Sales and Related · Holland code ECS

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

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.

Also called: Department Manager, Meat Department Manager, Shift Manager, Store Manager, Bakery Manager, Delicatessen Manager, Department Supervisor, Grocery Manager.

O*NET 41-1011.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $48,520; Middle half earn $38,590 to $62,130. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 52% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Formulate pricing policies for merchandise, according to profitability requirements.
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.
Hire, train, and evaluate personnel in sales or marketing establishments, promoting or firing workers when appropriate.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.9 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
Monitoring3.5 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Writing3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Customer and Personal Service4.8 / 5
Administration and Management4.5 / 5
Sales and Marketing3.9 / 5
English Language3.9 / 5
Education and Training3.6 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources3.3 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic29
Investigative2
Artistic0
Social44
Enterprising100
Conventional77

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

department store manager · DE Warenhausleiter/Warenhausleiterin · FR directeur de grand magasin/directrice de grand magasin
retail department manager · DE Leiter einer Warenhausabteilung/Leiterin einer Warenhausabteilung · FR chef de rayon
shop manager · DE Ladenmanager/Ladenmanagerin · FR directeur de magasin/directrice de magasin
ammunition shop manager · DE Leiter eines Munitionsgeschäftes/Leiterin eines Munitionsgeschäftes · FR responsable de magasin d'armes à feu
clothing shop manager · DE Leiter eines Bekleidungsgeschäftes/Leiterin eines Bekleidungsgeschäftes · FR gérant de magasin de vêtements/gérante de magasin de vêtements
computer shop manager · DE Leiter eines Computergeschäftes/Leiterin eines Computergeschäftes · FR gérant de magasin informatique/gérante de magasin informatique

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Managers and directors in retail and wholesale (1150)299,300 employed
Sales supervisors - retail and wholesale (7132)152,900 employed
Shopkeepers and owners - retail and wholesale (7131)76,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.02. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (41-1011).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test