by In this article, you will find details about the job of a store manager.
We will go through the required skills and working hours.
Store managers are in charge of a management team in the retail sector and work under district managers.
Their responsibilities include overseeing the work of cashiers and other staff, making a weekly schedule, ensuring the accuracy of the checks, etc.
To become a store manager, one can move up their career or go to college and gain experience in a management position after graduation.
Article Table of Contents
What Does a Store Manager Do
The shifts of a store manager can be a swing, opening, closing, as well as a combination.
They are tasked with setting up the schedule for other employees and dealing with customer complaints.
They usually work in the back office and on the sales floor and can fill in if needed working in other positions.
Job Duties
- Provide customer service and resolve some of their issues and complaints.
- Set up schedules for the employees for the upcoming week considering the time off.
- Hold meetings with the sales staff to cover the techniques employees can use on the sales floor.
- Train new employees, so they understand their duties.
- Communicate information to district managers and other executives.
- Monitor trends and keep up with pricing to understand the needs of shoppers.
- Clean the shop when needed to ensure a good impression.
- Manage and maintain all shop assets effectively.
- Work with loss prevention to cut down on thefts.
- Manage inventory and order products when needed.
Essential Skills
Problem-solving:
Store managers should be able to solve problems efficiently finding an effective solution that won’t cause significant expenses.
Leadership:
Store managers need to know how to lead and inspire people.
If the workers feel they are being bullied by managers, they may quit and look for another job.
Organizational:
Store managers deal with setting schedules as well as keeping track of the time off requested by the employees.
They also track the inventory and profit and loss records.
How to Become a Store Manager
Store managers aren’t necessarily required to have a degree as some of them work their way up from a cashier or another position.
However, it is most effective to have a bachelor’s degree and some work experience in retail.
With experience, they learn better management techniques and understand how the days of employees go.
Training and Qualifications
Essential qualifications for a store manager are a college degree and customer service experience.
If you don’t have a degree, your competitors with one may win a job over you.
With a bachelor’s degree in a business program, you can learn various aspects of business like HR, ethics, law, management, leadership.
Colleges also offer internships for their students.
They can work for retailers there before looking for a full-time job.
Additionally, store managers should undergo some basic training.
For a few weeks or more, they work under supervision until they understand how to do their day-to-day job.
Managers can transit from a restaurant, food industry to the retail one.
Those who don’t have a degree need extensive customer service experience to be fit for a management position.
Experience
Store managers always need experience in management to take the job.
Recent graduates can include their college experience in the resume mentioning the volunteer work and other activities.
If you don’t have any management experience, you need to show that you have a deep customer service background and can be a leader.
A lot of managers who have a college degree can get experience as leaders in college clubs or internships.
Even those who have a degree need customer service experience for the job.
Working Hours
Managers can work standard shifts like opening (morning till later day) or closing that start later in the day.
In the stores with closing hours, managers need to come and set up the store for the day and shut down the store at the end of the shift.
There are also swing shifts when managers work in the middle of the day.
In 24-hour stores, they can also have night shifts.
Contrary to the employees that work registers and get paid for overtime, managers have a set salary no matter how much they work.
Career Outlook
At a shop, a store manager is usually the highest position.
In many shops, there are supervisors monitoring the work of the employees and department heads.
Store managers deal with similar tasks throughout the entire shop.
Great store managers can move to other management positions such as a district manager.
District managers supervise the shops in a particular area.
There are also regional managers and other upper-management jobs that store managers can move up to.
As per the data of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the salary of the store managers is $43,910 per year.
10% of store managers can earn more than $66,000 annually.
The highest salaries are in the clothing and grocery stores, but managers are also needed in jewelry, shoe, and other stores.
Conclusion
Store managers work to meet customer needs and employees’ requests.
They are handling schedules, filling in for other positions if they are short in staff, purchasing products, and dealing with customers.
To become a store manager, you need a combination of a college degree and customer service or retail experience.