The retail industry is one of the most growing industries in today’s world of globalization. It is one of the major industries that artificial intelligence cannot transform. This industry covers all the subjects and backgrounds that an individual could belong to; it has a job for all. From management to finance, from problem-solving to giving customers feedback, retails jobs have their hands on employment for all the fields. When an individual works in the retail industry, he gets to build a network through interacting with people. Having a retail job means working in a store to sell merchandise to the public.
A retail store can consist of
- A large-scale store or chain of stores having different-different departments for each and every product. For example Walmart, Best buy, etc.
- A single individual owning a small store.
- A small company with multiple employees.
Customers are the key to any retail job to be successful and we cannot stress that enough and this is why doing a retail job means making customers and not just selling things.
Retail is a customer business. You are trying to take care of the customer – solve something for the customer. And there’s no way to learn that in a classroom or a corner office, or away from the customers. You’ve got to be in front of the customers. – Erik Nordstrom, President, Nordstrom Direct
Skills required to do a Retail Job
There’s no job in this world that does not require skills. Every retailer should excel in the skills listed below, in order to sell their products to the customers. Retail jobs that pay higher amounts require more experience, skills, and training.
Organizing and Time Management Skills
Retail stores are all-time filled with stocks and supplies of so many products and this is why a retailer must know how to organize these items so that they are clearly visible to customers. Retailers need to focus on the fact that they get their customer’s attention on each and every product that they have to offer. In short, the window displaying should be perfect.
Keeping up with Trends
Retails should have awareness of the trends in the business market about customer’s likes and dislikes. They should be able to study their customers properly to meet their product requirements.
Marketing Skills
This is the most important skill that every retail job doer should have in himself. After all, without having marketing skills, you will be unable to sell your products to the customers. A retailer should identify the needs of the target market and merchandise products as per the requirement of the target market. A good retailer should be able to convert their consumers to loyal and regular customers to exceed sales and increase profits.
Service and Technical Skills
It is essential in a retail job to retain customers by providing them after-sale services so that the customer gets back to you for any future needs for the products you supply.
A retail job doer should also have basic knowledge of using computers, to use the software in order to generate bills and do the entries. It is also a helpful skill to have in order to take online orders from customers.
Calculation Skills
A good retailer should always be fast and accurate with numbers, as it is their day-to-day responsibility to deal with bills, invoices, basic math, estimating the value of the stock.
Communication Skills
Communication skills are so important for a retailer to have in order to effectively communicate to the consumer to sell their merchandise. A good retailer should know how to talk to the customers, from greeting them when they arrive at your store to addressing their product needs and giving them bills.
Some other skills required in retail jobs can be Inventory control skills, negotiation skills, Customer relations, analytic skills, employee retaining skills, performance skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, pricing skills, customer service skills, etc.
Top 15 Highest Paying Retail Jobs
1. Retail Franchise Owner
A retail franchise is one of the retail jobs that requires a higher financial commitment but gives the most profit. Under this, a person who wants to be a retail franchise owner buys a business that is already a part of a chain which is based upon the name, branding, trademark, and products of an already existing business chain. For example Flip Flop Shops, McDonald’s, Best Buy, etc. Customers always trust a franchise store more than a sole proprietorship business because a brand name is already established. It is the best way to enter the retail market by investing on a large scale as a retail franchise requires a huge amount of investment which includes other costs like purchasing inventories, hiring employees, legal fees, building charges, etc.
For starting a retail franchise, like any other retail business, it is important to decide what industry do you want to enter, for example, the food chain industry, grocery store chain, etc.
2. Cashier
The role of a cashier is to work at cash counters, maintain cash registers and receive payments made by the customers and provide them with the remaining change and purchase receipts. It is also one of the most higher-paying jobs in the retail industry as it requires numeric skills and time management. Some other duties that a cashier perform are:
- Answer to the queries asked by the customers
- Count the money in the register drawers
- Provide the management with the complaints made by the customers
- Issue refunds or store credit for the product that the customer returns or exchanges
3. Beauty Consultant
According to research, it has been found that the number of women who started doing a job as beauty consultants has increased by a large number. This is because this retail job doesn’t focus on just selling the product to the customer but this involves selling the right product to the right customer by helping them choose the best of the beautiful options and demonstrating to them about various beauty products and their benefits. For example, Cosmetics and Beauty Company Oriflame.
Under this, the beauty agents join a large-scale cosmetic chain and start advertising their products traditionally among their peers and other groups.
4. Purchase Manager
Under this retail job, the manager selects the products that need to be purchased as per the trends and demands of the customers. It is also one of the highest paying jobs in the retail industry as the purchase manager takes care of all the product’s availability and negotiating process with the brands who manufacture these products.
Their duties include
- Coordinating with the suppliers
- Negotiating the product prices
- Taking care of the transportation and delivery process
5. Sales Associate
A sales associate is a person who is responsible for assisting customers in choosing the right products and helping customers to find the products in the store. A retail sales associate is responsible for selling the merchandise of the products and other sales activities to potential customers.
Their other duties include
- Bagging products
- Greeting Customers
- Offering assistance to the customers
- Answering customer queries
- Ensure customer satisfaction
- Preparing product displays
- Marking price tags
- Stocking shelves
These sales associates work most commonly for retailer who deals in clothing, jewelry, office supplies, etc.
6. Loss Prevention Manager
This retail job includes enhancing profits in the business by preventing shrinkage. A loss prevention manager’s job is also to keep the merchandise of a company protected by frauds and theft. They help in discouraging criminal behavior. They hold people accountable for any loss or damage that they cause to the company.
Their duties include
- To minimize the financial losses
- Develop policies and train staff in order to prevent loss and reduce shrinkage
- Investigate the losses that occur
7. Retail Account Manager
The retail account managers are responsible for bridging that gap between the manufacturers who supply the products and the retailers who stock the products. A retail account manager requires experience and knowledge in the field of taxation, accounting, finance, and management. They have to report their work to the director of the retail operations of the business. Their goal is to maximize profit and sales across all their accounts.
Their duties include
- Planning account revenue and profits
- Identifying retail groups
- Building network with different retailers
8. Store Manager
A store manager’s job is a retail job that involves doing day-to-day operations of a retail store. They are reported by the employees working in the retail store. They oversee all the daily operations happening in the store and their duties include
- To run the store smoothly and effectively
- Expand the traffic in the store
- Making sure that each employee is working well
- Training and Supervising new employees
- Motivating the sales team
- Developing business strategies to optimize the profits of the retail store
- Creating Promotional Ideas and Implementing them to attract customers
9. Customer Service Retail Manager
As the name suggests, a customer service associate helps in addressing the complaints made by the customers and helping them out to resolve the issue they are facing. Their job includes interacting with the various customers every day and that is why they require amazing communication skills and problem-solving skills.
Their duties include
- Actively listening and Responding to the customer complaints
- Taking actions to address the queries
- Customer satisfaction
- Handling query calls made by customers
They aim at maintaining healthy relationships with customers to turn them into loyal customers of the store. They work in front-line management as they have to directly deal with the customers. It is one of the most growing jobs in the retail industry.
10. Merchandise Buyer
This is a retail job where the person communicates with the manufacturer and the supplier to acquire the products required by the company, and hence the persons who buy the products from the manufacturer or the supplier for their retail store is known as a merchandise buyer. The products ordered by the merchandise buyers are stocked on the shelves of the store from where customers add their products to their carts. The duties and responsibilities of a retail merchandise buyer include
- Evaluating product prices
- Checking the Delivery Schedules
- Negotiation of contracts
- Making sure the products that arrive are as per the order made
11. General Manager
Unlike what the term suggests, a general manager is an executive of the retail store who handles the overall responsibilities for managing the revenue and the cost o the income statement of any retail service store. They work on improving the efficiency of the overall running business.
Their duties include
- Checking the budget
- Developing and implementing marketing strategies
- Managing staff
- Checking overall store operations
It is also one of the highest paying jobs in the retail field.
12. Floor Manager
As the name suggests, a floor manager in a retail store manages all the floor staff and also takes care of recruiting new staff.
Their duties include:
- Ensuring the floor is presentable and clean
- Managing customers and employees on the floor
This job is for large-scale retail stores.
13. Regional Manager
This retail job includes overseeing trading operations for different locations within the given region. They have an excellent work relationship with the general manager of the retailer store. They work in the top management of the company.
14. Pharmacy Retail Manager
A pharmacy retail manager takes care of day-to-day operations in the field of pharmacy. It requires a lot of experience and knowledge in the field of pharmacology. Their role is to advise patients and give them proper directions for taking the medicines prescript by the doctor.
15. Retail Stockers
Some examples of retail stockers are Costco, Target, Dollar Tree, etc. Their duty is to monitor the inventory in the retail store. They are also responsible for placing the order for the products before the shortage arises. They take care of unpacking the product shipments that arrive at the store and they place them in the store when the customers are not present in the stores. It is a traditional Retail job and it has plenty of room for growth in the future.
Conclusion
If you are thinking to work in the retail industry and are confused about whether or not you should join this industry, we would suggest you go for it as we can see growth in this industry. We have come a long way in this article, I hope you enjoyed reading this article and found it informative. Comment below what you liked about this article and don’t forget to share this article with your friends and teammates.
References
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
I am a full-time professional blogger, a digital marketer, and a trainer. I love anything related to the Web, and I try to learn new technologies every day.
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