Career profile for Retail Manager

What does a Retail Manager do?

Retail Managers directly supervise and coordinate activities of retail sales workers in an establishment or department.

In addition, Retail Managers duties may include management functions, such as purchasing, budgeting, accounting, and personnel work, in addition to supervisory duties.

What kind of tasks does a Retail Manager perform regularly?

Retail Managers are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

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 performing specific services.
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.
Perform work activities of subordinates, such as cleaning and organizing shelves and displays and selling merchandise.
Keep records of purchases, sales, and requisitions.
Inventory stock and reorder when inventory drops to a specified level.
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.
Establish and implement policies, goals, objectives, and procedures for the department.
Examine products purchased for resale or received for storage to determine product condition.
Enforce safety, health, and security rules.
Estimate consumer demand and determine the types and amounts of goods to be sold.
Confer with company officials to develop methods and procedures to increase sales, expand markets, and promote business.

The above responsibilities are specific to Retail Managers. More generally, Retail Managers are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public		Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
Training and Teaching Others		Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others		Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
Coaching and Developing Others		Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.

Performing for or Working Directly with the Public

Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.

Training and Teaching Others

Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others

Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.

Coaching and Developing Others

Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.

What is a Retail Manager salary?

The median salary for a Retail Manager is $41,580, and the average salary is $47,300. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Retail Manager salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Retail Managers earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Retail Managers earn less than $27,260 per year, 25% earn less than $33,070, 75% earn less than $55,880, and 90% earn less than $72,810.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Retail Managers is expected to change by -6.5%, and there should be roughly 131,800 open positions for Retail Managers every year.

Median annual salary: $41,580
Typical salary range: $27,260 - $72,810
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): -6.5%

What personality traits are common among Retail Managers?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Retail Manager are usually higher in their Enterprising, Conventional, and Social interests.

Retail Managers typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Retail Managers typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Lastly, Retail Managers typically have moderate Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Retail Manager tend to value Independence, Relationships, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Retail Managers moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Second, Retail Managers moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Retail Managers moderately value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Retail Managers must consistently demonstrate qualities such as integrity, stress tolerance, and leadership.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Retail Managers, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Leadership		Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Leadership

Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

Cooperation

Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

What education and training do Retail Managers need?

Working as a Retail Manager usually requires a high school diploma.

Retail Managers need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Retail Managers

5.6% did not complete high school or secondary school
29.1% completed high school or secondary school
28.4% completed some college coursework
10.2% earned a Associate's degree
21.6% earned a Bachelor's degree
4.2% earned a Master's degree
1.0% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Retail Managers

Retail Managers may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as customer and personal service, administration and management, or sales and marketing knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Retail Managers might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Sales and Marketing		Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Education and Training		Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Personnel and Human Resources		Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Sales and Marketing

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Education and Training

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Personnel and Human Resources

Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Important Abilities needed by Retail Managers

Retail Managers must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Retail Managers need abilities such as oral comprehension, oral expression, and speech clarity in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Retail Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition		The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Critical Skills needed by Retail Managers

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Retail Managers frequently use skills like active listening, speaking, and service orientation to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Retail Managers, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Service Orientation		Actively looking for ways to help people.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Service Orientation

Actively looking for ways to help people.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Retail Manager

Retail Manager

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