Retail sales supervisor vs sales supervisor

The differences between retail sales supervisors and sales supervisors 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 supervisor and a sales supervisor. Additionally, a sales supervisor has an average salary of $40,860, which is higher than the $33,983 average annual salary of a retail sales supervisor.

The top three skills for a retail sales supervisor include sales floor, store operations and store management. The most important skills for a sales supervisor are ladders, sales floor, and inventory control.

Retail sales supervisor vs sales supervisor overview

	Retail Sales Supervisor	Sales Supervisor
Yearly salary	$33,983	$40,860
Hourly rate	$16.34	$19.64
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	292,906	424,088
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	6	6

What does a retail sales supervisor do?

Retail sales supervisors are professionals who are responsible for supervising retail staff members to sell products and services to customers in a retail store environment. These supervisors must develop marketing strategies such as creating mailers, launching online advertising campaigns, and promoting in-store sales to help the store achieve profit and keep selling merchandise regularly. They must hire and train new sales associates to ensure that they are performing their job duties well. Retail sales supervisors must also monitor their stock inventory to ensure that popular items are being restocked on shelves.

What does a sales supervisor do?

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.

Retail sales supervisor vs sales supervisor salary

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

	Retail Sales Supervisor	Sales Supervisor
Average salary	$33,983	$40,860
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $40,000	Between $31,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	Washington	New York
Best paying company	Nestlé	ServiceNow
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Manufacturing

Differences between retail sales supervisor and sales supervisor education

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

	Retail Sales Supervisor	Sales Supervisor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi	SUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Retail sales supervisor vs sales supervisor demographics

Here are the differences between retail sales supervisors' and sales supervisors' demographics:

	Retail Sales Supervisor	Sales Supervisor
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 51.1% Female, 48.9%	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between retail sales supervisor and sales supervisor duties and responsibilities

Retail sales supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage the day-to-day operation of tourist boutique merchandising and selling jewelry, souvenirs and eclectic artwork.
Maintain store's cleanliness and health and safety measures.
Manage the day-to-day operation of tourist boutique merchandising and selling jewelry, souvenirs and eclectic artwork.
Demonstrate strong leadership, communication and supervisory skills by providing coaching and feedback to maximize individual and store performance.

Sales supervisor example responsibilities.

Create and lead staff development sessions on solution selling techniques/running effective promotions/POS execution/trade math.
Train new employees and insurance agents about Medicare and AlohaCare's procedures in promoting its senior plans.
Assist in visual merchandise, floor moves, inventory, stock, mark downs, POS transactions, online orders and delivery
Increase availability and visibility of brands on POS of assign territory.
Approve and reject billing documentation base on Medicare or payer qualifications.
Certify excellent overall cleanliness of the store to provide customers with exceptional visual presentations and easy-to-navigate store layouts.

Retail sales supervisor vs sales supervisor skills

Common retail sales supervisor skills

Sales Floor, 21%
Store Operations, 20%
Store Management, 10%
Customer Satisfaction, 9%
Sales Associates, 9%
Sales Targets, 7%

Common sales supervisor skills

Ladders, 18%
Sales Floor, 10%
Inventory Control, 7%
Sales Training, 7%
Loss Prevention, 4%
Drive Sales, 4%

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Retail Sales Supervisor
Retail Sales Supervisor vs Sales Supervisor

Updated January 8, 2025

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