Retail representative vs sales person

The differences between retail representatives and sales people can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales person has an average salary of $42,010, 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 sales person are basic math, phone calls, and POS.

Retail representative vs sales person overview

	Retail Representative	Sales Person
Yearly salary	$31,790	$42,010
Hourly rate	$15.28	$20.20
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	402,132	378,132
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
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 person do?

A salesperson is in charge of ensuring that the products, goods, or services of the company get sold to customers. They are trained to market the products well, understand what the customer needs, and find the product that best fits the customer's needs. As such, the salesperson should be familiar with all of the company's products and should be able to explain the features of each. They should know how to approach customers and to close out sales. Salespersons are expected to have good communication, interpersonal, and persuasion skills.

Retail representative vs sales person salary

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

	Retail Representative	Sales Person
Average salary	$31,790	$42,010
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $38,000	Between $14,000 And $121,000
Highest paying City	-	Oceanside, NY
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Douglas Elliman
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between retail representative and sales person education

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

	Retail Representative	Sales Person
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Retail representative vs sales person demographics

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

	Retail Representative	Sales Person
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4%	Male, 70.5% Female, 29.5%
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, 10.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.3% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between retail representative and sales person 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 person example responsibilities.

Clean CDL and aptitude for relationship building lead to point of sales position.
Manage product deliveries, and maintain overall orderliness and cleanliness of facility to optimize customer experience.
Perform sales responsibilities utilizing mobile POS system while marketing company membership services, ensuring client satisfaction.
Gain in-depth knowledge of Chrysler vehicles and differentiate them to existing and potential customers.
Assist customers in load calculations, design, and implementation of a variety of HVAC systems.
Create PowerPoint presentations and promote products at meetings and continuing education programs

Retail representative vs sales person skills

Common retail representative skills

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

Common sales person skills

Basic Math, 27%
Phone Calls, 18%
POS, 18%
Cleanliness, 16%
Math, 13%
Customer Service, 3%

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Retail Representative
Retail Representative vs Sales Person

Updated January 8, 2025

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