Retail Sales Associate Job Description Template

A retail store associate helps a customer.

Your retail associates represent your business to customers. In addition to informing customers about your products and processing sales, they should be helpful, courteous, and have excellent customer service skills. The key to finding someone with the right blend of hard and soft skills is to write a compelling retail associate job description.

Save time on the writing process by customizing this retail associate job posting template to meet your hiring needs. For more ideas, it’s helpful to read retail associate job postings on Monster to see how other companies hire for this essential role.

This template was written by Monster’s team of experts based on job description best practices. 

A retail store associate helps a customer.

Retail Sales Associate Job Description

[Intro Paragraph] Start your job description with a short summary of the role and the most important skills. This will help candidates determine if they want to keep reading.

About Our Workplace: Use this section of your retail associate job description to show the benefits of joining your retail team. For example, you could describe the company culture, mission, and values. Some retail associates will want the opportunity to grow into management roles, so it’s helpful to mention your company’s commitment to career development.

Retail Sales Associate Job Responsibilities: This is where you’ll share a list of the main job responsibilities. Include a detailed list so candidates can decide if they are excited about role and have the necessary skills. Here are some common responsibilities to kick off you list.

  • Greets customers and demonstrates excellent customer service skills.
  • Helps customers select products, answers questions, and shares product knowledge.
  • Creates or updates customer profile records.
  • Processes purchases and returns.
  • Alerts management of potential security issues.
  • Assists with inventory, including receiving and stocking merchandise.
  • Helps with the store opening and closing process.

Work Hours and Benefits: Use this section of your job description to share whether you’re hiring a full-time or part-time retail associate and the days and hours they’d be expected to work. Specify whether you’re hiring for a particular shift or describe your rotating shift schedule. Next, share any benefits you offer for the role and perks like store discounts. Consider mentioning the salary or hourly rate and whether you provide holiday pay.

Retail Sales Associate Skills and Qualifications: Use these sections to share the skills and experience that will make someone an ideal candidate. Keep in mind that driven retail sales associates with a growth mindset will be able to learn new skills on the job. You’re likely to have more candidates if you keep the requirements at a minimum and note what is necessary versus preferred. High school, college, graduate school students, and recent graduates often want retail associate jobs. They may have the skills you need even if they don’t have years of retail experience. Because these jobs are often coveted by students, be sure to check your state’s rules on child labor and make note of any age restrictions. Here are some examples:

  • Demonstrates excellent customer service skills.
  • Learns about new product offerings quickly.
  • Collaborates well with the retail team and has strong interpersonal skill.

Education and Experience Requirements:

  • Must be at least [x] years old.

Call To Action: Put a call to action at the end of your retail sales associate job description. For example, let applicants know they can click “apply” on the job posting and mention that you look forward to reviewing their application.

Find the Right Retail Sales Associate

Great customer service can mean the difference between just getting by and beating your revenue targets. Once your retail sales associate job description is ready to go, find the perfect fit with a job posting on Monster.