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What does a Grocery Store Manager do?
A grocery store manager is responsible for supervising day-to-day operations in his or her store. A manager oversees the work of employees, keeps track of inventory and sales, and places orders for new products. He or she ensures that customers are able to find what they need and enjoy their buying experiences by skillfully arranging shelves and displays. Strong organizational, communication, and computer skills are necessary in order to succeed in a grocery store manager job.
One of the primary responsibilities of the manager is to ensure that grocery clerks complete their daily procedures. A professional delegates responsibilities and monitors progress on various tasks. He or she conducts routine performance reviews with employees and helps them improve their skills. The manager also trains new workers and provides ongoing training when new policies or procedures are instated. In small stores, managers often work alongside clerks to restock shelves, rearrange products, set up displays, and price goods.
It is important for a grocery store manager to have excellent communication and customer service skills. When a customer has a concern or question that cannot be addressed by a clerk, the manager typically steps in to provide assistance. He or she takes special orders, offers suggestions about different products, and apologizes should a customer have a negative experience in the store. By maintaining a friendly, helpful attitude, a successful manager can help ensure repeat business.
In addition to supervisory and customer service duties, the manager usually performs a variety of clerical and accounting duties. He or she reviews inventory and sales records, determines prices, and deals with vendors. The manager places regular orders with distribution companies and makes sure that shipments arrive in a timely manner. Many managers are responsible for making decisions about the type and quantity of products to stock based on consumer research and annual reports.
While there are no set requirements to work in this position, most professionals have some college education and extensive experience in customer service jobs. Many employers choose to promote grocery clerks to managerial positions after they have worked for several years and proven that they have excellent leadership skills. A degree in business administration, accounting, or a similar subject may be necessary to qualify for a position at a large grocery store. With ongoing experience and success, a grocery store manager may be able to pursue additional advancement opportunities. Some managers obtain administrative positions that involve mainly office work and policy making decisions.
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![Ordering fresh produce is one of the duties of a grocery store manager.]()
By: Andrey MilkinOrdering fresh produce is one of the duties of a grocery store manager. -
![A grocery store manager must make sure that the products offered in their meat section have not hit their expiration dates.]()
By: Kondor83A grocery store manager must make sure that the products offered in their meat section have not hit their expiration dates. -
![A bag of groceries.]()
By: Edyta PawlowskaA bag of groceries. -
![Grocery clerks are overseen by grocery store managers.]()
By: Monkey BusinessGrocery clerks are overseen by grocery store managers. -
![Some managers at grocery stores circulate on the sales floor, helping shoppers locate items and answering any questions they may have.]()
By: Robert KneschkeSome managers at grocery stores circulate on the sales floor, helping shoppers locate items and answering any questions they may have.
Discussion Comments
@Bhutan - I agree with you but it can be fun interviewing people and hiring them. I used to work in retail management and decided to actually leave the field and go into staffing because I enjoyed this aspect of my job so much. I also loved having weekends off.
This would never happen in a retail management job. I also don’t miss doing inventory and overnight floor moves. I know that grocery stores call overnight floor moves resets and they are very physically demanding.
Grocery stores do this because they want the customers to walk the whole store and not go directly to the shelf where their products that they want to buy are and leave with just that.
They figure if a customer has to walk around the entire store to find what they need they will probably make more impulse purchases. Grocery managers and stock personnel usually do these resets overnight when the customers are not in the store.
@Sneakers41 - I think that retail manager jobs in general offer long hours which is one of the drawbacks of this type of position. I used to have a retail management career and it was demanding because most retail managers work an average of fifty to sixty hours a week. This always included weekends as well.
The other drawback is that you have to manage people that may have all different types of personalities and it is not easy. Not everyone has a strong work ethic and it can be difficult making schedules when multiple employees want the same time off.
However, there are advantages to working in retail store management. You really learn so much about managing people and developing customer service standards. You also learn about ordering merchandise and displaying it properly, and no two days are the same. You will never be bored in this field because you are always learning new things every day. Also, most retail management jobs offer an nice employee discount.
I used to work in a grocery store all through college and the grocery store managers all worked by stocking every aisle in the store before they were promoted to a management position.
This was a requirement at the grocery store chain that I worked because the store wanted the managers to have a strong working knowledge of what items sell and this allowed them to help the stock personnel with their ordering procedures if they have problems.
Usually grocery store positions like this are not advertised because many stores promote from within. This company liked to promote from within because they felt that it would help employee morale and they wanted to reward employees that stayed with the company.
I know that the average grocery store manager’s salary can reach in the six figures for larger stores but they do work a lot of hours.
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