What does a retail sales manager do?
A retail sales manager is responsible for managing the retail sales department's operations, ensuring the highest customer satisfaction with the staff's efficiency and performance. Retail sales managers develop sales strategies and marketing campaigns to boost revenues, increasing the company's profitability. They also conduct training and programs for staff to maximize their productivity and provide the best customer service for their clients. A retail sales manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, respond to the customers' inquiries and concerns, and resolve their complaints.
Retail sales manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real retail sales manager resumes:
- Create and lead staff development sessions on solution selling techniques/running effective promotions/POS execution/trade math.
- Receive and count new products, reconcile delivery invoices, tickets, and enter new products into POS system.
- Complete customer transactions using POS register system.
- Deliver consistently strong results in identifying and capitalizing on cross-selling opportunities to advance corporate-define marketing campaigns and effectively increase revenue streams.
- Oversee floor day to day operations by obtaining the acquisition of customer accounts and provide superior leadership to team members.
- Provide leadership training and coaching with a proven record of accountability
- Fast pace environment with numerous multitasking responsibilities.
Retail sales manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Retail Sales Managers are proficient in Retail Sales, Store Operations, and Store Sales. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Retail Sales Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Retail Sales, 13%
Developed and implemented lesson training guides for Retail Sales Consultants, Greeter Sales Representatives and Records Clerks for CenturyTel Corporation.
- Store Operations, 7%
Directed daily store operations sales, verified vendor invoice information was accurate upon deliveries.
- Store Sales, 6%
Achieved profitable store sales by fostering a customer focused retail selling culture through attaining sales goals and positive year-on-year improvement.
- Retail Store, 5%
Directed operational and administrative management of an employee group consisting of 15 sales representatives in a retail store location.
- Product Knowledge, 5%
Trained and developed sales staff with product knowledge with exceptional customer service experience and customer retention.
- Sales Associates, 5%
Organized group meetings for sales associates to increase their involvement and commitment to our business model and providing extraordinary customer service.
Most retail sales managers use their skills in "retail sales," "store operations," and "store sales" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential retail sales manager responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a retail sales manager to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "sales managers must collect and interpret complex data to target the most promising geographic areas and demographic groups, and determine the most effective sales strategies." Additionally, a retail sales manager resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "analyze daily and monthly reporting as well as oversee all aspects of store operations and merchandising. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling retail sales manager duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "sales managers need to work with colleagues and customers, so they must be able to communicate clearly." According to a retail sales manager resume, here's how retail sales managers can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "improved store operations by creating new tools for scheduling and building in-store communications. "
Leadership skills. retail sales managers are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to retail sales manager responsibilities, because "sales managers must be able to evaluate how their sales staff performs and must develop strategies for meeting sales goals." A retail sales manager resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "delivered presentation to the market leadership team on key company initiatives, specifically customer relations. "
Customer-service skills. For certain retail sales manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "customer-service skills." The day-to-day duties of a retail sales manager rely on this skill, as "when helping to make a sale, sales managers must listen and respond to the customer’s needs." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what retail sales managers do: "coached store representatives in sales techniques and keeping everyone up to date on new products, services and overcoming customer objections. "
The three companies that hire the most retail sales managers are:
- Cracker Barrel188 retail sales managers jobs
- Lowe's Companies120 retail sales managers jobs
- Ulta Beauty112 retail sales managers jobs
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Compare different retail sales managers
Retail sales manager vs. Director of sales
A sales director is responsible for managing the sales operation of the team, ensuring that members comply with the sales strategies and procedures in meeting sales goals. Sales directors' duties include maintaining consistency of sales targets, providing reports and important updates for sales improvement, managing customers' inquiries and resolving complaints, launching new services to expand product offers, researching the current market trends, and improving sales plans. A sales director must have excellent leadership and decision-making skills to support and acknowledge the team's best efforts.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between retail sales managers and director of sales. For instance, retail sales manager responsibilities require skills such as "retail sales," "store operations," "store sales," and "retail store." Whereas a director of sales is skilled in "sales process," "sales management," "healthcare," and "crm." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Directors of sales earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $124,924. On the other hand, retail sales managers are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $53,209.directors of sales tend to reach similar levels of education than retail sales managers. In fact, directors of sales are 4.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Retail sales manager vs. Sales supervisor
A sales supervisor is an individual who is responsible for the daily activities of sales representatives in promoting and selling a product by phone or email. He/She needs to track the weekly and monthly performances of his/her sales representatives. The minimum requirement of being a sales supervisor is a high school diploma. However, he/she is required to have two years of working experience. One of the skills required of a sales supervisor is to have the ability to multitask and time management.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real retail sales manager resumes. While retail sales manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "retail sales," "excellent interpersonal," "standard operating procedure," and "payroll," sales supervisors use skills like "drive sales," "sales plan," "math," and "cleanliness."
Sales supervisors earn a lower average salary than retail sales managers. But sales supervisors earn the highest pay in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $42,826. Additionally, retail sales managers earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $53,209 annually.In general, sales supervisors achieve similar levels of education than retail sales managers. They're 0.7% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for retail sales managers in the next 3-5 years?
Bill Thorne
Executive Director of the NRF Foundation and Senior Vice President of Communication and Public Affairs of NRF, National Retail Federation
Retail sales manager vs. Sales associate
Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, retail sales managers are more likely to have skills like "store operations," "store sales," "sales associates," and "excellent interpersonal." But a sales associate is more likely to have skills like "cleanliness," "math," "stock shelves," and "sales transactions."
Sales associates earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $31,917. Retail sales managers earn the highest pay from the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $53,209.sales associates typically earn similar educational levels compared to retail sales managers. Specifically, they're 2.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Retail sales manager vs. Senior account manager
A senior account manager is in charge of managing and overseeing accounts in sales work, ensuring to meet all sales targets. Among the tasks of a senior account manager includes taking the lead and supervising workforce to its efficiency, devising strategies, and coming up with new opportunities to boost sales and strengthen client base. Moreover, it is also the task of a senior account manager to engage with clients, focusing on networking to attain better deals.
Types of retail sales manager
Updated January 8, 2025
