ad // Working in retail doesn’t often get a very good reputation. Everyone knows someone who had an awful experience working in a retail job but all jobs have a level of stress and there will ALWAYS be someone with a bad story about any job you can possibly think of. That’s the good thing about there being SO MANY JOBS – something to suit everyone.
But retail is a job that a lot of people have experience of; whether they still work there now or did in the past. It’s just the benefits of retail being such a huge industry, there’s always going to be jobs for people.
You only need to think about the amount of shops in your local town centre and that’s already thousands of jobs for people.
When it comes to working in retail, you have to have the experience for yourself and not take someone else’s word for it as to whether it’s going to be good or bad. It highly depends on the position, the staff, the shop and much more.
There are actually many benefits to working in retail and in this post, we’re going to go through 7 of them. Perhaps you’re wondering whether to apply for some retail jobs or your child is looking for their first job in retail and they need a little push.
So here are 7 benefits of working in retail:
It’s a great place for most people to start
Most retail jobs are willing to take on people with little to no job experience. My first job was a retail job, which started as a Christmas temp position whilst I was in sixth form college. I had no experience but I learnt on the job and they look me on permanently after that placement. This is a huge benefit of retail jobs – especially for young people!
There are plenty of career progression opportunities
Even if you start at the bottom of the ladder in retail, there is always room for progression within the field. Supervisor or managerial positions may come up down the line, or perhaps changing which aspect of retail you’re in and going into HR or administration instead.
It’s a great environment to meet people and make friends
Typically, there are quite a few people that work in each retail environment. Some of the bigger shops will have hundreds of employees, so if nothing else, it’s a great place to make new friends and meet new people!
You can achieve a good work/life balance
Retail doesn’t typically have a bad work/life balance compared to other professions, where you might find your time swinging more one way than the other. For retail positions, some companies have flexible hours and set shift patterns so you can ensure that your life isn’t taken up with work.
It’s an ideal job for people who love interaction
If you’re a people person, then retail is definitely for you. Some people just don’t work well sitting behind a desk or working from home as they crave that daily interaction. But you can guarantee that retail will involve plenty of interaction throughout the day!
It can introduce you to different avenues
A lot more goes into retail than just selling clothes. If you start in retail, then you can also be introduced to marketing, merchandising or become a retail design consultant. Once you get your foot in the door, you can explore different avenues as you’ll already have some experience.
You will learn a lot of important skills
Being on a shop floor, interacting with customers (as well as staff), following instructions and fixing problems is bound to come with it a lot of important life lessons like communication, time-keeping and organization. This again, is a really big benefit of retail jobs, especially for young people who are just stepping out into the working world.
I have never worked in retail but I have worked in hospitality since leaving school. These benefits reflect this industry too. Thank you for sharing.
Oh yes, a lot of overlapping pointers here for those two industries!
I used to work on a small retail store and I had some fun experience and helps me on learning how to run a small bussiness and read people body language on what they looking for when it comes to items.
Some amazing things to learn. My partner is very good at reading people which he also learned from working in retail
The only retail I worked in was the corner shop near where I lived as a student, lovely Indian family who welcomed me into their fold.
It is good to see the benefits of working in retail as it opens up another option 🙂
Awh sounds like they were very welcoming and nice people to work for, which is great!
Working in Waitrose funded my sixth form studies and kept me going through University. It was easy to transfer stores when I moved away from home. I loved the social aspect and have only got positive memories.
That’s amazing to hear!
Yes, I hear a lot of negativity towards working in retail. I’ve worked in a couple of shops before and I hated the experience.. BUT when I was volunteering at a charity shop for 6 months I loved it. And at the time I was volunteering sometimes up to 3 or 4 days a week! It’s all about the environment, the customers, and who you work with. That can make or break a job in most cases. This was an interesting post with a lot of food for thought 🙂 I do definitely miss the interaction!
Definitely agree! There are so many factors which can impact your experience. Amazing that you volunteered for so long!
I have retail work experiences. And I’m now working part time as a retain associate. I agree with most of the things you said about the retail industry. Except for flexible schedule. In Malaysia, most retailers work 10 hours a day. So it’s not 100% flexible. But yeah, it’s a good place to meet people.
It definitely is a good place to meet people. I guess all shops etc have different policies on hours etc.