Sales clerk vs sales representative

The differences between sales clerks and sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales representative has an average salary of $56,591, which is higher than the $25,739 average annual salary of a sales clerk.

The top three skills for a sales clerk include customer service, stock shelves and sales floor. The most important skills for a sales representative are sales process, product knowledge, and customer service.

Sales clerk vs sales representative overview

	Sales Clerk	Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$25,739	$56,591
Hourly rate	$12.37	$27.21
Growth rate	-	4%
Number of jobs	372,651	205,456
Job satisfaction	-	4.33
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	41	47
Years of experience	-	4

What does a sales clerk do?

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.

What does a sales representative do?

Sales representatives primarily sell the company's products and services to businesses or organizations. They should be adept at closing out sales, negotiating, and providing customer service. They should be knowledgeable about the products or services of the manufacturer or producer they represent. They must also have strong analytical skills that would help them in coming up with cost-benefit analysis in assessing the current roster of clients and even prospective ones. Sales representatives should also be able to maintain good working relationships with all involved stakeholders, especially clients.

Sales clerk vs sales representative salary

Sales clerks and sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sales Clerk	Sales Representative
Average salary	$25,739	$56,591
Salary range	Between $16,000 And $39,000	Between $33,000 And $94,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	New York	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Hawaii Pacific Health	Google
Best paying industry	Energy	Pharmaceutical

Differences between sales clerk and sales representative education

There are a few differences between a sales clerk and a sales representative in terms of educational background:

	Sales Clerk	Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 34%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Sales clerk vs sales representative demographics

Here are the differences between sales clerks' and sales representatives' demographics:

	Sales Clerk	Sales Representative
Average age	41	47
Gender ratio	Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7%	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	6%

Differences between sales clerk and sales representative duties and responsibilities

Sales clerk example responsibilities.

Supervise women's department, manage jewelry department, assist customers on finalizing purchases
Process monetary transactions POS system.
Follow POS procedures daily and complete appropriate paperwork.
Prepare quality food products, process accurate register transactions, maintain general appearance and cleanliness of store premises.
Improve customer solicitation pitch to increase Kohl's credit card application solicitations.

Sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage prospective leads and existing accounts through a CRM platform to accurately forecast revenue and develop long-term business partnerships.
Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Search for procurement contracts, attend trade shows, design flyers, postcards, etc.
Utilize POS sales software to maintain monetary sales information produce reports for organizational review.
Develop and maintain business relationships with businesses and policyholders using establish methods such as customer relationship management CRM.
Handle administrative and sales duties as Jr.

Sales clerk vs sales representative skills

Common sales clerk skills

Customer Service, 26%
Stock Shelves, 9%
Sales Floor, 8%
Retail Sales, 6%
Product Knowledge, 5%
POS, 5%

Common sales representative skills

Sales Process, 9%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Customer Service, 7%
CRM, 6%
Business Development, 6%
Sales REP, 5%

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Sales Clerk vs Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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