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Retail sales supervisor skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Angela Woodland Ph.D.,

Peter Weiss Ph.D., P.E.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical retail sales supervisor skills. We ranked the top skills for retail sales supervisors based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.4% of retail sales supervisor resumes contained sales floor as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a retail sales supervisor needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 retail sales supervisor skills for your resume and career

1. Sales Floor

The sales floor is the area in a company or a business that is specified for retail activities or is designated as the selling area of the shop. A car showroom can be considered a sales floor, as it has cars in its display which are to be sold. A sales floor is generally crowded with sales assistants who are there to help you out while you can search and check out the products. Generally a sales floor has free access to the public and they can observe, view and get information about the product that is being sold.

Here's how retail sales supervisors use sales floor:

Assisted customers in finding correct products for their needs and resolved any issues that arose on the sales floor.
Assisted sales floor operations, processed credit applications, contract renewals, handled accessory sales and data sales.

2. Store Operations

Here's how retail sales supervisors use store operations:

Oversee store operations including identification of new store locations and facilitation of opening new locations.
Executed store operations; scheduling, recruitment, coaching, and inventory control.

3. Store Management

Here's how retail sales supervisors use store management:

Build and cultivate relationships with in-store management and personnel.
Provided input and feedback to Store Management on employees' performances and presented timely action to improve performance.

4. Customer Satisfaction

Here's how retail sales supervisors use customer satisfaction:

Fostered a robust sustainable network of knowledgeable industry auto mechanics to solidify customer satisfaction and trust.
Ensured customer satisfaction and addressed any issues that arose in a professional and courteous manner

5. Sales Associates

Here's how retail sales supervisors use sales associates:

Maintained a detailed store demo log; reviewed, identified and resolved daily inventory discrepancies alongside sales associates.
Motivated sales associates for stronger results during high volume sales opportunities including holidays and other specific events.

6. Sales Targets

Here's how retail sales supervisors use sales targets:

Created daily sales goals and provided action plan to ensure projected sales target are met or exceeded.
Stayed aware of the daily sales targets and ensured the targets were met.

7. Direct Reports

Here's how retail sales supervisors use direct reports:

Maintain store daily operations and effectively delegate to Leads and up to 16 direct reports at one time.
Coach, train and develop direct reports through bi-weekly one on one's and daily huddles.

8. Origination

Here's how retail sales supervisors use origination:

Created loan origination programs designed to increase loan volume and bank profitability.
Performed conventional, FHA/VA, and MHA loan origination of purchase and refinance mortgages.

9. Data Analysis

Here's how retail sales supervisors use data analysis:

Verified income documentation, data analysis entered into DU/LP program, review credit history.
Utilize information technology to record sales figures, for data analysis and forward planning.

10. Store Opening

Here's how retail sales supervisors use store opening:

Execute basic store opening/closing procedures and daily/weekly reports.
Retail sales including store opening and closing daily sales reports and deposits, and training new employees for associate sales positions

11. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how retail sales supervisors use customer service:

Engaged in daily customer service of government/military affiliated personnel, also worked to resolve any customer issues or complaints.
Trained and supervised newly-hired Tellers and Customer Service Representatives to cross-sell products and correctly refer customers for services.

12. Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is the skill of having better information and knowledge about the product you are selling. Product knowledge is essential for the employees of the companies so they can communicate and inform the customers about the product. Having great product knowledge is essential for a better sales pitch and to give the customer a better and complete idea of the product that will influence him to buy the product eventually.

Here's how retail sales supervisors use product knowledge:

Programmed and provisioned various cellular handset units for sale and assist customers with product knowledge regarding use of cellular handset units.
Utilized well-rounded sales and product knowledge to create a strong retail team during supervisor role bringing the store to top performance.

13. Cleanliness

Here's how retail sales supervisors use cleanliness:

Maintain store cleanliness and safety and health are met Ensure and formulate prices and policies are correct.
Managed organizational standards, cleanliness of store and safety procedures/policies; managed and maintained store appearance, provided exceptional customer service.

14. Loss Prevention

The steps taken by a business to prevent theft is called loss prevention. There are multiple methods for loss prevention for example usage of automated cash handling, secure physical location, product security staff buy-in, and attentive customer service.

Here's how retail sales supervisors use loss prevention:

Maintained compliance with policies regarding Suggested Ordering and loss prevention.
Ensured accuracy and consistency while performing detail-oriented tasks such as inventory management and cash reconciliation, exceeding corporate loss prevention goals.

15. Inventory Control

Here's how retail sales supervisors use inventory control:

Created standard operating procedures for day-to-day operations of warehouse management and inventory control procedures.
Performed all company inventory control and maintenance by participating in cycle counts of retail products, preparing and stocking products.

What skills help Retail Sales Supervisors find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on retail sales supervisor resumes?

Dr. Angela Woodland Ph.D.

Professor, Montana State University

Skills that are immediately useful stand out on resumes. Right now, data analytics skills are in hot demand. A desirable job candidate should be able to import large data sets in various formats, clean data, manipulate data, interrogate data, and draw conclusions from the data. Additionally, the job candidate should be able to prepare informative and easy-to-follow data visualizations of the results. This skill set allows a job candidate to be immediately useful in an organization. It is the new way of analyzing and communicating.

What retail sales supervisor skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Peter Weiss Ph.D., P.E.

Professor, Website

There is a lot of advice I would share with a new graduate. This includes the following:

Never pass up an opportunity to learn something new. Every situation you find yourself in will provide learning opportunities.
Although it's important to learn when to say no, be very careful when turning down an opportunity. You never know what doors will open when you say yes to something.
Find and develop a unique skill set or ability to set yourself apart in the office.
Always behave in a professional manner and maintain good relationships with other engineers you work with or have encountered (even when switching jobs for any reason)

What type of skills will young retail sales supervisors need?

Peter Johnson DPS

Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing Academic Director of MS in Marketing Intelligence, Fordham University

There are three things that employers are looking for:
1. Demonstrated ability to solve problems
2. Ability to analyze and make decisions based on data
3. Communication skills with management, teams, and clients

What technical skills for a retail sales supervisor stand out to employers?

Daniel Miller Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Religion and Social Thought; Chair, Landmark College

As the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and other organizations have repeatedly found, students graduating with degrees in the liberal arts (the areas in which I teach and have competence) have the skills and capacities that employers desire (e.g., critical thinking skills, strong verbal and written communication skills, synthetic and analytical thinking skills, etc.). But the technical capacities necessary to communicate and used these skills will be more important than ever. I would anticipate that graduates will have to be comfortable moderating and running meetings on online platforms. They will have to know how to design and share presentations that are well-suited to online and remote platforms. They will have to be able to multi-task in presentations, tracking on-screen discussions as well as simultaneous chat options. Along with all of this, they have to have a greater awareness of creating online and virtual content that is accessible to all users. I would think that graduates who can communicate these skills to employers will be far better situated than those who cannot.

What soft skills should all retail sales supervisors possess?

Sonya DiPalma Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Chair, Academic Policies Committee, Director of MCOM Internship Program, University of North Carolina at Asheville

Be personable and a person someone wants to talk with and work with on a continuing basis. Listening and note-taking skills will be critical. Great employees listen well and ask good follow up questions. Be versatile and adaptable. If you find some downtime between projects, ask how you may help with another project.

What hard/technical skills are most important for retail sales supervisors?

Andrea Dixon Ph.D.

Executive Director, Center for Professional Selling, Frank and Floy Smith Holloway Endowed Professorship in Marketing, President, University Sales Center Alliance 2019-2021, Baylor University

One of the growing technical skill requirements for sales managers is in the area of data analytics. Our performance and customer systems provide a myriad of data, and the role of the sales manager is to be a sense-maker of that mound of data. What are the implications for changes in strategy or behavior evident in last quarter's activity? How can the sales manager help a specific seller "see" where the data suggest new approaches?

Do you want to know more?

List of retail sales supervisor skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a retail sales supervisor resume and required skills for a retail sales supervisor to have include:

Sales Floor
Store Operations
Store Management
Customer Satisfaction
Sales Associates
Sales Targets
Direct Reports
Origination
Data Analysis
Store Opening
Customer Service
Product Knowledge
Cleanliness
Loss Prevention
Inventory Control
Sales Training

POS
Cash Handling
Bank Deposits
Retail Store
Upselling
Sales Strategies
Retail Locations
Inventory Management
Store Locations
Customer Complaints
Cash Drawers
Customer Inquiries
Customer Relations
Sales Results
Sales Techniques
Store Displays

Customer Issues
Sales Reports
Quality Customer Service
Financial Objectives
Sales Presentations
Customer Care
Quality Goods
Trade Shows
Sales Growth
PowerPoint
Staff Schedules
Merchandise Displays
Financial Statements
Conference Calls
Sales Volume

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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