First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
Retail sales workers directly supervise and coordinate activities of retail sales workers in an establishment or department. They perform duties that involve management functions, such as purchasing, budgeting, accounting, and personnel work, in addition to supervisory duties.
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers provide customer service by greeting and assisting customers and responding to customer inquiries and complaints, direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or in performing services for customers, examine merchandise to ensure that it is correctly priced and displayed and that it functions as advertised and monitor sales activities to ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods.
With good communication and active listening skills, retail sales workers are responsible for instructing staff on how to handle difficult and complicated sales. These occupations usually require a high school diploma and accomplishment of subjects such as sales & marketing, customer & personal service, education & training, administration & management, and grasp of the English language.
Individuals who want to succeed as first-line supervisors of retail sales workers need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. As a retail sales worker, you can earn wages on an hourly as well as a monthly basis.
Qualifications
Every career requires an element of study and academic qualification, and there can be several study routes and pathways you can take. In following any academic pathway you will study subjects that contribute to the specialised knowledge required to achieve your career goals. These qualifications provide a future employer with the evidence that you have the desired knowledge, understanding and experience of their industry, so it’s important to consider the various types of qualifications available to you and to understand how they can boost your career and create opportunities for you.
- Bachelor's Any Subject
Tasks
- Provide customer service by greeting and assisting customers and responding to customer inquiries and complaints.
- Monitor sales activities to ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods.
- Assign employees to specific duties.
- Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or in performing services for customers.
- Inventory stock and reorder when inventory drops to a specified level.
- Keep records of purchases, sales, and requisitions.
- Enforce safety, health, and security rules.
- Examine products purchased for resale or received for storage to assess the condition of each product or item.
- Hire, train, and evaluate personnel in sales or marketing establishments, promoting or firing workers when appropriate.
- Perform work activities of subordinates, such as cleaning and organizing shelves and displays and selling merchandise.
Progression Routes
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