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The differences between shop assistants and sales clerks can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a shop assistant has an average salary of $31,216, which is higher than the $25,739 average annual salary of a sales clerk.
The top three skills for a shop assistant include customer vehicles, CNC and customer service. The most important skills for a sales clerk are customer service, stock shelves, and sales floor.
| Shop Assistant | Sales Clerk | |
| Yearly salary | $31,216 | $25,739 |
| Hourly rate | $15.01 | $12.37 |
| Growth rate | 4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 11,156 | 372,651 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Average age | 39 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
A shop assistant is primarily responsible for handling customers and maintaining the upkeep of a sales floor in a retail store. They are in charge of greeting customers, answering inquiries, offering assistance, recommending products, and handling complaints. A shop assistant also has duties that involve receiving, verifying, processing, and sorting shipments from suppliers, managing inventory, and re-stocking shelves while keeping them presentable. To maintain the sales floor's cleanliness, a shop assistant may also perform light chores and keep all equipment organized. Furthermore, it is essential to accomplish tasks while adhering to the policies and regulations of the company.
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.
Shop assistants and sales clerks have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Shop Assistant | Sales Clerk | |
| Average salary | $31,216 | $25,739 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $38,000 | Between $16,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Spokane, WA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | New York |
| Best paying company | Steel Dynamics | Hawaii Pacific Health |
| Best paying industry | Construction | Energy |
There are a few differences between a shop assistant and a sales clerk in terms of educational background:
| Shop Assistant | Sales Clerk | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between shop assistants' and sales clerks' demographics:
| Shop Assistant | Sales Clerk | |
| Average age | 39 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% | Male, 35.3% Female, 64.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.8% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 5.1% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% | 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 | 4% | 7% |