Your Checklist of Retail Employee Tasks, by Position

To achieve company objectives and ensure the profitability of the business, managers must surround themselves with a competent, motivated team.

Each member of the team has an important role to play, with a variety of tasks and responsibilities. It’s the sum of everyone’s work that makes any business a success, and ensures the quality of services offered to customers.

In this article, you will learn:

• The roles of different retail employees
• The job description for a store manager
• The job description for an assistant manager
• The job description for a sales clerk
• The job description for a warehouse clerk
• How to simplify retail employee scheduling

Roles and positions of retail employees

The roles and positions of retail employees can vary greatly from one store to another. The size of the business, its location and even the nature of its activities can influence the number of employees and the nature of their work.

For example, a large company might hire employees for specific roles, while a small company will hire fewer employees since they will wear many hats. Franchises and chains also operate differently from independent stores.

Let’s take a closer look at the different roles or positions that retail employees can occupy.

Customer service (front of house)

Front of house employees work customer service positions such as:

• Sales clerk, also called salesperson or sales representative
• Cashier
• Customer service clerk
• Floor clerk
• Visual presentation manager

Back of house

Back of house employees are not in direct contact with customers. They hold positions such as:

• Inventory manager
• Stock manager
• Warehouse clerk
• Accounting technician
• Buyer
• Delivery person
• Maintenance worker
• Social media manager

Management positions

Management positions refer to administrative positions such as:

• Floor manager or store manager
• Assistant manager (third key holder)
• Marketing manager
• Human resources manager
• Accountant or other administrative role
• Marketing director

List of tasks for retail employees

Every retail employee has an important role to play in ensuring customer satisfaction and the smooth running of the store’s day-to-day operations.

As a manager, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what each position in your company entails. That way, you’ll have a better understanding of each of your responsibilities, and be in a better position to plan your workforce needs and create efficient, relevant schedules.

💡Each section below is a model job description that can be used to write a job posting. Don’t hesitate to use them as inspiration!

Store manager

The store manager, sometimes called floor manager, is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of store operations, including promotional strategies, product offerings and customer service quality.

Generally speaking, the training required to obtain this position is a degree in administration or business management. Most companies also require retail experience in a management position.

Qualities of a good store manager

The qualities of a good store manager include:

• Leadership
• Communication skills
• Empathy
• Listening skills
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking
• Management
• Entrepreneurial spirit

Key challenges of store managers

The main challenges of the store manager position include:

• Maximizing company profits without compromising customer service or employee experience
• Managing customer complaints
• Creating and managing employee schedules
• Managing conflicts between team members
• Motivating employees
• Finding solutions to the labor shortage
• Avoiding high employee turnover
• Managing supply issues
• Improving business processes
• Adapting to industry changes

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List of store manager tasks

• Creating and implementing strategies to achieve corporate objectives
• Determining the store’s objectives to be achieved
• Recruiting, hiring and training new employees
• Offering employee training
• Conducting staff performance reviews
• Managing conflicts between employees
• Ensuring quality customer service
• Ensuring accurate inventory
• Placing orders and managing problems with suppliers as needed
• Creating and managing employee work schedules, including time-off requests, absences and shift swap requests
• Improving company processes
• Ensuring that store policies are properly applied
• Keeping the store clean
• Managing customer complaints
• Collaborating with the marketing department to set up special promotions or activities
• Preparing and analyzing reports to find ways of improving processes
• Managing various budgets
• Keeping up to date on competitors and industry trends
• Assisting team members as needed

Assistant manager

An assistant manager (third key holder) in a retail business helps the manager with all their management tasks, and assists staff on the floor as needed.

The training required for the position of assistant manager can vary from store to store. Some companies may prefer to require an advanced degree in administration or management, while others may require a high school diploma. Most of the time, significant retail experience or in a management position is preferable.

Qualities of a good assistant manager

The qualities of a good assistant manager include:

• Good communication
• Teamwork
• Attention to detail
• Listening skills
• Proactivity
• Leadership
• Flexibility
• Ability to cope with change

Key challenges of assistant managers

The main challenges of the assistant manager position include:

• Having several responsibilities to manage at the same time
• Ability to prioritize tasks
• Managing customer complaints
• Helping employees when necessary
• Finding solutions to problems
• Helping employees apply store policies properly
• Training employees
• Collaborating with the store manager to achieve objectives

List of assistant manager tasks

The list of tasks for the assistant manager role includes:

• Assisting with employee management: managing conflicts, conducting performance reviews, motivating employees, etc.
• Assisting the store manager with day-to-day tasks such as opening and closing the store, maintaining cleanliness and adhering to existing policies
• Assisting team members as needed
• Providing employee training
• Managing customer complaints
• Ensuring customer satisfaction
• Helping with inventory and stock management
• Helping develop strategies to ensure the company’s success
• Making security deposits on cash registers
• Operating cash registers
• Analyzing sales reports to find ways of improving processes and strategies
• Managing employee files as needed

Sales clerk

A sales clerk is responsible for advising customers, answering their questions, helping to place products on shelves and charging customers. If necessary, the sales clerk can also process exchanges and refunds. Good customer service is essential to ensure that customers have a good experience in the store.

Sales clerks are also called salespeople, sales reps, floor clerks or customer service clerks.

The position of sales clerk generally requires no special training. Some stores prefer to hire clerks with retail experience.

Qualities of a good sales clerk

The qualities of a good sales clerk include:

• The ability to provide good customer service
• Communication skills
• Listening skills
• Politeness
• Ability to work as part of a team
• Ability to find solutions
• Positive attitude

Key challenges of sales clerks

The main challenges of the sales clerk role include:

• Handling customer complaints and requests in a professional manner
• Ability to multitask
• Prioritizing tasks
• Working in a fast-paced environment
• Maintaining a positive attitude
• Adapting to change

List of tasks for a sales clerk

A sales clerk’s list of tasks includes:

• Using POS software to charge customers or process exchanges and refunds
• Greeting customers and answering their questions
• Advising customers according to their needs
• Keeping the store clean
• Ensuring proper product presentation
• Placing products on shelves
• Assisting team members, including employees from other departments
• Helping with inventory management, as needed
• Promoting current sales and events
• Respecting existing policies and procedures

Warehouse clerk

A warehouse clerk is responsible for receiving orders, placing products in the warehouse and putting products on the floor. They play a key role in ensuring stock rotation and inventory accuracy.

Warehouse clerks don’t usually require any special training, since each store can train its employees according to its own policies and processes. Some stores require a high school diploma.

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Qualities of a good warehouse clerk

Qualities of a good warehouse clerk include:

• Attention to detail
• Ability to work in a team
• Time management
• Organizational skills
• Precision
• Ability to work quickly
• Physical fitness
• Respect for safety rules

Key challenges of warehouse clerks

The main challenges of the warehouse clerk role include:

• Maintaining warehouse cleanliness and organization
• Checking and avoiding errors in orders
• Optimizing warehouse space
• Maintaining good physical condition
• Collaborating with other team members

List of warehouse clerk tasks

The list of tasks for a warehouse clerk includes:

• Receiving, checking and validating the quality of merchandise deliveries
• Preparing and packing customer orders accurately
• Organizing inventory efficiently in the warehouse space provided
• Preparing merchandise for delivery
• Properly identifying products received
• Rotating inventory according to established procedures
• Taking inventory of merchandise when necessary
• Maintaining cleanliness of work areas
• Operating forklifts and pallet trucks
• Working as part of a team
• Respecting safety standards and procedures

Eliminate scheduling issues in your retail business

The quality of service provided by your business is directly linked to the service provided by your employees. To ensure that they are able to carry out their tasks properly, it is essential that you adopt the best management practices.

One of the central aspects of your tasks as a manager is staff and time management. Equip yourself with the best tools to help you simplify your tasks and focus on the essentials.

For example, with employee management software like Agendrix, you can centralize all your management tasks, from creating schedules and tracking time and attendance, through communications, to digitizing employee records.

You’ll be able to create work schedules directly in the software, which will centralize all your employees’ availabilities and preferences to reduce errors. You can even apply filters in the scheduler according to employee positions to ensure you have enough staff in the various departments.

You can then send the schedule to your team members, who will receive it directly on their cell phones. Your employees will be able to write to you in the professional communication tool, ensuring a better work-life balance.

Agendrix software even lets you create open shifts so you can quickly find replacements in the event of an employee’s unexpected absence from work.

What we like about Agendrix is its ease of use: it’s a very intuitive application. Even our employees who are reluctant to use technological tools quickly adopt it. It appeals to our entire team, from 15 to 74 years old! – Lara May-Viger, Manager and Accountant, RONA Vimont Laval

Agendrix is also easy to use. This makes it suitable even for workplaces where several generations of employees are working side by side.

By using high-performance work tools, you modernize your processes while improving employee satisfaction.

4 hours saved on scheduling per week.

RONA streamlined their retail employee schedules with Agendrix.

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Conclusion

The roles and responsibilities of retail employees are diverse. They’re all important and contribute directly to the company’s success.

As a manager, it’s vital that you have a good understanding of each of these roles, so that you can better manage the business. This will make it easier for you to anticipate labor needs and plan schedules appropriately.

With all the tasks you have to perform on a daily basis, it’s a good idea to equip yourself with tools that help you simplify your tasks, such as employee management software.

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