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The differences between retail consultants and sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a retail consultant has an average salary of $51,833, which is higher than the $32,167 average annual salary of a sales associate.
The top three skills for a retail consultant include sales floor, retail sales and account issues. The most important skills for a sales associate are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.
| Retail Consultant | Sales Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $51,833 | $32,167 |
| Hourly rate | $24.92 | $15.46 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 73,927 | 579,849 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A retail consultant specializes in developing and recommending strategies to increase a retail store's profit growth and improve its overall operations. Among their duties include gathering and analyzing data, researching new business and client opportunities, inspecting existing programs and systems to identify areas needing improvement, and implementing solutions against problem areas. They may also provide training or insights to employees, oversee reports, and monitor the progress of all operations. Furthermore, a consultant must promote and enforce the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
Retail consultants and sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retail Consultant | Sales Associate | |
| Average salary | $51,833 | $32,167 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $79,000 | Between $21,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New Hampshire | New York |
| Best paying company | SAP | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a retail consultant and a sales associate in terms of educational background:
| Retail Consultant | Sales Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between retail consultants' and sales associates' demographics:
| Retail Consultant | Sales Associate | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 22.9% Asian, 6.8% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |