Who is A Retail Associate? Job Description, Salary & More

While some may think of sales roles as entry-level jobs, retail associates are vital to any sales business. They quickly become the face of the company; not only do they close sales and drive profit, but they build valuable relationships with your customers too.

Hence, it is important to hire the right retail associates with the right skill sets.

As an entry-level customer service position with minimal educational requirements, a retail associate job can be a good first step toward a career in sales.

Who is a retail associate?

A retail associate helps customers while they shop, answers questions, and assists in daily store operations. In this role, you serve as a representative of the retail brand and play an important role in the store’s overall success. Retail associates might also be referred to as sales associates or representatives.

As a retail sales associate, your day-to-day job duties and responsibilities might include:

Greeting customers
Answering customer questions related to merchandise and store policies
Recommending products or services based on customer needs
Processing customer payments and refunds
Opening and closing of the store per operating hours
Stocking, organizing, and taking inventory of merchandise
Keeping the store clean

What does a retail associate do?

Open and close the store

Opening and closing your store involves more than simply turning a key. A good retail associate will make sure they’re on time and that the store is set up for success before they open or close those doors. That means:

Tidying up the sales floor and making sure it’s presentable to customers
Restocking
Taking inventory
Making sure POS stations are in proper working order (running any needed software updates, or charging batteries if you have handheld POS devices)
Make sure cashier stations are stocked (pens, receipt paper, shopping bags, etc)
Handling cashout/reports of registers
Turning on/off the lights

Businesses will often have a sales manager oversee or perform the opening and closing of a store, rather than an entry-level employee. Whoever you decide to allocate this duty to, a store opening and closing checklist is a good idea.

Greet customers

Retail sales associates are the face of your company. Walmart hires customer hosts because it understands that greeting customers is an important part of offering outstanding customer service.

When your sales associates greet customers, they can:

Establish a welcoming atmosphere
Answer any questions shoppers might have
Help shoppers find a specific product

Manage inventory

Your retail associates are in direct contact with your inventory every day. They sell your products to your customers and replenish your shelves. Hence, they should be the ones to keep track of what is in stock and what needs to be reordered.

Inventory management affects your bottom line. “Higher levels of inventory accuracy can actually drive sales,” says Adrian Thomas, CEO and president of Datascan. “A store that can get its inventory accuracy in line with its book accuracy and book inventory will see a 4-8% increase in sales.”

Visual merchandising

You have probably heard the expression “You eat with your eyes first”. Presentation in retail–visual merchandising–is as important as in food.

It is up to your retail associates to keep your sales floor immaculate and inviting. Attractively displaying your products, and even arranging the layout of the store so that traffic flows smoothly, is all part of that process.

Providing recommendations for products is part of a retail associate’s job. They need to have a good sense of the products your store sells and the problem-solving skills to figure out what customers want.

If a Lego store ran out of the Millennium Falcon build set, for example, a savvy retail associate might suggest the Imperial Star Destroyer build set. They could also recommend the R2D2 build set to a Millennium Falcon fan to tide them over while waiting for new stock to arrive.

Check out customers

Processing a purchase is the last step in an associate’s interaction with a customer. There’s more to it than just running credit cards and cash registers.

Typically, retail associates ask customers about their shopping experience and if they need anything else. You’ll get customer feedback quickly that way and give your shop associates a chance to impress.

Clean the store

Your sales associates will be responsible for keeping your store clean. Encourage them to create a daily cleaning checklist and to always have the customer experience front of mind.

Cleanliness is not only important for first impressions and customer experience but also for safety. If your sales associates don’t keep a regular cleaning schedule, your employees or customers could get injured because of clutter in the entrance and in the aisleways.

Mitigate theft

Theft is demoralizing for retailers and affects profit margins. It is easier to prevent theft if you train your sales associates to prevent it as well. Customers can’t steal if your floor plan discourages it, and you are attentive to their needs. When you are helping someone, it’s harder for them to steal.

Answer questions

Answering customer questions is an important part of a sales associate’s job. Your representatives have the opportunity to build relationships with customers while sharing their knowledge of your brand and products. In return, shoppers get an experience they can’t replicate online.

Customer service skills are largely dependent on how well you train your staff. If you don’t give your sales associates access to answers, they can’t answer questions.

Retail associate job description template

We are looking for a socially confident retail associate to assist our customers with purchasing decisions, process transactions, and maintain a clean and visually appealing sales floor. The retail associate’s responsibilities include assisting customers with questions, complaints, and returns, processing payments, and arranging merchandise on shelves and in displays.

To be successful as a retail associate you should have an outgoing personality and enjoy interacting with customers. Ultimately, an exceptional retail associate should be able to provide customers with seamless, positive shopping experiences.

Responsibilities:

Greeting customers and offering assistance.
Answering customer questions and concerns.
Providing customers with detailed product information and recommendations.
Advising customers about member benefits, promotions, and sales.
Totaling purchases and processing cash, checks, and credit card payments.
Processing exchanges, returns, and refunds according to company policies.
Maintaining a clean and organized retail environment.
Assisting with stock management.
Arranging merchandise on shelves and displays.

Requirements:

High school diploma/GED.
Previous retail experience is beneficial.
Excellent customer service skills.
Good communication and interpersonal skills.
Computer literate and basic math skills.
Available to work on weekends and holidays.

Retail associate requirements and qualifications

Most retail sales positions have no formal education requirements. Some employers prefer candidates with at least a high school diploma or equivalent, particularly for those selling more expensive items. Most companies offer on-the-job training for new associates. During these sessions, you’ll typically learn about customer service, store policies and procedures, and how to process payments.

While a college degree isn’t usually required, having one could help you advance to a supervisory position, such as a store manager.

In addition to previous job experience, these qualities and skills can help set you apart from other job seekers:

A professional attitude
Product knowledge
Interpersonal skills, including verbal communication, empathy, and the ability to work as a team
Basic computer skills
Time management
Ability to multitask

Skills required to become a retail associate

A good retail associate requires a number of skills. If you can find someone with a great attitude and the desire to learn, most of these retail skills can be taught.

Empathy

Empathy is recognizing, sharing, and feeling another person’s emotions and thoughts. Retail associates need empathy to understand the needs of their customers as well as their fellow employees.

A Harvard Business Review study found that empathic companies outperform their callous counterparts by 20%.

Retail associates are part of the staff of your business. Your staff needs to be able to work well together in order to serve customers effectively.

Communication

Good interpersonal skills are essential in any field that involves people. Service quality will only be as good as a retail associate’s communication skills.

There are many forms of interpersonal skills that you should consider, beyond verbal communication. Understanding body language, how to approach people, and how to build relationships are all part of communication. Customer and employee communication will reflect your brand.

Point of Sale (POS) experience

Your POS will handle all of your customers’ financial transactions and track your inventory. Your associates don’t have to be familiar with your specific POS system, but it will simplify your business. Make sure that your associates can accurately perform customer transactions using your POS system so that your records won’t be affected.

Sales

Retail associates ultimately sell your products or services. You’ll be better off if you give them the right kind of sales experience. Make sure they:

Genuinely care about your customers instead of just hitting sales targets
Upsell without being too pushy
Make shopping a positive experience for every customer

Basic math skills

Your associates will deal with money, count inventory, and maybe even give customers estimates. For them to be successful, they must be familiar with basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Time management

A good retail associate manages their time well. This will both increase their individual productivity and maintain a friendly work environment by not overburdening other team members.

Display a chart showing how long certain tasks should take and reward employees who meet those time markers with gift cards or extra in-store discounts.

Ability to multitask

Most stores cannot afford to have a one-to-one customer-to-retail associate ratio. Associates must therefore be multitaskers.

For instance, a good retail associate working in an Allbirds store would have to restock their men’s tree runner sneakers while also keeping an eye out for any customers who might have questions. Retail becomes a fast-paced environment on high-sales days like Black Friday, so having employees who can multitask well can bring success to your business.

Inventory knowledge

You can’t sell something you don’t understand. Knowing your products is an essential skill for your sales associates, so they can tell your customers why they should buy your products genuinely and persuasively. Only then will they be able to find products your customers will find useful.

How much do retail associates make?

The median pay for retail sales workers in the United States was $14.03 per hour in May 2021, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics [1]. You’ll usually get an hourly wage, commissions, or a combination of the two. Your wage can also vary based on the company you’re working for, how much experience you have, and where you live.

Why pursue a career as a retail associate?

As a retail associate, you can gain experience, knowledge, and skills that will serve you well whether you advance toward management in retail or choose a different career path.

Many retail sales jobs work nights and weekends, plus the ability to work part-time. This gives you the flexibility to earn money while working toward a degree or managing other life commitments.