Retail staff can expect an average salary increase of 3.6% in 2006, according to research by Mercer HR consulting.
The rise is higher than the average 3.3% pay increase staff received last year, according to Mercer’s Survey of Pay, Benefits and HR Policies in Retail, which questioned 18 UK organisations, including fashion, mobile telephone and food retailers, and covered 59 job positions.
The median base salary for chief executives surveyed in the retail sector is now 218,850 a year, although pay for this position ranges from 178,950 to 288,150 depending on the size of the organisation.
Finance directors have moved up the rankings from third place to become the second highest paid function heads, with a median salary of 133,500.
At the lower end of the salary spectrum, sales supervisors and assistants earn around 17,250 and 12,900 a year respectively.
Most companies surveyed (94%) also said they operated a variable bonus scheme. And 20% of participating organisations offered sales incentives to sales staff while 50% offered some senior employees a long-term incentive such as share options.
The average annual turnover of retail sales assistants is particularly high, at 32%, compared with just 5% for senior managers.
