Retail representative vs customer sales representative

The differences between retail representatives and customer sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a customer sales representative has an average salary of $38,744, which is higher than the $31,790 average annual salary of a retail representative.

The top three skills for a retail representative include flexibility, store management and certification programs. The most important skills for a customer sales representative are customer service, product knowledge, and customer sales.

Retail representative vs customer sales representative overview

	Retail Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$31,790	$38,744
Hourly rate	$15.28	$18.63
Growth rate	-	-4%
Number of jobs	402,132	303,801
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Average age	41	40
Years of experience	-	12

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 a customer sales representative do?

The primary role of customer service representatives is to help customers with questions and complaints. It is also their duties and responsibilities to provide customers with information about services and products, take and process orders, and process returns and modifications. They also store records of customer transactions and interactions and provide feedback on customer service efficacy. Customer service representatives must also ensure that they can give customer satisfaction and offer the best professional support.

Retail representative vs customer sales representative salary

Retail representatives and customer sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Average salary	$31,790	$38,744
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $38,000	Between $27,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	-	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Merck
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between retail representative and customer sales representative education

There are a few differences between a retail representative and a customer sales representative in terms of educational background:

	Retail Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Retail representative vs customer sales representative demographics

Here are the differences between retail representatives' and customer sales representatives' demographics:

	Retail Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Average age	41	40
Gender ratio	Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4%	Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1%
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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 24.4% Asian, 6.8% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between retail representative and customer sales representative 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.

Customer sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage call center productivity levels by maintaining CSR schedule adherence.
Help customers if internet are running slow, if phone are not working, and also help to troubleshoot with them.
Practice good housekeeping methods and overall cleanliness.
Maintain cleanliness and organization of inventory within the assigned department.
Require to troubleshoot products and instruct customers on their proper use/warranty/options.
Work closely with sales director on scheduling, motivation of representations and setting up promotional events.

Retail representative vs customer sales representative skills

Common retail representative skills

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

Common customer sales representative skills

Customer Service, 19%
Product Knowledge, 13%
Customer Sales, 9%
Cleanliness, 8%
Excellent Interpersonal, 6%
Social Media Marketing, 5%

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Retail Representative
Retail Representative vs Customer Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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