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What is a retail account manager and how to become one
Retail account managers work with a limited number of major retailers or with a more significant number of smaller, independent retailers such as main accounts or national accounts. They need to provide the best customer services, maintain effective customer relationships, manage performance, and develop business strategies.
They require a bachelor's degree in business administration (BBA), including accounting, advertising, communicating, banking, managing, and marketing courses for this role. The account manager should have customer service, administration, or distribution histories.
A retail account manager's average salary is $38,492 a year, which is $18.51 an hour. Depending on their years of experience, the pay can go up to $90,000 a year. They usually work in an office setting and may have to work more than 40 hours weekly, and travel is generally in the job description.
What general advice would you give to a retail account manager?
Kaustav Misra Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Central Connecticut State University
Avg. Salary $71,641
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth rate 5%
Growth rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%
Asian 4.07%
Black or African American 3.24%
Hispanic or Latino 9.82%
Unknown 4.41%
White 78.23%
Genderfemale 39.08%
male 60.92%
Age - 46American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 46Stress level is manageable
7.1 - high
Complexity level is advanced
7 - challenging
Work life balance is poor
6.4 - fair
Retail account manager career paths
Key steps to become a retail account manager
Explore retail account manager education requirements
Start to develop specific retail account manager skills
Skills Percentages Customer Service 18.37% Customer Relationships 12.58% Account Management 11.48% Customer Satisfaction 10.07% Client Relationships 7.69% Complete relevant retail account manager training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New retail account managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a retail account manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real retail account manager resumes.Research retail account manager duties and responsibilities
- Manage accounts while providing excellent customer service, help build financial relationships, redirecting calls in upselling credit per customer needs
- Develop a direct marketing plan to generate referrals from CPA firms.
- Generate growth proposals for current ADP accounts and prepare presentations for prospective clients.
- Support the sales force all major distributors by visiting the retailers with POS and samples.
Apply for retail account manager jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a retail account manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How did you land your first retail account manager job
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Average retail account manager salary
The average retail account manager salary in the United States is $71,641 per year or $34 per hour. Retail account manager salaries range between $42,000 and $120,000 per year.
What am I worth?
How do retail account managers rate their job?
Retail account manager reviews
Motivating people and helping to create success in each person's day. Honor God serve people in rich people's lives, pursue excellence in service.
Not enough time in each day to get everything accomplished.
Semi-flexible work hours. You have a sales goal and customers to call on in order to achieve said goal, so you have some flexibility of your schedule.
The amount of travel required takes you away from home frequently. If you have a family, being away starts taking a toll on them and work/life balance suffers.
Coming in contact with people, motivating staff, making the numbers, profitability for everyone
I like everything
Updated January 8, 2025
