What does a Retail Salesperson do?

Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers. Day to day that includes work like greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs and Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.

What skills should a Retail Salesperson put on a resume?

O*NET rates Persuasion, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Speaking, and Negotiation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Retail Salesperson list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Retail Salesperson work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Sales Associate, Sales Clerk, Sales Consultant, and Sales Person. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Retail Salesperson need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 63% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Retail Salesperson role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Retail Salesperson resume example

A resume for a Retail Salesperson needs to show the work itself: sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers. Day to day that means work like this: greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs; recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Sales Associate
Sales Clerk
Sales Consultant
Sales Person
Car Salesman
Customer Assistant
Sales Representative
Salesman
Art Dealer
Art Objects Salesperson
Auto Dealer
Automobile Accessories Salesperson
Automobile Salesman
Automobiles Salesperson
Automotive Salesperson
Bakery Clerk
Bargain Table Clerk
Beauty Advisor

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales.
Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.

24 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Advanced Retail Management Systems Retail Pro
American Precision Instruments Regit
Apple macOS
ASI Point of Sale
Attitude POS itive AccuPOS Retail
Autodesk AutoCAD
Bibase 4POS Retail
Blink
CAP Automation SellWise

79 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Adjustable widemouth pliers
Adjustable wrenches
Barcode scanners
Cash registers
Clothing irons
Clothing steamers
Computerized cash registers
Credit card processing machines
Desktop computers
Electronic funds transfer EFT terminals
Gas consoles
Hammers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

customer service
upselling
merchandising
inventory
sales targets

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Persuasion
02Active Listening
03Service Orientation
04Speaking
05Negotiation
06Social Perceptiveness
07Critical Thinking
08Active Learning
09Coordination
10Monitoring

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Sales and Marketing
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Administration and Management
Mathematics
Administrative

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

63%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
19%Less than a High School Diploma
10%Associate's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Retail Salesperson do?: Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers. Day to day that includes work like greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs and Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
What skills should a Retail Salesperson put on a resume?: O*NET rates Persuasion, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Speaking, and Negotiation among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Retail Salesperson list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Retail Salesperson work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Sales Associate, Sales Clerk, Sales Consultant, and Sales Person. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Retail Salesperson need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 63% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Retail Salesperson role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.