail sales workers must be persuasive when interacting with customers." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what footwear sales associates do: "prevented loss of sales by persuading customers to order out-of stock merchandise instead of going to competitors to buy. "

All footwear sales associate skills

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Footwear Sales Associate Resume
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Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume
Footwear Sales Associate Resume

Compare different footwear sales associates

Footwear sales associate vs. Sales associate sporting goods

A sales associate and cashier is an employee who takes on the dual role of helping customers with their product inquiries and facilitating the purchase of the customer. As a sales associate, the employee must be familiar with the different products offered by the company and should be able to direct customers to the product that best suits their needs. As a cashier, the employee must be familiar with the cash register and the system that the company uses to manage sales and facilitate payment. He/She or she must be able to work the equipment needed for a smooth checkout process.

We looked at the average footwear sales associate salary and compared it with the wages of a sales associate sporting goods. Generally speaking, sales associates sporting goods are paid $3,285 higher than footwear sales associates per year.Even though footwear sales associates and sales associates sporting goods are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require merchandise presentation, customer service, and sales floor in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, footwear sales associate responsibilities require skills like "cash handling," "apparel," "customer engagement," and "basic math." Meanwhile a typical sales associate sporting goods has skills in areas such as "background checks," "pallets," "cleanliness," and "goods sales." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

The education levels that sales associates sporting goods earn slightly differ from footwear sales associates. In particular, sales associates sporting goods are 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a footwear sales associate. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Footwear sales associate vs. Sales associate and cashier

A sales support associate is an individual who is responsible for assisting sales staff and help customers. To provide this assistance, sales support associates use customer communication methods such as telephones or email to process customer orders and ensure that they are accurate. They work closely with distributors to make sure that products are available for their customers. Sales support associates may function as either part-time or full time, but companies may require excellent communication skills.

On average, sales associate and cashiers earn a $1,834 higher salary than footwear sales associates a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Footwear sales associates and sales associate and cashiers both require similar skills like "customer service," "sales floor," and "product knowledge" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real footwear sales associate resumes. While footwear sales associate responsibilities can utilize skills like "cash handling," "apparel," "customer engagement," and "merchandise presentation," sales associate and cashiers use skills like "sales associates," "mathematics," "front end," and "cash drawers."

Sales associate and cashiers earn a higher average salary than footwear sales associates. But sales associate and cashiers earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $27,492. Additionally, footwear sales associates earn the highest salaries in the retail with average pay of $25,465 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Sales associate and cashiers tend to reach similar levels of education than footwear sales associates. In fact, they're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Footwear sales associate vs. Sales support associate

Salesfloor associates often work with retail establishments. They are either referred to as retail sales associates or retail associates. These associates greet customers as they arrive, assess their needs, and help them find the right products and services. Other responsibilities include operating cash registers, introducing customers to promotions and opportunities, and cross-selling products to increase sales. Also, they assist customers in getting their complaints resolved as well as with their returns and refunds. Job seekers must have excellent customer service skills, relevant retail experience, and a strong knowledge of selling techniques.

On average, sales support associates earn higher salaries than footwear sales associates, with a $10,149 difference per year.By looking over several footwear sales associates and sales support associates resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "customer service," "sales floor," and "product knowledge." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a footwear sales associate is likely to be skilled in "cash handling," "apparel," "customer engagement," and "merchandise presentation," while a typical sales support associate is skilled in "back room," "math," "sales support," and "strong computer."

Sales support associates make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $45,041. On the other hand, footwear sales associates are paid the highest salary in the retail industry, with average annual pay of $25,465.When it comes to education, sales support associates tend to earn similar degree levels compared to footwear sales associates. In fact, they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Footwear sales associate vs. Sales floor associate

Sales floor associates typically earn higher pay than footwear sales associates. On average, sales floor associates earn a $468 higher salary per year.While their salaries may vary, footwear sales associates and sales floor associates both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "customer service," "product knowledge," and "stock shelves. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A footwear sales associate uses "cash handling," "apparel," "customer engagement," and "merchandise presentation." Sales floor associates are more likely to have duties that require skills in "math," "home health," "sales transactions," and "back room. "sales floor associates reach similar levels of education compared to footwear sales associates, in general. The difference is that they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.