WHAT DOES A RETAIL STORE MANAGER DO?

Published: Dec 11, 2025 - The Retail Store Manager oversees store operations to ensure a safe, efficient, well-maintained, and fully stocked environment, with accurate inventory control and compliance with health, safety, and loss-prevention standards. This role drives traffic and profitability by controlling costs, improving business strategies, and guiding buying decisions based on trends, customer needs, and stock levels. The manager also leads all store HR and performance by recruiting, hiring, training, motivating, and retaining associates while meeting or exceeding sales goals through strong selling and client retention.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Retail Store Manager

1. Retail Store Manager Responsibilities

  • Sales Performance: Delivers and exceeds sales budgets and growth expectations
  • Roster Management: Effectively manages store rosters to deliver budgeted wage %, planning for fluctuations in trade and tasks
  • Customer Service Leadership: Leads by example in customer service, ensuring staff are trained to deliver above-and-beyond service that is consistent with the brand's service standards
  • Product Profitability: Maximises sell-throughs and profitability of products through effective refilling, markdowns, and stockroom management
  • Visual Merchandising: Ensures the store maintains visual standards and merchandises stock to maximise sales potential
  • Team Recruitment: Recruits team members with the correct brand and cultural fit, competencies, and behaviours
  • Team Induction: Provides the team with a quality induction and introduction to the brand
  • Team Guidance: Provides direction and appropriate feedback to the team
  • Store Culture: Creates a positive and productive store environment for the team

2. Retail Store Manager Accountabilities

  • Operations Management: Manage the overall operations of the store, making sure that the store is in working order and adequately stocked to ensure safe and efficient operations.
  • Store Presentation: Maintains a visually appealing store, ensuring appropriate housekeeping, visual merchandising, new product placement, and organization are kept to the highest standard.
  • Cost Control: Maintain controllable costs and meet company objectives by improving business strategies to increase store traffic and optimize profitability.
  • Human Resources: Be responsible for all facets of Human Resources within the store (i.e., hire, recruit, train, and retain the store team).
  • Buying Insight: Give input on buying trends, product orders, customer needs, and inventory levels.
  • Stock Review: Review stock regularly to ensure floor levels.
  • Safety Compliance: Ensure adherence to health and safety regulations.
  • Inventory Control: Manage and handle all inventory control-related issues and ensure accurate inventory tracking.
  • Sales Monitoring: Monitors associate sales productivity, acknowledges, and communicates performance to associates
  • Team Motivation: Motivates and trains associates to achieve full potential and realize company goals.
  • Sales Achievement: Meets and exceeds sales goals through personal and team selling skills and the committed utilization of client management and retention tools.
  • Loss Prevention: Ensure compliance with all loss prevention policies, operating procedures, and controls
  • Control Training: Conducts associate training to reinforce proper controls.

3. Retail Store Manager Functions

  • Sales Leadership: Directly responsible for ensuring the Store consistently achieves or exceeds sales, KPIs, and profitability goals through the effective use of short and long-term planning, expense control, sales, and service.
  • Customer Experience: Guarantee consistently high standards of customer experience within the Store in accordance with brand values and service standards.
  • Talent Development: Be responsible for recruitment, training, development, and succession of high-performing, results-driven Associates and Management.
  • Performance Appraisal: Prepare and administer timely and accurate performance appraisals for each member of the store team.
  • Accountability Management: Hold each member of the store team accountable to meeting/exceeding company expectations through weekly productivity conversations, daily coaching in the moment, performance recognition, and performance action notices.
  • Floor Engagement: Spends their working time on the sales floor engaging with consumers, selling, and coaching employees.
  • Payroll Control: Accountable for payroll control and sales-driven scheduling to maintain a highly profitable location while providing the highest levels of service to customers.
  • Training Execution: Be responsible for ensuring training programs, both Domestic and Global, are completed to drive results within the store.
  • Business Analysis: Analyze customer profiles, buying trends, and competitive information to impact and drive business.
  • Manager Communication: Communicate and provide feedback to the Area/District Manager.
  • Loss Prevention: Implement, manage, and monitor Loss Prevention education, training, and awareness programs.
  • Safety Compliance: Execute all requirements necessary to maintain a safe and compliant working environment for all Store Associates and Customers.

4. Retail Store Manager Details and Accountabilities

  • Business Leadership: Drives business results by maximizing daily sales plans, managing expenses, and improving metrics through sales floor leadership, execution of the training programs, and continuous coaching on and off the sales floor
  • Task Planning: Plans, delegates, and follows up on expected tasks, assignments, and activities to ensure expectations and objectives are met
  • Team Feedback: Provides consistent developmental feedback that empowers and motivates the team and fosters a team environment by using effective communication skills
  • Team Liaison: Acts as a liaison between Boutique Team, District Team Leader, Regional Director, Human Resources, and Boutique Operations.
  • Talent Attraction: Attracts, recruits, and retains team members who are guest-focused and demonstrate the ability to drive sales
  • Team Development: Leads, develops, and coaches team members to reach their fullest potential and prepares them for the next level of responsibility by utilizing company tools
  • Performance Evaluation: Evaluates and reacts to performance issues fairly and consistently in accordance with expected practices
  • Team Relations: Actively establishes open, candid, and trusting professional relationships with their team members
  • Integrity Standards: Maintains a high degree of personal integrity and hires a team with the same values
  • Sales Leadership: Leads by example and delivers the company's goals to the sales team and all guests within the boutique
  • Selling Culture: Creates and reinforces a proactive selling culture that focuses on building a confident and competent team to build a loyal guest following through clear and positive communication
  • Guest Balance: Prepares the team to balance the guest experience with necessary operational tasks
  • Visual Merchandising: Maintains a visually inspiring boutique that is compelling to guests by developing visual decision-making skills and effective communication of the visual standards
  • Brand Presentation: Utilizes and delivers the visual brand standards to present the unique product mix offering
  • Policy Compliance: Understands and enforces all company policies and procedures in a fair and consistent manner
  • Schedule Planning: Ensures scheduling of team members is completed to deliver the expected level of guest service and maximize sales potential
  • Store Procedures: Performs and supervises boutique opening and closing procedures, including bank deposits and securing the boutique
  • Inventory Communication: Understands retail sales and the relationship to inventory levels, with the ability to communicate needs directly to the District Team Leader
  • Asset Protection: Protects the physical assets of the boutique by conducting weekly audits, routine cycle counts, and an annual physical inventory

5. Retail Store Manager Additional Details

  • Store Execution: Establish and achieve the top standard of store execution
  • Work Environment: Build and maintain a positive, high-energy, respectful, collaborative work environment
  • Team Development: Hire, retain, develop, and mentor a high-performing team of employees
  • Customer Service: Provide world-class customer service, getting to know the customers and meeting their individual needs.
  • Brand Education: Educate them on what the brand stands for
  • Inventory Management: Maintain and replenish inventory, staying in communication with the DC and commercial team regarding store-specific needs
  • Customer Growth: Develop a plan strategically designed to bring in more customers and increase their basket size
  • Staff Training: Provide training to improve the knowledge base of the staff and utilize cross-training to maintain productivity when employees are absent
  • Schedule Optimization: Maximize productivity through effective scheduling
  • Cost Control: Manage controllable costs to keep the store profitable

6. Retail Store Manager Role Purpose

  • Operational Excellence: Managing operational processes and maintaining the store in conditions of excellence to attract and retain guests, create a positive environment for staff, and enable efficient operations and high productivity
  • Service Leadership: Following TSTE (Step in Line) Principles, lead by example, and maintain consistent selling and service standards through communication, training, and individual accountability.
  • Sales Coaching: Coaching the team in company sales efforts, techniques, and other approaches to attract and retain guests.
  • Sales Performance: Driving the team to meet and exceed sales goals and standards of performance
  • Team Accountability: Holding staff accountable for meeting goals and providing a fun, full-service shopping experience.
  • Staff Management: Managing staff, their performance and development, and the hiring and firing of personnel in coordination with the owner.
  • Schedule Management: Developing and/or overseeing the development and approval of work schedules
  • Inventory Assembly: Assembling, overseeing the assembly, and/or approving the assembly and pricing of products and inventory orders, and other tasks associated with efficient inventory management and blend/product production.
  • POS Maintenance: Maintaining information/item setup/pricing and discounting in the Point of Sale System and all associated item tagging
  • Product Receiving: Receiving, supporting the receipt, and or overseeing the receipt of products into inventory and POS, and associated follow-up required for backorder and credit memo related communication with Owner and Corporate Franchise Warehouse team.
  • Promotion Planning: Planning, communicating, executing, and/or supporting the planning and execution of seasonal in-store sales promotions and events.
  • Marketing Support: Overseeing, contributing to, or supporting the provision of information for publication in local print, electronic, and social marketing media (e.g, Facebook).
  • Brand Promotion: Supporting planning and execution of marketing activities, to include representing, promoting, and/or supporting the representation and promotion of the company and its products in business development forums and activities.
  • Policy Development: Suggesting, drafting, reviewing, implementing, updating, and communicating operational policies and procedures in collaboration with the Owner to improve training, operations, and efficiency.
  • Technology Utilization: Utilizing, maintaining, and improving utilization of computers, software applications (including POS, all Microsoft Products, and Dropbox shareware technology) across the team.
  • Best Practices: Supporting the sharing of best practices between current and future stores.

7. Retail Store Manager General Responsibilities

  • Sales Growth: Drive company sales growth and profitability through customer-centric selling, teamwork, superior product knowledge, and impeccable customer experience.
  • Sales Leadership: Lead the selling process to ensure goals are met during shifts for all employees.
  • Selling Culture: Foster a customer-focused selling culture.
  • Service Modeling: Models the service and sales experience.
  • Operational Control: Effectively manage all controllable areas, including recruitment, onboarding and training, labor, inventory, and cost controls.
  • Team Feedback: Provide constant feedback to the team, elevating performance and managing expectations.
  • Performance Coaching: Coach and elevate team performance at the moment to maximize team selling potential.
  • Goal Setting: Set clear goals and expectations with all associates on every shift.
  • Community Engagement: Lead community engagement and local store marketing partnerships to increase brand visibility.
  • Vendor Management: Effective management of third-party vendors.
  • Membership Enrollment: Ensure the team is enrolling all customers in the Membership Program.
  • Product Sampling: Active and engaged product sampling throughout the day.
  • Information Cascade: Cascades critical information to the team and the direct supervisor in a proactive manner.
  • Team Coaching: Continuously coach the team and provide constant and useful feedback.
  • Store Ownership: Take ownership of the location, including store cleanliness, operational excellence, food handling, and customer experience standards that are best in class.
  • Policy Reinforcement: Models the selling process, reinforces company policies, and ensures a safe and respectful work environment for all members.
  • Customer Focus: Fosters a customer-focused environment centered on product knowledge that will result in increased sales, high levels of customer conversion, and retention of existing customers.
  • Financial Analysis: Utilize financial tools, P&L statement, and reporting to identify and address trends and issues in-store performance.
  • Proactive Action: Addresses areas of opportunity proactively and without hesitation.
  • Food Safety: Maintain high standards of food safety to ensure food is maintained at proper time and temperature by regularly monitoring and documenting.
  • Program Implementation: Champion the implementation of new programs and processes by developing action plans, directly motivating and instructing the store team to implement them flawlessly.
  • Talent Acquisition: Forecast staffing needs, actively recruit talent, and utilize talent acquisition tools to interview and hire qualified candidates.
  • Schedule Writing: Write schedules that both align with the company labor model and deliver on the customer service commitment.
  • Business Adjustment: Continuously adjusts to meet the needs of the business.
  • Legal Compliance: Ensure adherence to applicable wage and hour law, including compliance with meal and break period policies.

8. Retail Store Manager Roles and Details

  • Sales Management: Manage the sales team and weekly rostering
  • Sales Training: Assist with retail sales rep training in product knowledge, brand story, and sales tactics/data collection
  • Store Merchandising: Merchandise the store and manage stock takes to ensure accurate inventory levels
  • Marketing Support: Actively assist the team in the development of new marketing initiatives and set up any promotional displays
  • POS Management: Manage the point of sale and systems for sales
  • Cash Handling: Cash management for the store, including balancing the register and banking
  • Product Feedback: Work with the Head Office team to provide any product feedback
  • Sales Targets: Continuously strive to reach sales targets
  • Safety Compliance: Actively promote and abide by occupational safety and health regulations to maintain a safe working environment for all company employees
  • Partner Training: Support the sales team in retail partner staff training presentations and in promoting staff sales incentives
  • Retailer Checks: Retailer checks in on merchandising of range and meeting brand standards
  • POS Installation: Installation and upkeep of POS in stores, e.g, window banners, brochures, counter cards.
  • Feedback Reporting: Feedback reports, including photos, to the sales manager
  • Influencer Support: Support current influencers and ambassadors in the territory and suggest potential influencers/ambassadors

9. Retail Store Manager Duties and Roles

  • Team Leadership: Lead by example, mentoring and inspiring the team daily
  • Team Coaching: Coach the team to achieve and develop their knowledge and skills
  • Customer Experience: Lead from the front, providing an exceptional customer experience
  • Stock Management: Be responsible for stock management, ensuring stock is maintained and accurate, and the team is aware of stock integrity processes
  • Knowledge Development: Be proactive in making sure to keep the knowledge up to date on pet care, products, and services provided
  • Store Culture: Create a fun, supportive culture in-store where the team loves coming to work

10. Retail Store Manager Job Summary

  • Revenue Growth: Be responsible for growing revenue by driving sales and business results through a premium guest experience, employee relations, and operations that are aligned with Stance Culture and Retail Operating Principles.
  • Financial Performance: Meet or exceed financial plan, including revenue plan, payroll budget, and overall store P&L.
  • Team Management: Oversee management of the store team, including recruiting, hiring, training, and career development.
  • Task Leadership: Effectively manage any team member, on any task, to maintain the successful operations of the store.
  • Team Coaching: Provide direction, feedback, and coaching in order to foster collaboration and productivity amongst the Store Team.
  • Operational Standards: Uphold Stance Retail Operating Principles and operations best practices in the store.
  • KPI Analysis: Analyze and monitor KPI’s and performance data, and collaborate with HQ and Store Teams on strategies to improve results.
  • Inventory Communication: Communicate with the Buying and Planning team to manage inventory levels and maximize sales opportunities.
  • Product Flow: Manage and execute store product flow, overall BOH operations, supply needs, and store maintenance.
  • Marketing Collaboration: Collaborate with Store and HQ teams to plan and execute marketing strategies that drive brand awareness, traffic, and revenue.
  • Market Awareness: Keep a pulse on the local market to ensure marketing plans, visuals, and the product assortment are in line with trends and demands.
  • Visual Execution: Execute seasonal floorsets/visual merchandising directives within the store and maintain visual standards and brand image daily.
  • Team Communication: Regularly review and communicate staffing, merchandising, and operational needs to the team.
  • BOH Operations: Manage and execute store product flow, overall BOH operations.
Relevant Information
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