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TSR Wiki > Careers > Career Options > Retail

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Thanks to Springboard for the original content of this page, now updated by TSR users.

Retail is one of the most competitive industries around and the battle for consumers’ money gets fiercer every year.

In the last few years, for instance, some supermarket branches have gone from places selling food and basic household goods to giant superstores offering anything from televisions and flowers to furniture and clothes (often with their own designer label).

Opening hours for some of these supermarkets are very long. Many other stores, especially if they’re in the same shopping centre, also have long hours.

Small shops, which have been struggling for years, increasingly have to find new ways of attracting customers.

Thanks to the need to attract the right people, salaries at the top might be high but the average wage isn’t.

Opportunities available

Most opportunities are for sales assistants. If you have the right skills, it’s possible to progress quickly in some places.

Management trainee jobs and trainee buyer positions exist but you have to be prepared to work in different parts of the country. Jobs behind the scenes, such as in human resources, are possible but many places are cutting their staff numbers.

Entry requirements

Sales assistants don’t usually need qualifications although they may help if you’re ambitious. If you’re hoping to start as a management trainee, you may need a degree but sometimes A-levels or equivalent (Highers/Advanced Highers in Scotland) will be enough.

Future trends

Shopping online has grown over the last few years but not as much as expected. In some areas, especially grocery shopping, it may keep growing but only if supermarkets can meet the demands of the customer.

In such a cut-throat industry every shop, whatever size, needs to stay competitive - whether this means opening for longer hours, offering niche products or providing in-store services such as creches and so on remains to be seen.