Retail sales lead vs store sales associate

The differences between retail sales leads and store sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a retail sales lead and a store sales associate. Additionally, a retail sales lead has an average salary of $40,781, which is higher than the $30,284 average annual salary of a store sales associate.

The top three skills for a retail sales lead include math, sales floor and retail sales. The most important skills for a store sales associate are sales floor, POS, and product knowledge.

Retail sales lead vs store sales associate overview

	Retail Sales Lead	Store Sales Associate
Yearly salary	$40,781	$30,284
Hourly rate	$19.61	$14.56
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	442,994	524,877
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

What does a retail sales lead do?

Retail sales leads are responsible for the recruitment and training of new sales team members, assisting the management in selling products, and creating sales reports. Some duties and responsibilities of a retail sales lead include customer services such as answering inquiries and complaints, providing assistance and product information, suggesting items and opinions. Such experiences are an advantage for them to be promoted if they perform their tasks effectively and efficiently.

What does a store sales associate do?

A store sales associate is responsible for assisting store customers, directing them to the correct area of their needs, and responding to their inquiries and concerns regarding a product. Store sales associates also support the store's promotional campaigns, selling goods and services to the customers by demonstrating the product and its benefits. They keep the store premises clean and tidy to avoid any potential hazards during operations. A store sales associate must have excellent communication skills, especially on resolving customer complaints, processing replacements, and issuing refunds.

Retail sales lead vs store sales associate salary

Retail sales leads and store sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Sales Lead	Store Sales Associate
Average salary	$40,781	$30,284
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $59,000	Between $23,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	Bellevue, NE	Elizabeth, NJ
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	New Jersey
Best paying company	Microsoft	Rooms To Go
Best paying industry	Professional	Hospitality

Differences between retail sales lead and store sales associate education

There are a few differences between a retail sales lead and a store sales associate in terms of educational background:

	Retail Sales Lead	Store Sales Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Retail sales lead vs store sales associate demographics

Here are the differences between retail sales leads' and store sales associates' demographics:

	Retail Sales Lead	Store Sales Associate
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 46.4% Female, 53.6%	Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between retail sales lead and store sales associate duties and responsibilities

Retail sales lead example responsibilities.

Support payroll, company administration, managing of multiple location including schedules and projects.
Manage reports for data analysis including monetary reconciliation, payroll, and client tracking.
Partner in managing operations of multiple retail outlets, including hiring, performance management, scheduling, and merchandising management.
Train new employees to operate POS systems, activation programs, and communicate with customer service via phone or online methods.
Sanitize pet washes, clean store, take stock of pet supply items.
Create and execute numerous projects using PowerPoint to help develop a staff phone directory.

Store sales associate example responsibilities.

Manage to sales KPI's (including sales and expense budget numbers), assuring efficient and effective use of resources.
Earn management trust by serving as keyholder, responsibly opening and closing the store.
Audit all jewelry counts daily, banking deposit log, cashier logs, sales logs.
Utilize the company's POS system to cash customers out or administer returns to the store.
Work as a sales associate and keyholder throughout the summer and a bit of the school year.
Help customers choose jewelry, pierce ears, open and close out register, set up displays.

Retail sales lead vs store sales associate skills

Common retail sales lead skills

Math, 13%
Sales Floor, 11%
Retail Sales, 11%
Cash Handling, 8%
Product Knowledge, 7%
Customer Service, 6%

Common store sales associate skills

Sales Floor, 20%
POS, 10%
Product Knowledge, 10%
Store Sales, 8%
Customer Service, 6%
Stock Room, 5%

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Retail Sales Lead
Retail Sales Lead vs Store Sales Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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