First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

What the job really is

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of retail sales workers in an establishment or department. Duties may include management functions, such as purchasing, budgeting, accounting, and personnel work, in addition to supervisory duties.

At a glance

• Sector: Sales
• O*NET-SOC code: 41-1011
• O*NET job zone: 2 — some preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Enforce safety, health, and security rules.
• 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.
• Monitor sales activities to ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods.
• Instruct staff on how to handle difficult and complicated sales.
• Assign employees to specific duties.
• Keep records of purchases, sales, and requisitions.
• Perform work activities of subordinates, such as cleaning and organizing shelves and displays and selling merchandise.
• Plan and prepare work schedules and keep records of employees' work schedules and time cards.
• Review inventory and sales records to prepare reports for management and budget departments.
• Inventory stock and reorder when inventory drops to a specified level.

Tools and technology

Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Apple Safari, Autodesk Revit, Facebook, Google Analytics, Google Docs, IBM SPSS Statistics, Kronos Workforce Timekeeper, Microsoft Access

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services
• First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers
• Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
• First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers
• First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 2 (some preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

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Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.