Retail representative vs associate retailer

The differences between retail representatives and associate retailers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a retail representative has an average salary of $31,790, which is higher than the $28,763 average annual salary of an associate retailer.

The top three skills for a retail representative include flexibility, store management and certification programs. The most important skills for an associate retailer are ladders, sales floor, and loss prevention.

Retail representative vs associate retailer overview

	Retail Representative	Associate Retailer
Yearly salary	$31,790	$28,763
Hourly rate	$15.28	$13.83
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	402,132	474,522
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	High School Diploma, 35%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	-	-

What does a retail representative do?

A retail representative is in charge of assisting customers with their shopping needs in retail stores, ensuring customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities include greeting customers and identifying their needs, answering inquiries, locating products, offering promotions and recommendations, and conducting demonstrations when possible. There are also instances where they must process payments or refunds. Furthermore, as a retail representative, it is essential to arrange products on shelves to make it look attractive to customers, all while maintaining the cleanliness of the sales floor.

What does an associate retailer do?

An Associate Retailer is responsible for keeping the sales area up to standard and assisting customers while inside the store's premises. Most of the tasks revolve around keeping items on shelves clean and well-organized, greeting and offering assistance to customers, responding to inquiries and locating products, and even providing suggestions or recommendations when necessary and in adherence to the store's policies and regulations. In other stores and retail outlets, the Associate Retailer may also process payments and returns while still putting importance to customer satisfaction.

Retail representative vs associate retailer salary

Retail representatives and associate retailers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Representative	Associate Retailer
Average salary	$31,790	$28,763
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $38,000	Between $23,000 And $35,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Mars
Best paying industry	-	Hospitality

Differences between retail representative and associate retailer education

There are a few differences between a retail representative and an associate retailer in terms of educational background:

	Retail Representative	Associate Retailer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	High School Diploma, 35%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Retail representative vs associate retailer demographics

Here are the differences between retail representatives' and associate retailers' demographics:

	Retail Representative	Associate Retailer
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4%	Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 58.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between retail representative and associate retailer duties and responsibilities

Retail representative example responsibilities.

Manage Nintendo's promotional programs; secure and maintain point-of-purchase displays that alert customers to brand availability.
Execute the proper POS in accounts, particularly with products on sale.
Befriend category managers and backroom personnel to positively impact on OSA, POS placement, and other sell-in tactics.
Educate consumers about products and services and troubleshoot any existing customer concerns relate to service or equipment.
Collaborate with board members to prepare PowerPoint presentations and other written reports and present concepts to management.

Associate retailer example responsibilities.

Accomplish upselling goals to contribute to company's success.
Provide excellent retail customer service; manage stock and inventory; operate POS cash register
Provide excellent customer service while upselling promotional products
Promote the organization via Facebook, twitter, and blog.
Used Rf scanners to pull equipment from stockroom and place on the sales-floor.
Pull items from the queue for restocking, tracking inventory with an RF unit.

Retail representative vs associate retailer skills

Common retail representative skills

Flexibility, 36%
Store Management, 36%
Certification Programs, 11%
PET, 7%
Customer Service, 2%
Product Knowledge, 1%

Common associate retailer skills

Ladders, 23%
Sales Floor, 22%
Loss Prevention, 14%
Customer Issues, 10%
PET, 10%
Retail Store, 4%

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Retail Representative
Retail Representative vs Associate Retailer

Updated January 8, 2025

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