5 Retail Resume Examples Built for 2023

How to Format Your Retail Resume

Writing the perfect retail resume is the exact skill you need to earn a job as a sales representative, customer service representative, sales associate, or cashier. While the content of your resume is of the utmost importance, it’s also essential that you properly format your resume to ensure that it’s readable, logical, and complete. To that end, there are three formatting components you should be aware of, which include

Retail resume format types

The reverse-chronological format, functional format, and combination/hybrid format are the most popular formats for retail resumes in 2023.

While each retail resume format has its own set of advantages and disadvantages that you should be aware of, the reverse-chronological choice is ultimately the best option for retail. Many employers outright dislike the functional format for retail positions. The reverse-chronological format is ideal for retail resumes because it allows you to show prospective employers your most recent work history automatically, allowing them to determine if you have the experience necessary for the job.

Let’s say you’ve worked as a cashier and store assistant for eight years before becoming a supervisor or store manager for another five to ten years. You may be ready for another promotion to regional manager or even a corporate position. If you’ve had any experience in the retail industry, the reverse-chronological format effectively shows a pattern of lateral or upward mobility. The primary benefits of using the reverse-chronological format for retail include:

Including a contact header on your retail resume

When you’re getting started with your resume, it’s essential that you position your contact info and the resume header in the correct locations. Your name should always be included at the very top of the resume and can be set in the center or left side of the page. Consider placing your prospective job title in the line below your name, ensuring that these two pieces of information are seen first by potential employers.

Before you start typing your header, it’s important that you select the right font, color, alignment, and font size that potential employers expect from a retail resume. Classic fonts like Times New Roman and Arial are preferable in most cases. A resume should be formatted with simplicity in mind instead of style and flare.

As for the font size, the standard text should range between 11-12 points. On the other hand, headers should have font sizes that range from 14-16 points, and your name can be the largest. Most of your text should be black, but a touch of color in your headers or name is appropriate, which adds some nice contrast that will make the information on your resume pop. Like most professional documents, resumes should be left-aligned, making them easier to read. However, your contact information and name can be center-aligned if you choose. The types of info that should be placed in your retail resume header include:

This example is clear, logical, and includes a small bit of color, attracting the eye:

Is your retail resume ATS-friendly?

If you want to ensure your resume is properly formatted and readable, make sure you think about ATS, which stands for applicant tracking system. This is a kind of human resources software that allows employers to organize sizable numbers of resumes efficiently.

We know it’s a lot to keep in mind, but our resume maker will ensure that you’re formatting for success without remembering it all.

How to Write Your Best Retail Resume

Writing an effective resume seems like a daunting task to most people. However, you can avoid this frustration by taking the process one step at a time. Not only does our resume tool ensure you don’t have to worry about format, but it will also help you include the right details in your document. 

As you write your retail resume, you’ll want to think about the following:

Should you write a retail resume objective or summary?

You could include a resume objective or summary when creating your retail resume. An objective statement is a concise and position-focused statement describing how you can add value to the employer, and the company needs that you can fulfill. The objective could include a short statement of your skills and qualifications for the position in question. Professional resume summaries tend to be a bit lengthier than objective statements and are meant to provide more in-depth details about your job experience, skills, education, and specializations over the course of a lengthy (10+ years) career.

Even though objective statements and summaries can help you get your point across to hiring managers, not everyone should use one. If you don’t have years of experience or your career path is streamlined and straightforward, a lengthy summary is unnecessary.

As for objective statements, they aren’t always the right fit for retail resumes. Your employer may believe that the objective statement you write is essentially all you offer as an employee. If the statement is too short or not descriptive enough, it may harm your chances. To better understand what a well-written objective or summary looks like, let’s take a look at a couple of poor examples:

The objective statement is far too vague and isn’t centered around the position to which you’re applying. It doesn’t tell your employer anything other than the fact that you’re looking for a job. As for the summary, it says that you have experience and a couple of soft skills but doesn’t sell this information at all. Employers won’t believe what you’re saying in the summary. Here’s an improved objective statement and summary:

These examples succeed because they discuss specific details rather than general ideas, telling employers something about you and your work.

Retail work experience

Try to include two to four job experience examples for your resume. However, it’s unnecessary to include every job you’ve had since your first. If you have ample experience, include those jobs most relevant to the role for which you’re applying. While writing down your work experience may appear straightforward, it’s easy to make mistakes in this section.

Writing your retail job descriptions 

The most important thing to avoid when writing an effective work experience section is to create a wall of text. If a prospective employer decides to skim through your resume, it’s important that they read the most relevant aspects of your past work experience. As such, this experience should be displayed via concise bullet points. Always use active verbs and language in these bullet points. Examples of active verbs for a retail resume include:

Make sure you use the past tense when writing about your experience. These verbs should prove useful when trying to condense your work experience. Avoid using personal pronouns like “me” and “I,” which take away from the professionalism of your resume. 

Three bullet point examples that should be far, far away from your retail resume:

These are examples of passive work responsibilities, too vague to satisfy potential employers. Always go into detail about your accomplishments and past responsibilities with action verbs and hard numbers.

Three examples, on the other hand, that would serve your retail resume well:

These are richly detailed bullet points that offer precise numbers and action verbs about past work experience.

Use metrics to quantify your impact in retail

You must be able to quantify the impact you’ve had on the companies you’ve worked for in the past. To accomplish this goal, it’s recommended that you use metrics to show exactly what a company would lose if they didn’t have you as an employee.

Did you exceed set sales targets or lower return rates? By putting your work experience into hard numbers, it becomes easier for potential employers to measure the kind of return they would get from hiring you. Try to include a couple of metrics for every job you list on your resume. More is always better! Some examples of ways to incorporate metrics into your bullet points include:

These retail descriptions incorporate all the above:

What are the top retail skills?

If you have ample past work experience, you likely have dozens of skills that could prove useful in the job for which you’re applying. However, you should include skills relevant to the specific needs listed in the job ad. Before you start listing your skills, you should know the difference between hard skills and soft skills.

Hard skills refer directly to the abilities and knowledge that employees require to perform their responsibilities effectively. These skills are 100 percent job-related. Soft skills are more difficult to measure. For retail jobs, hard skill examples include:

Some examples of soft skills that are ideal for the retail industry include:

Search for keywords in a job description ad that tell you the types of skills the company is seeking. You should typically list around five to eight skills on a retail resume.

What education and certifications do you need on your retail resume?

Most retail positions automatically require a high school diploma, which should be listed with the name of the school you attended, the years you attended, and the school’s location. Some retail jobs will require a little more education. While you may be able to obtain a position as a store manager with a high school diploma, an associate’s degree in marketing and sales management may help push your resume to the top of the list.

Most regional retail managers require a bachelor’s degree in business. If you attended a college or institution, include your GPA if it’s above 3.2 and any specialization or concentration. You might also want to list certifications and licenses to set your resume apart from others.

Projects, interests, or hobbies: Does your retail resume need these?

In most situations, it’s unnecessary to mention your interests and hobbies and the projects you’ve worked on in the past. However, there are some scenarios where adding this information is appropriate depending on your level of experience and the employer to whom you’re sending a resume.

Suppose you’re currently a high school or college student or are applying for an entry position. In that case, your lack of experience gives you the perfect opportunity to add projects, hobbies, and interests to your resume.

For interests and hobbies, you could include:

Additionally, your retail resume could benefit from including projects like:

Customize your retail resume for every job application

Writing an effective resume takes more than just listing your skills and work experience. It’s also important that you tailor your resume to each job to which you apply. Many applicants make the mistake of sending the same resume to every job. However, most hiring managers will pick up on this.

To properly tailor your resume, add company or organization-specific information to the objective/summary sections, the skills section, and bullet points. If the job ad you’re responding to mentioned they’re looking for a strong leader who can manage numerous team members, you should focus on your leadership skills throughout your retail resume.

Check for mistakes before submitting your retail resume to jobs

This is the simplest yet most overlooked aspect of formatting and writing a retail resume. Hiring managers and recruiters don’t like grammar and punctuation mistakes. Writing the word manager as “manger” is one of the more common mistakes on retail resumes. Carefully read through your resume to look for any issues with grammar, language, consistency, and formatting. Take advantage of our free resume checker to streamline this process.

Get Your Next Retail Job and Celebrate

Now that you’ve made it this far, we hope you’re feeling confident about:

Congratulations on writing your resume and readying yourself for the next step. All that’s left is for you to go get the job!