Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between retail sales representatives and sales clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a retail sales representative has an average salary of $37,907, which is higher than the $25,739 average annual salary of a sales clerk.
The top three skills for a retail sales representative include retail sales, retail store and POS. The most important skills for a sales clerk are customer service, stock shelves, and sales floor.
| Retail Sales Representative | Sales Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $37,907 | $25,739 |
| Hourly rate | $18.22 | $12.37 |
| Growth rate | - | - |
| Number of jobs | 391,763 | 372,651 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A retail salesperson's responsibility is to sell products and provide necessary information to the consumers to convince them of availing items. Retail salesperson's duties include coordinating with promotional programs, recommending strategies to increase sales, answering customer's inquiries, and escalating any concerns to the management that might affect the company's sales performance. A retail salesperson must have excellent communication skills to build a good rapport with the customers and assist them with their needs. A retail salesperson also helps with inventories and documenting a customer's suggestion for service improvement.
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 representatives and sales clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retail Sales Representative | Sales Clerk | |
| Average salary | $37,907 | $25,739 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $50,000 | Between $16,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, ME | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Maine | New York |
| Best paying company | Pella | Hawaii Pacific Health |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Energy |
There are a few differences between a retail sales representative and a sales clerk in terms of educational background:
| Retail Sales Representative | Sales Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between retail sales representatives' and sales clerks' demographics:
| Retail Sales Representative | Sales Clerk | |
| Average age | 41 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.6% Female, 45.4% | Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 6.9% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | 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% |