• Applicants with experience as a retail salesperson, cashier, or customer service representative should have the best job opportunities.
• The number of self-employed sales worker supervisors in retail trade is expected to decline as independent retailers face increasing competition from national chains.
• Work schedules may be irregular and often include evenings and weekends.
• A postsecondary degree is increasingly needed for advancement into management.

In retail establishments, sales worker supervisors ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods. They also answer customers’ inquiries and deal with complaints, and may handle purchasing, budgeting, and accounting. Their responsibilities vary, depending on the size and type of establishment. As the size of retail stores and the types of goods and services increase, these workers tend to specialize in one department or one aspect of merchandising. (Managers in eating and drinking places are discussed in the Handbook statement on food service managers.)

Sales worker supervisors in large retail establishments, often referred to as department managers, provide day-to-day oversight of individual departments, such as shoes, cosmetics, or housewares in large department stores; produce and meat in grocery stores; and sales in automotive dealerships. These workers establish and implement policies, goals, objectives, and procedures for their specific departments; coordinate activities with other department heads; and strive for smooth operations within their departments. They supervise employees who price and ticket goods and place them on display; clean and organize shelves, displays, and inventory in stockrooms; and inspect merchandise to ensure that nothing is outdated. Sales worker supervisors also review inventory and sales records, develop merchandising techniques, coordinate sales promotions, and may greet and assist customers and promote sales and good public relations.

Sale workers supervisors in nonretail establishments supervise and coordinate the activities of sales workers who sell industrial products, automobiles, or services such as advertising or Internet services. They may prepare budgets, make personnel decisions, devise sales-incentive programs, assign sales territories, or approve sales contracts.

In small or independent companies and retail stores, sales worker supervisors not only directly supervise sales associates, but are also responsible for the operation of the entire company or store. Some are also self-employed business or store owners.

Work hours of supervisors vary greatly among establishments, because work schedules usually depend on customers’ needs. Most supervisors work 40 hours or more a week; long hours are common. This is particularly true during sales, holidays, busy shopping hours, and times during which inventory is taken. They are expected to work evenings and weekends, but usually are compensated with a day off during the week. Hours can change weekly, and managers sometimes must report to work on short notice, especially when employees are absent. Independent owners can often set their own schedules, but hours must be convenient to customers.

The educational background of sales worker supervisors varies widely. Regardless of the education received, recommended courses include accounting, marketing, management, and sales, as well as psychology, sociology, and communication. Supervisors must be computer literate because almost all cash registers, inventory control systems, and sales quotes and contracts are computerized.

Most supervisors who have postsecondary education hold associate or bachelor’s degrees in liberal arts, social sciences, business, or management. To gain experience, many college students participate in internship programs that usually are developed jointly by individual schools and firms.

Once supervisors are on the job, the type and amount of training available to them varies from company to company. Many national retail chains and companies have formal training programs for management trainees that include both classroom and onsite training. Training time may be as brief as 1 week but may also last up to 1 year or more, because many organizations require that trainees gain experience during all sales seasons.

Ordinarily, classroom training includes such topics as interviewing and customer service skills, employee and inventory management, and scheduling. Management trainees may work in one specific department while training on the job, or they may rotate through several departments to gain a well-rounded knowledge of the company’s operation. Training programs for retail franchises are generally extensive, covering all functions of the company’s operation, including budgeting, marketing, management, finance, purchasing, product preparation, human resource management, and compensation. College graduates usually can enter management training programs directly.

Sales worker supervisors must get along with all types of people. They need initiative, self-discipline, good judgment, and decisiveness. Patience and a mild temperament are necessary when dealing with demanding customers. Sales worker supervisors must also be able to motivate, organize, and direct the work of subordinates and communicate clearly and persuasively with customers and other supervisors.

Individuals who display leadership and team-building skills, self-confidence, motivation, and decisiveness become candidates for promotion to assistant manager or manager. A postsecondary degree may speed advancement, because it is viewed by employers as a sign of motivation and maturity—qualities deemed important for promotion to more responsible positions. In many retail establishments, managers are promoted from within the company. In small retail establishments, where the number of positions is limited, advancement to a higher management position may come slowly. Large establishments often have extensive career ladder programs, and may offer supervisors the opportunity to transfer to another store in the chain or to the central office if an opening occurs. Although promotions may occur more quickly in large establishments, some managers may need to relocate every several years to advance. Supervisors also can become advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers—workers who coordinate marketing plans, monitor sales, and propose advertisements and promotions; or purchasing managers, buyers, or purchasing agents—workers who purchase goods and supplies for their organization or for resale. (These occupations are covered in other Handbook statements.)

Some supervisors who have worked in their industry for a long time open their own stores or sales firms. However, retail trade and sales are highly competitive and, although many independent owners succeed, some fail to cover expenses and eventually go out of business. To prosper, owners usually need good business sense and strong customer service and public relations skills.

Employment of sales worker supervisors is expected to grow more slowly than the average for all occupations through the year 2010. Growth in this occupation will be restrained somewhat as retail companies hire more sales staff, but increase the responsibilities of sales worker supervisors. However, many job openings are expected to occur as experienced supervisors and managers move into higher levels of management, transfer to other occupations, or leave the labor force.

The Internet and electronic commerce are creating new opportunities to reach and communicate with potential customers. Some firms are hiring Internet sales managers, who are in charge of maintaining an Internet site and answering inquiries relating to the product, price, and delivery terms—a trend that will increase demand for these supervisors. Overall, however, Internet sales and electronic commerce will reduce somewhat the number of additional sales workers needed, thus reducing the number of additional supervisors needed.

Projected employment growth of sales worker supervisors will mirror, in part, the patterns of employment growth in the industries in which they work. For example, faster than average employment growth is expected in rapidly growing services industries. The number of self-employed retail sales worker supervisors is expected to decline, as independent retailers face increasing competition from national chains.

Unlike middle- and upper-level management positions, store-level retail supervisors generally will not be affected by the restructuring and consolidation taking place at the corporate and headquarters levels of many retail chains.

In 2000, median annual earnings of salaried sales worker supervisors of retail sales workers, including commission, were $27,510. The middle 50 percent earned between $21,050 and $37,200 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $16,910, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $52,590 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of salaried sales worker supervisors of retail sales workers in 2000 were as follows:

General information on management careers in retail establishments is available from:

41-1011.00, 41-1012.00