1. Retail Sales Assistant CV Examples & Tips

Retail Sales Assistant CV Examples & Tips

LiveCareer Editorial Team
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Everything starts with the first sale. Then the ball starts rolling. To start a career in the retail sector, first you have to sell yourself. Let your sales skills shine through and be this season’s must-have.

Instead of stocking the shelves of your retail CV with the same items as everyone else, you’ll find out how to create a whole different brand.

In this article, you will see:

  • A retail CV example that speaks for itself.
  • Tips on how to best sell your unique CV for retail.
  • Sales assistant CV examples with writing tips & hints.
  • Retail skills for a CV that secure your next interview.

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Retail assistant CV example

Lilly Hardy

14 Academy Street

Hinton

SN14 9ZG

0702288776

lilly@hardy.com

Meticulous sales assistant with 4+ years of retail outlet experience. Proven track record exceeding monthly sales targets at Co-operative for 18 months in a row. Repeatedly scoring 95%+ on product knowledge assessments at Primark. Seeking to leverage proven sales skills in a more dynamic position with Zara. 

Work Experience

Retail Assistant 

Co-Operative, Bath

February 2018—Present

  • Operated checkout and assisted customers at high-traffic location with £750k+ in annual turnover.
  • Exceeded monthly sales target by a minimum of 5% for 18 months in a row.
  • Achieved £150 extra daily turnover by upselling products at the counter.
  • Reduced stock losses by 30%.
  • Trained 3 new full-time and part-time team members, and also updating them on company policy and procedures. 
  • Created and fostered warm customer relationships.
  • Took charge of opening and closing up the shop at times, cashing up, stock control and visual merchandising.

Sales Assistant

Primark, Bath

June 2016—February 2018 

  • Maintained sales floor presence at shopping center fashion outlet that exceed £2m in annual sales.
  • Regularly assisted 250+ customers a day on the shop floor, following up and upselling. 
  • Contributed to visual appearance of the store that won national award for best presented store in the chain.
  • Repeatedly scoring 95%+ on product knowledge assessments.

Education

5 GCSEs including Mathematics and English, September 2014–June 2016

Greenford Academy, London, UK

Skills

  • Product knowledge: Rapidly gaining and successfully maintaining complete knowledge of products, proven by track record of product knowledge assessment.
  • Upselling: Proven track record in creating extra turnover by upselling products at the counter and suggesting additions on the shop floor.
  • Visual merchandising: Contributed to award-winning shop floor arrangements.
  • Colleague training: Successfully trained multiple colleagues.
  • Interpersonal skills: Built warm relationships with regular customers.

Languages

  • French (Intermediate)
  • Spanish (Fluent)
  • Italian (Basic)

That’s what to include in your CV. Here’s a guide on how to write your own CV:

1. Write a retail CV personal statement

If someone wants the real detail, they will always have to look on the back of the box. It’s more reliable however to capture their attention with the big writing up front. Your CV personal statement is what the slogans on the front of any products are. But this time, the product is your sales assistant CV.

Here is the space to bring your boldest claim and most convincing selling point forward, and make sure your retail job CV gets a deeper read. Scour the job ad and determine what is the most important to the employer. Start with a strong adjective, sum up your experience, throw in retail job skills, and list 2 or 3 strong reasons to hire you.

Always leave your retail assistant CV personal statement until last. Once you have listed out all your skills and experience, and have read the job ad multiple times in the process, it will write itself (and that's why it's also called a CV summary).

Retail CV example: personal statement

Meticulous sales assistant with 4+ years of retail outlet experience. Proven track record exceeding monthly sales targets at Co-operative for 18 months in a row. Repeatedly scoring 95%+ on product knowledge assessments at Primark. Seeking to leverage proven sales skills in a more dynamic position with Zara. 

A strong retail CV summary will convince the recruiter you’re the perfect candidate. Save time and choose a ready-made personal statement written by career experts and adjust it to your needs in the LiveCareer CV builder.

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2. List the right work experience in your sales assistant CV

For retail job CVs, the work experience section should come next. Record your relevant retail work experience under the following heading:

[Job Title]

[Employer Name, Location]

[Dates of Employment]

Underneath, list 3 to 7 bullet points outlining your achievements in retail assistant positions. Don’t make a boring laundry list of your responsibilities—everyone knows what they are. Focuse on how you excelled and put your experience in the perspective of metrics.

For second and further positions in your retail assistant CV, limit yourself to less bullet points, 3 being optimum.

Retail assistant CV example: work experience section 

Work Experience

Sales Assistant 

Co-Operative, Bath

February 2018—Present

  • Operated checkout and assisted customers at high-traffic location with £750k+ in annual turnover.
  • Exceeded monthly sales target by a minimum of 5% for 18 months in a row.
  • Achieved £150 extra daily turnover by upselling products at the counter.
  • Reduced stock losses by 30%.
  • Trained 3 new full-time and part-time team members, and also updating them on company policy and procedures. 
  • Created and fostered warm customer relationships.
  • Took charge of opening and closing up the shop at times, cashing up, stock control and visual merchandising.

3. Include an education section in your retail CV

For retail assistant CVs, your education is less important than real, proven sales skills. So keep it short and sweet: include the name of the school, its location, and the years you attended. Mention individual subjects for your A-levels. For your GCSEs, you only need to mention Maths and English. That's enough in a CV for a retail assistant.

However, if you went to university, add its name, years attended, and the name of your degree. If you’re still studying, include an expected graduation date. 

Sales assistant CV example: education section

Education

5 GCSEs including Mathematics and English, June 2016

Greenford Academy, London, UK

4. List relevant retail skills on your CV for retail

Your sales assistant CV won't be complete without a list of relevant skills. Scan the job posting for what skills are most important to them. Don’t list banal things like punctuality. Focus on something that shows initiative and care, like product knowledge or upselling. It will show you really care about the results of your employer.

Aim for a mix of 5-10 hard and soft skills in your retail assistant CV. Don't forget to list customer service and communication skills.

Retail CV skills examples

Skills

  • Product knowledge: Rapidly gaining and successfully maintaining complete knowledge of products, proven by track record of product knowledge assessment.
  • Upselling: Proven track record in creating extra turnover by upselling products at the counter and suggesting additions on the shop floor.
  • Visual merchandising: Contributed to award-winning shop floor arrangements.
  • Colleague training: Successfully trained multiple colleagues.
  • Interpersonal skills: Built warm relationships with regular customers.

5. Pick additional sections for your retail assistant CV

When completing a CV for retail, try to round it out with some additional selling points that will make you stand out from the competition. Keep it relevant—many retail assistant CVs will contain boring hobby sections

Volunteering is great, as it shows that you can handle multiple responsibilities (and that you are used to working for free). 82% of managers would rather hire someone with volunteering experience. Languages are also always a worthwhile addition for a sales assistant CV.

Retail CV example: additional sections

Volunteering

  • Volunteer Cook — Stockton Homeless Shelter (2014-2017) 

Languages

  • French (Basic)
  • Spanish (Fluent)
  • Italian (Basic)

6. Write a cover letter to support your retail CV

Most jobs will require a cover letter, and instead of a boring necessity, you should treat it as another opportunity to highlight your selling points. How to write a retail cover letter that sells?

Highlight your biggest achievement in the first paragraph to hook them in, present your relevant experience in the body of the letter, and include a strong, persuasive ending with a call to action. 

Retail assistant jobs CV: writing tips to keep in mind

Make you sure you stand out from the pile of sloppy retail assistant CVs by sticking to these simple CV format rules:

  • Use simple, bolded headings for each section of your retail CV, and leave white space between them to create a skimmable CV structure.
  • Apply a common CV font.
  • Unless asked not to, save your retail CV as a PDF to protect the formatting.
  • Should a CV be one page? Definitely, unless you've got years of retail experience under your belt.
  • Avoid visual CV templates. They're less readable and might not be ATS-compliant.

One last CV tip. Don't lie on your CV. An experienced recruiter will quickly see through it.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

Create your CV nowcv builder

Does that answer your questions on how to write a retail CV? Got any job hunting tips and tricks you’d like to share? Did you enjoy our retail assistant CV sample? Use the comments section below. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.

About the author

LiveCareer Editorial Team
LiveCareer Editorial Team

Since 2005, the LiveCareer Team has been helping job seekers advance their careers. In our in-depth guides, we share insider tips and the most effective CV and cover letter writing techniques so that you can beat recruiters in the hiring game and land your next job fast. Also, make sure to check out our state-of-the-art CV and cover letter builder—professional, intuitive, and fully in line with modern HR standards. Trusted by 10 million users worldwide.

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