Retail representative vs sales clerk

The differences between retail representatives and sales clerks 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 $25,739 average annual salary of a sales clerk.

The top three skills for a retail representative include flexibility, store management and certification programs. The most important skills for a sales clerk are customer service, stock shelves, and sales floor.

Retail representative vs sales clerk overview

	Retail Representative	Sales Clerk
Yearly salary	$31,790	$25,739
Hourly rate	$15.28	$12.37
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	402,132	372,651
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
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 a sales clerk do?

A sales clerk is responsible for assisting customers in purchasing products, responding to customer inquiries, and providing product recommendations. Sales clerks require excellent customer service and communication skills to offer the best services to the customers and maintain good customer feedback for the business. They also check inventories, request supplies as needed, and organize product displays on the appropriate shelves. A sales clerk must have strong verbal communication skills to manage customer concerns and excellent time-management skills to perform tasks within the fast-paced work environment.

Retail representative vs sales clerk salary

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

	Retail Representative	Sales Clerk
Average salary	$31,790	$25,739
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $38,000	Between $16,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Hawaii Pacific Health
Best paying industry	-	Energy

Differences between retail representative and sales clerk education

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

	Retail Representative	Sales Clerk
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 34%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Retail representative vs sales clerk demographics

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

	Retail Representative	Sales Clerk
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4%	Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7%
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, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 6.8% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between retail representative and sales clerk 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.

Sales clerk example responsibilities.

Supervise women's department, manage jewelry department, assist customers on finalizing purchases
Process monetary transactions POS system.
Follow POS procedures daily and complete appropriate paperwork.
Prepare quality food products, process accurate register transactions, maintain general appearance and cleanliness of store premises.
Improve customer solicitation pitch to increase Kohl's credit card application solicitations.

Retail representative vs sales clerk skills

Common retail representative skills

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

Common sales clerk skills

Customer Service, 26%
Stock Shelves, 9%
Sales Floor, 8%
Retail Sales, 6%
Product Knowledge, 5%
POS, 5%

Retail Representative vs. similar jobs

Retail Representative related careers

Retail Representative related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Retail Representative
Retail Representative vs Sales Clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse sales jobs