A store manager plays roles ranging from planning advertising campaigns and sales promotions, to hiring and training personnel, taking care of inventory control, drafting of budgets, and recommending, establishing or implementing store procedures and policies. Managers put in a lot of hard work to ensure the efficient working of stores. There should not arise a situation where a manager feels his work is not being rewarded or his efforts going to waste.  Salary structures should be such that he should be completely satisfied with what he is getting.

Along with salaries, managers may also receive bonuses that can add substantially to their basic salaries.  Basic salaries and overall income vary widely, depending on the size, type and profitability of the store. 

Experience pays

An experienced person is always a preference to manage a store over a new comer. His years of experience help to overcome problems with ease for which a new comer might take longer. It is quite evident that an experienced professional will be better paid than a new comer. Salaries increase with the addition of experience to a store manager’s portfolio. Mr Herman D’souza, Manager Operations, UP Market Brands, Forbes & Co. Ltd says, “The salary is determined by consideration of the position held at the previous job and his experience in the retail industry. It basically depends upon how a manager can sell himself and carry out his tasks.” While Mr Balvinder Singh Ahluwalia, President, Koutons Retail India Ltd says, “A store manager is responsible for looking after stores, training staff, maintaining stock, looking after cash collection, updating the stock etc. We try to provide the best package in the industry. Though there are no water tight compartments and deserving candidates draw good salary.” So experience plays a very important role when it comes to determining the salary structures for retail store managers.

Salary variations in cities

Salaries vary from city to city. Metropolitans and the bigger cities have better and higher pay scales as compared to those of store managers in smaller cities.  The living and survival costs in the bigger cities are very high which can be one reason why wages in these cities are greater. Mumbai tops the chart for paying the highest salaries to store managers, just above Delhi. Hyderabad is the city paying the least salary in the list of seven cities mentioned in pie chart 2.

Salaries across industries

Retail industries differ from each other in their functioning and requirements. So definitely the role and working of a store manager will also differ. Of all the retail industries, we find that maximum wages are being offered for apparel and grocery stores. A store manager’s role is heightened in these formats of stores as they have the maximum client walk in. Also, salaries will be higher for a manager who is handling a large store as compared to a smaller store of the same company being handled by another manager. Salaries of store managers may also vary where the profitability of a particular store is greater as compared to another store.