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What does a shop clerk do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a shop clerk do

A shop clerk is primarily in charge of assisting clients in a retail store, ensuring efficient service for client satisfaction. Their responsibilities include greeting and identifying the clients' needs, answering inquiries, locating products, offering promotions, and recommending alternatives as needed. They must also maintain the cleanliness of the sales floor, clearing the obstructions and disposing of expired or defective products. Furthermore, a shop clerk must manage the product displays, devising strategies to make them more presentable to the customers.

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Shop clerk responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real shop clerk resumes:

  • Demonstrate strong math skills in managing inmate s accounts and calmly and effectively deescalating outbursts of belligerent inmates.
  • Assist with bagging groceries when need.
  • Learned great time management and leadership skills.
  • Implement effective time management and leadership skills.
  • Work POS system to ring up items/close & clean shop.
  • Operate POS system, perform daily deposits and reconciliation reports.
  • Comply with all security rules and regulations in accordance with IRS regulations.
  • Make sure all tills are balance and ready to use for the next checker.
  • Process mail orders on DHL and FedEx websites to be ship out to customers.
  • Set up areas for displays' per store manager's direction and assure cleanliness of store.
  • Act as assistant supply clerk in providing supplies and distributing USPS mail/courier packages to RCC employees.
  • Process payroll in accordance with company regulations and require multiple union labor laws on a daily basis.
  • Work cashier counter, divide and load bait and ice on boats, work fuel pumps on marina dock
  • Collect groceries from a shopper's personalize list, including those with limit physical functioning and mental health issues.
  • Start as a courtesy clerk, promote to checker and few years later to head clerk on night crew.

Shop clerk skills and personality traits

We calculated that 25% of Shop Clerks are proficient in Basic Math, Math, and Top Quality. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Organizational skills, and Customer-service skills.

We break down the percentage of Shop Clerks that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Basic Math, 25%

    Perform arithmetic to verify calculations using basic mathematical functions.

  • Math, 17%

    Develop and deliver activities that introduce math and literacy concepts.

  • Top Quality, 14%

    Be knowledgeable in picking top quality perishable items and able to substitute comparable items.

  • Cash Handling, 13%

    Maintained cash handling accuracy, with zero overages/shortages month-over-month.

  • WIC, 7%

    Interview WIC applicant for residency and income verification and income verification and obtain accurate dietary intake and medical history information.

  • POS, 6%

    Answered phones and assisted customers- Used POS system- Counted money and opened and closed shop alone- Customer service

Most shop clerks use their skills in "basic math," "math," and "top quality" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential shop clerk responsibilities here:

Detail oriented. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a shop clerk to have is detail oriented. Their role and responsibilities require that "general office clerks perform many clerical tasks that require attention to detail, such as preparing bills." Shop clerks often use detail oriented in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "updated records in the computer system, via data entry, while demonstrating high attention to detail. "

Organizational skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling shop clerk duties is organizational skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "general office clerks file and retrieve records." According to a shop clerk resume, here's how shop clerks can utilize organizational skills in their job responsibilities: "demonstrated fast and friendly customer service utilized proper cash handling abilities provided the most efficient problem solving skills used excellent organizational skills"

Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for shop clerks to perform their duties. For an example of how shop clerk responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "general office clerks often provide general information to company staff, customers, or the public." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a shop clerk: "provided customers with assistance upon request while maintaining the organization and cleanliness of the gift shop. ".

All shop clerk skills

The three companies that hire the most shop clerks are:

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Compare different shop clerks

Shop clerk vs. General office clerk

A general office clerk is responsible for performing various clerical duties to support business functions and ensure smooth daily operations. General office clerks respond to clients' inquiries and concerns, welcoming guests, and assisting in disseminating information across the organization. They maintain the adequacy of inventories, organize business and financial transaction reports, and perform basic bookkeeping tasks and banking transactions. A general office clerk must be highly organizational and analytical, especially in encoding account statements on the database and processing business reports required by the management.

The annual salary of general office clerks is $4,434 lower than the average salary of shop clerks.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both shop clerk and general office clerk positions are skilled in customer service, customer orders, and computer system.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, shop clerk responsibilities require skills like "basic math," "math," "top quality," and "cash handling." Meanwhile a typical general office clerk has skills in areas such as "data entry," "office equipment," "word processing," and "telephone calls." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

General office clerks tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $30,604. In contrast, shop clerks make the biggest average salary, $35,056, in the transportation industry.general office clerks tend to reach similar levels of education than shop clerks. In fact, general office clerks are 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Shop clerk vs. Administrative clerk

An administrative clerk provides support to staff and does clerical works. These clerical duties include answering and making phone calls, typing documents, compiling and filing records, and scheduling appointments. The clerks often set up office meetings and invite reliable speakers. Also, they do research and prepare reports or presentations. Candidates for the job must be organized, detail-oriented, and can manage their time well. They must be tech-savvy and have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping. The salary depends on their experience, industry, and location of the job.

A career as a administrative clerk brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a shop clerk. In fact, administrative clerks salary is $2,141 lower than the salary of shop clerks per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Shop clerks and administrative clerks both require similar skills like "customer service," "computer system," and "customer complaints" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, shop clerk responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "basic math," "math," "top quality," and "cash handling." Meanwhile, an administrative clerk has duties that require skills in areas such as "data entry," "patients," "word processing," and "payroll data." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Administrative clerks earn a lower average salary than shop clerks. But administrative clerks earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $33,044. Additionally, shop clerks earn the highest salaries in the transportation with average pay of $35,056 annually.In general, administrative clerks achieve similar levels of education than shop clerks. They're 0.9% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Shop clerk vs. Transit department clerk

It's the job of a Transit Department Clerk to process and verify all shipment documents that are both inbound and outbound. Your primary job will be to perform a ton of clerical duties in a transportation environment/organization. The Transit Clerk also ensures that all goods are safely processed and well secured for shipment. Furthermore, you'd have to identify and tag goods with the help of the shipment documents. Finally, your job will also be to supervise the delivery of goods to customers to their specific locations.

An average transit department clerk eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of shop clerks. The difference in salaries amounts to transit department clerks earning a $907 higher average salary than shop clerks.Using the responsibilities included on shop clerks and transit department clerks resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "cleanliness," "customer service," and "slicers.rdquo;

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a shop clerk is likely to be skilled in "basic math," "math," "top quality," and "cash handling," while a typical transit department clerk is skilled in "customer satisfaction," "patients," "allergies," and "office equipment."

Transit department clerks earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $35,204. Shop clerks earn the highest pay from the transportation industry, with an average salary of $35,056.transit department clerks typically earn similar educational levels compared to shop clerks. Specifically, they're 2.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Shop clerk vs. Customer service clerk

A customer service clerk is responsible for resolving client issues, giving requested information, and providing clients high-quality customer service. Customer service clerks' tasks include sharing information, responding to and recording requests, collecting payments, and resolving billing disputes. Also, they ensure that products or services are delivered promptly to customers. Applicants to the job must be able to listen and communicate well. They must have excellent customer service skills and be able to multitask. Skills in conflict resolution and problem-solving will also give them an edge.

Customer service clerks average a lower salary than the annual salary of shop clerks. The difference is about $902 per year.While their salaries may vary, shop clerks and customer service clerks both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "basic math," "math," and "cash handling. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "top quality," "wic," "cleanliness," and "lawson" are skills that commonly show up on shop clerk resumes. On the other hand, customer service clerks use skills like front end, customer inquiries, customer returns, and customer transactions on their resumes.customer service clerks enjoy the best pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $31,999. For comparison, shop clerks earn the highest salary in the transportation industry.customer service clerks reach similar levels of education compared to shop clerks, in general. The difference is that they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of shop clerk

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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