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The differences between retail sales associate/cashiers and sales clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a retail sales associate/cashier has an average salary of $25,961, which is higher than the $25,739 average annual salary of a sales clerk.
The top three skills for a retail sales associate/cashier include customer service, basic math and math. The most important skills for a sales clerk are customer service, stock shelves, and sales floor.
| Retail Sales Associate/Cashier | Sales Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $25,961 | $25,739 |
| Hourly rate | $12.48 | $12.37 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 463,864 | 372,651 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A cashier is responsible for ensuring all the products and goods sold are well recorded and paid for as well as answering customer inquiries and recommending products. They also help the other sales team when needed and process payment for all goods bought. Their duties and responsibilities include processing payments, ensuring all goods bought are accurately scanned and recorded, and bagging purchases.
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 sales associate/cashiers and sales clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retail Sales Associate/Cashier | Sales Clerk | |
| Average salary | $25,961 | $25,739 |
| Salary range | Between $20,000 And $32,000 | Between $16,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Long Beach, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | New York |
| Best paying company | The TJX Companies | Hawaii Pacific Health |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Energy |
There are a few differences between a retail sales associate/cashier and a sales clerk in terms of educational background:
| Retail Sales Associate/Cashier | Sales Clerk | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 44% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between retail sales associate/cashiers' and sales clerks' demographics:
| Retail Sales Associate/Cashier | Sales Clerk | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.5% Female, 75.5% | Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 22.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | 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% |