What are the responsibilities of the seller?

First you need to distinguish between two similar positions: the seller and the sales assistant. Their responsibilities coincide in many respects, but the differences are quite substantial.

The main task of the seller is to transfer to the buyer the goods, components and documents that are attached to it indefinitely or within the time period established by the contract, if any.

The seller’s responsibilities also include informing about the product and the manufacturing organization. He should talk about the established warranty period, operating features and installation rules, price and conditions of purchase, service life (which usually differs from the warranty), give the coordinates of the organization engaged in the repair and restoration of equipment.

If the product has been used previously, has been repaired, has internal or external defects, is not completed, then the store employee must notify the potential buyer about this.

The seller’s responsibilities include: providing copies of the declaration or certificate of conformity of the goods, notarized, at the request of the consumer, as well as the presentation of supporting documents with the seal of the supplier.

When selling food, he must know their composition, calorie content, fat, carbohydrate and protein content, volume, weight, features and method of preparation, date of manufacture and packaging. Of course, when the assortment in the store exceeds several hundred units, it is impossible to know all the characteristics by heart. But in the event of a dispute, the seller must navigate and provide the necessary information. Partly because the employee cannot answer questions about the origin or composition of the goods, it is the management who does not make presentations on new products and is not interested in training personnel that is to blame.

The duties of the seller selling food products also include tracking the expiration dates of the goods, bringing them into proper form, slicing at the request of the buyer.

What is the difference between the duties of a sales assistant and a regular salesperson? The consultant must additionally know not only the basic characteristics and consumer properties of the product, but also be able to conduct a comparative analysis between several models, and also, if necessary, be able to persuade the buyer to purchase this or that product.

Spoiled by the abundance of large supermarkets, shopping centers, market outlets, fighting for the attention of each buyer, consumers require not only professional advice, but also quick, impeccably friendly service. Despite the fact that the seller’s obligations require the most correct attitude to customers at work, no one is obliged to listen and endure outright rudeness. On the other hand, stress tolerance and the ability to extinguish conflict are necessary qualities for successful work. Even if the buyer is annoyed, communicates in elevated tones or makes unreasonable claims, the store employee must talk and answer his questions as correctly as possible.

The rights and obligations of the seller largely depend on the particular company and the standards adopted in it. In one, corporate rules require official greetings, with established phrases, and in the other it will be enough to say a banal “Good afternoon! Can I help you?". In some companies, it’s not just the sale of the main item that the seller’s duties are. The employee must offer additional accessories (depending on the assortment of the store it may be cleaning products, key chains, rims, supplies), a certificate of paid warranty service.