Sales Associate

This report will discuss the basics of what a position of a sales associate requires. Before we initiate the

sales associate job description, here are a couple of facts and numbers:

Job prospects in this industry are fantastic due to the demand to replace staff who leave each year or so.

Sales associates typically work weekends and evenings, notably during optimum retail periods such as

the holiday season. This is the ideal position for a large number of people of all skill levels. While

teenagers may find it to be the perfect initial occupation, young adults with secondary education

experience have a great opportunity to progress into management roles. Sales associates make about an

average of $10 an hour.

The common and retail sales associate job description will be familiar to any individual who’s ever

strolled into a retailer. Odds are that you’ve come across and interacted with a sales associate in a

grocery store, a car dealership, a clothing retailer, a book shop, or even an appliance store. They are the

general store personnel who do everything from organizing supply, setting up product on the shop floor,

encouraging clients to invest in a product, assisting them find what they’re hunting for, and ultimately

ringing them up at the cash register. A sales associate’s job also may feature management duties such as

stopping theft, setting up the store for opening or closing, and even simple tasks such as maintaining

racks and counter-tops.

There are two facets to this that you’ll find on a retail sales associate resume: inventory and store floor.

In the behind-the-scenes operations of the store, a sales associate may perform duties such as

unloading trucks and keeping overflow stock arranged in the back room or warehouse area. For

products that will be featured on the store floor, a sales associate will be involved in labeling products

with tags (price tags, measurement tags, sales decals, etc.). Prices often change, and sales associates are

expected to carry out price changes by retagging and/or relocating products. Once this is undertaken,

they will arrange the collections on the store floor. This means placing the items in an organized fashion

on cabinets, holders, counter tops, and sales displays.

Aside from products, sales associates are also needed in setting up promotional exhibits, such as

posters, mannequins, window displays, display cases, and general holiday presentation materials. You

know the kind: “50% off!”; “Fresh arrivals!”; “For sale!” etc. Every once in a while, the shop layout may

change and the sales associates will help in shuffling tables around.

Once all of the merchandise is set to go, the promotional exhibits are up, and the store opens, the sales

associate is in charge of preserving the quality of the store’s presentation. This means inspecting and

sustaining the inventory stock on the retail store floor by replenishing any draining racks with fresh

merchandise.

Clients will often move merchandise around as they look through the shop, and a sales associate must

rectify this by reorganizing things so that customers aren’t hindered in locating what they’re trying to

find, or just to have a more pleasant shopping experience in general. Refolding apparel is a popular

example of this type of task for a retail sales associate. Maintaining a nice and tidy store front is a

fundamental task for anyone who calls himself a sales associate.