Retail Sales Workers

Summary

Retail sales workers help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments.

Quick Facts: Retail Sales Workers
2016 Median Pay	$22,900 per year $11.01 per hour
Typical Entry-Level Education	No formal educational credential
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	None
On-the-job Training	See How to Become One
Number of Jobs, 2014	4,859,600
Job Outlook, 2014-24	7% (As fast as average)
Employment Change, 2014-24	331,000

What Retail Sales Workers Do

Retail sales workers include both those who sell retail merchandise, such as clothing, furniture, and automobiles, (called retail salespersons) and those who sell spare and replacement parts and equipment, especially car parts (called parts salespersons). Both types of retail sales workers help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments.

Work Environment

Most retail sales workers work in clean, well-lit stores. Many sales workers work evenings and weekends. About 1 in 3 retail salespersons worked part time in 2014.

How to Become a Retail Sales Worker

Typically, there are no formal education requirements for retail sales workers. Most receive on-the-job training, which usually lasts a few days to a few months.

Pay

The median hourly wage for retail salespersons was $10.90 in May 2016.

The median hourly wage for parts salespersons was $14.32 in May 2016.

Job Outlook

Employment of retail sales workers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Many workers leave this occupation, which means there will be a large number of job openings.

State & Area Data

Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for retail sales workers.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of retail sales workers with similar occupations.

More Information, Including Links to O*NET

Learn more about retail sales workers by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.

What Retail Sales Workers Do About this section

Retail sales workers maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions.

Retail sales workers include both those who sell retail merchandise, such as clothing, furniture, and cars, (called retail salespersons) and those who sell spare and replacement parts and equipment, especially car parts (called parts salespersons). Both types of workers help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments.

Duties

Retail sales workers typically do the following:

• Greet customers and offer them assistance
• Recommend merchandise based on customers’ wants and needs
• Explain the use and benefit of merchandise to customers
• Answer customers’ questions
• Show how merchandise works, if applicable
• Add up customers’ total purchases and accept payment
• Inform customers about current sales, promotions, and policies about payments and exchanges

The following are examples of types of retail sales workers:

Retail salespersons work in stores where they sell goods, such as books, cars, clothing, cosmetics, electronics, furniture, lumber, plants, shoes, and many other types of merchandise.

In addition to helping customers find and select items to buy, many retail salespersons process the payment for the sale, which typically involves operating cash registers.

After taking payment for the purchases, retail salespersons may bag or package the purchases.

Depending on the hours they work, retail salespersons may have to open or close cash registers. This includes counting the money in the register and separating charge slips, coupons, and exchange vouchers. They may also make deposits at a cash office.

For information about other workers who receive and disburse money, see the profile on cashiers.

In addition, retail salespersons may help stock shelves or racks, arrange for mailing or delivery of purchases, mark price tags, take inventory, and prepare displays.

For some retail sales jobs, particularly those involving expensive and complex items, retail sales workers need special knowledge or skills. For example, those who sell cars must be able to explain the features of various models, manufacturers’ specifications, different types of options on the car, financing available, and the details of associated warranties.

In addition, retail sales workers must recognize security risks and thefts and understand their organization’s procedures for handling thefts—procedures that may include notifying security guards or calling police.

Parts salespersons sell spare and replacement parts and equipment, especially car parts. Most work in either automotive parts stores or automobile dealerships. They take customers’ orders, inform customers of part availability and price, and take inventory.

Work Environment About this section

Retail sales workers often stand for long periods and may need supervisory approval to leave the sales floor.

Retail sales workers held about 4.9 million jobs in 2014. The largest employers of retail sales workers were as follows:

Most retail sales work is performed in clean well-lit stores. Workers often stand for long periods and may need permission from a supervisor to leave the sales floor. If they sell items such as cars, plants, or lumberyard materials, they may work outdoors.

Work Schedules

Many sales workers work evenings and weekends, particularly during holidays and other peak sales periods. Because the end-of-year holiday season is often the busiest time, many employers limit retail sales workers’ use of vacation time between November and the beginning of January.   

About 1 in 3 retail salespersons worked part time in 2014.

How to Become a Retail Sales Worker About this section

A friendly and outgoing personality is important for these workers, as the job requires almost constant interaction with people.

Typically, there are no formal education requirements for retail sales workers. Most receive on-the-job training, which usually lasts a few days to a few months.

Education

Although retail or parts sales positions usually have no formal education requirements, some employers prefer applicants who have a high school diploma or equivalent, especially employers who sell technical products or “big-ticket” items, such as electronics or cars.

Training

Most retail sales workers receive on-the-job training, which usually lasts a few days to a few months. In small stores, an experienced employee often trains newly hired workers. In large stores, training programs are more formal and usually conducted over several days.

During training sessions, topics often include customer service, security, the store’s policies and procedures, and how to operate the cash register.

Depending on the type of product they are selling, employees may be given additional specialized training. For example, salespersons working in cosmetics get instruction on the types of products the store offers and for whom the cosmetics would be most beneficial. Likewise, those who sell computers may be instructed on the technical differences between computer products.

Because providing exceptional service to customers is a priority for many employers, employees often get periodic training to update and refine their skills.

Advancement

Retail sales workers typically have opportunities to advance to supervisory or managerial positions. Some employers want candidates for managerial positions to have a college degree.

As sales workers gain experience and seniority, they often move into positions that have greater responsibility and may be given their choice of departments in which to work. This opportunity often means moving to positions with higher potential earnings and commissions. The highest earnings potential usually involves selling “big-ticket” items—such as cars, jewelry, furniture, and electronics. These positions often require workers with extensive knowledge of the product and an excellent talent for persuasion.

Important Qualities

Customer-service skills. Retail sales workers must be responsive to the wants and needs of customers. They should explain the product options available to customers and make appropriate recommendations.

Interpersonal skills. A friendly and outgoing personality is important for these workers because the job requires almost constant interaction with people. 

Math skills. Retail sales workers must have the ability to calculate price totals, discounts, and change owed to customers.

Persistence. A large number of attempted sales may not be successful, so sales workers should not be discouraged easily. They must start each new sales attempt with a positive attitude.

Selling skills. Retail sales workers must be persuasive when interacting with customers. They must clearly and effectively explain the benefits of the merchandise.

Pay About this section

The median hourly wage for parts salespersons was $14.32 in May 2016. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.18, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $25.21.

The median hourly wage for retail salespersons was $10.90 in May 2016. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.56, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $19.91.

In May 2016, the median hourly wages for retail sales workers in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:

Compensation systems vary by type of establishment and merchandise sold. Retail sales workers get hourly wages, commissions, or a combination of the two. Under a commission system, they get a percentage of the sales they make. This system offers sales workers the opportunity to increase their earnings considerably, but they may find that their earnings depend strongly on their ability to sell their product and on the ups and downs of the economy.

Many retail sales workers work evenings and weekends, particularly during holidays and other peak sales periods. Because the end-of-year holiday season is often the busiest time, many employers limit sales workers’ use of vacation time between November and the beginning of January.

About 1 in 3 retail salespersons worked part time in 2014.

Job Outlook About this section

Employment of retail sales workers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations.

Employment of retail salespersons is projected to grow 7 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Employment of retail salespersons has traditionally grown with the overall economy.

Online sales have grown strongly in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue. Online sales will likely affect employment growth of retail sales workers in a few ways. “Brick and mortar” retail stores are expected to increase their emphasis on customer service as a way to compete with online sellers. Therefore, traditional retail stores should hire more sales workers to provide this service. In addition, cost pressure may drive retailers to ask their in-store staff to do more. This means they may want workers who can perform a broad range of job duties that include helping customers find items, operating a cash register, and re-stocking shelves. Because retail sales workers have this versatile range of functions, their usage should also increase. However, online sales strength is also expected to limit the growth of the number of physical retail stores. Therefore, the limited number of stores may constrain overall employment growth, even though retail sales workers use within these stores should increase.

Online sales are projected to affect specific segments of the retail industry to varying extents. For instance, book and media stores are likely to see the most severe declines due to online competition. However, other retail segments, such as automobile dealers and clothing stores, have experienced much less of an impact. In general, although consumers are increasing their online retail shopping, they will continue to do the majority of their retail shopping in stores. Retail salespersons will be needed in stores to help customers and complete sales.

Employment of parts salespersons is projected to grow 7 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. People are keeping their cars longer and are buying new cars less often. Older cars need to be serviced more frequently, creating demand for car parts and parts salespersons. However, growth may be slowed by competition from online parts retailers.

Job Prospects

Many workers leave this occupation, which means there will be a large number of job openings. This should result in many employment opportunities for qualified workers.

State & Area Data About this section

Occupational Employment Statistics (OES)

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual states, and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. The link(s) below go to OES data maps for employment and wages by state and area.

• Parts salespersons
• Retail salespersons

Projections Central

Occupational employment projections are developed for all states by Labor Market Information (LMI) or individual state Employment Projections offices. All state projections data are available at www.projectionscentral.com. Information on this site allows projected employment growth for an occupation to be compared among states or to be compared within one state. In addition, states may produce projections for areas; there are links to each state’s websites where these data may be retrieved.

Career InfoNet

America’s Career InfoNet includes hundreds of occupational profiles with data available by state and metro area. There are links in the left-hand side menu to compare occupational employment by state and occupational wages by local area or metro area. There is also a salary info tool to search for wages by zip code.

Contacts for More Information About this section

For information about the retail industry, visit

National Retail Federation   

Retail Industry Leaders Association

For information about training for a career in automobile sales, visit

National Automobile Dealers Association

O*NET

Parts Salespersons

Retail Salespersons