Retail Salespersons

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Maintain records related to sales.
• Estimate cost of repair or alteration of merchandise.
• Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
• Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
• Estimate quantity and cost of merchandise required, such as paint or floor covering.
• Sell or arrange for delivery, insurance, financing, or service contracts for merchandise.
• Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
• Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
• Sell or arrange for delivery, insurance, financing, or service contracts for merchandise.
• Rent merchandise to customers.
• Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales.
• Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
• Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
• Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
• Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
• Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.
• Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
• Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
• Help customers try on or fit merchandise.
• Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
• Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
• Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
• Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
• Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
• Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.
• Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items.
• Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
• Estimate and quote trade-in allowances.
• Bag or package purchases and wrap gifts.

Skills

• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.

Abilities

• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.

Knowledge

• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

Education

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

38350/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

18.44/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

118,630

Yearly Projected Openings

18330

Personality

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

• Dependability
• Attention to Detail
• Cooperation
• Integrity
• Self Control
• Adaptability/Flexibility

Tools

• Adjustable widemouth pliers
• Adjustable wrenches
• Bar code reader equipment
• Cash registers
• Desktop computers
• Domestic clothing irons
• Domestic sewing machines
• Electronic funds transfer point of sale equipment
• Fluid regulators
• Garment steamer
• Hammers
• Label dispensers
• Ladders
• Magnetic stripe readers and encoders
• Personal computers
• Pocket calculator
• Point of sale POS terminal
• Point of sale payment terminal
• Screwdrivers
• Tape measures
• Ticket dispensing machines

Technology

• Accounting software
• Cloud-based data access and sharing software
• Computer aided design CAD software
• Customer relationship management CRM software
• Data base user interface and query software
• Desktop publishing software
• Development environment software
• Document management software
• Electronic mail software
• Enterprise resource planning ERP software
• Graphics or photo imaging software
• Human resources software
• Instant messaging software
• Internet browser software
• Inventory management software
• Office suite software
• Operating system software
• Point of sale POS software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Video conferencing software
• Video creation and editing software
• Web page creation and editing software
• Word processing software