HOW TO GET THERE
Typical pathway
A typical path is to finish secondary school and build strong customer service skills through part-time or summer work in retail, food service, or other public-facing jobs. Courses in business English, computer basics, and math can be helpful. Some employers may give on-the-job training in product knowledge, cash handling, stock control, and store systems. Others may prefer people with retail experience, especially for roles that involve specialized products, online sales, or visual merchandising. Requirements can vary by employer, province, and store type.
THE WORK
What you may do
Legacy duties
- Greet customers and discuss type, quality and quantity of merchandise or services sought for purchase, rental or lease
- Advise customers on use and care of merchandise, and provide advice concerning specialized products or services
- Estimate or quote prices, credit terms, trade-in allowances, warranties and delivery dates
- Prepare merchandise for purchase, rental or lease
- Prepare sales, rental or leasing contracts and accept cash, cheque, credit card or automatic debit payment
- Assist in display of merchandise
- Maintain sales records for inventory control
- Operate computerized inventory record keeping and re-ordering systems
- May conduct sales transactions through Internet-based electronic commerce.
- Retail salespersons may specialize and act as consultants in interior decorating, home entertainment systems, computers and other products and services.
SKILLS TO BUILD
Skills used in this Career
Customer ServiceDealing with the PublicProduct knowledge