jobfacts

Sales assistant

Sales and retail assistants — SOC 2020 7111

Sales and retail assistants demonstrate and sell a variety of goods and services in shops, stores, showrooms and similar establishments.

Also calledShop assistantStore assistantRetail sales assistantAssociateBooksellerAssistantand 140 more titles
Typical full-time pay£25,1002025 Provisional
People in the job832,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month9,400↓ 0.5%on last year · 10th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time sales assistants earn between £22,000 and £29,800 a year.

What full-time sales assistants earn, 2025
£25,100 typical£18,000lowest 10%£22,00025%£29,80075%£35,800top 10%
Middle half (£22,000–£29,800)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£18,000
Lowest 20% earn less than£20,900
25%£22,000
Median£25,100
75%£29,800
Top 20% earn more than£31,300
Top 10% earn more than£35,800
Typical pay by regionUK median £25,100
London£27,600
East of England£25,300
South East£25,300
Scotland£25,200
North East£25,000
West Midlands£24,900
South West£24,700
Yorkshire and The Humber£24,700
North West£24,500
Wales£24,500
East Midlands£23,900
Show as table
UK median, £25,100
London£27,600
East of England£25,300
South East£25,300
Scotland£25,200
North East£25,000
West Midlands£24,900
South West£24,700
Yorkshire and The Humber£24,700
North West£24,500
Wales£24,500
East Midlands£23,900
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £21,300
  • 2024 £23,800
  • 2025 Provisional£25,100
↑ 18% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 9,400 jobs for sales assistants are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 202610,301
Jul 202610,148
Jun 2026Not published
May 20269,916
Apr 20269,133
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20267,910
Jan 20268,399
Dec 20253,626
Nov 20259,588
Oct 202512,809
Sept 202512,545
Aug 202510,737
Jul 202510,145
Jun 202510,597
May 202511,195
Apr 20259,548
Mar 20259,660
Feb 20258,472
Jan 20258,285
Dec 20244,262
Nov 20248,300
Oct 202412,298
Sept 202411,600
Aug 202411,939
Jul 202411,187
Jun 202410,956
May 202412,078
Apr 202410,808
Mar 20247,963
Feb 20247,781
Jan 20248,353
Dec 20234,891
Nov 20237,663
Oct 20238,310
Sept 20238,383
Aug 202310,946
Jul 20239,402
Jun 202315,243
May 202315,243
Apr 202312,289
Mar 202313,662
Feb 202312,884
Jan 202314,621
Dec 202211,888
Nov 202215,101
Oct 202218,747
Sept 202217,541
Aug 202217,159
Jul 202217,979
Jun 202217,271
May 202218,101
Apr 202216,994
Mar 202218,280
Feb 202216,499
Jan 202220,472
Dec 202113,348
Nov 202117,267
Oct 202121,476
Sept 202120,496
Aug 202116,294
Jul 202116,645
Jun 202113,812
May 202112,819
Apr 20219,728
Mar 202111,352
Feb 20213,874
Jan 20214,229
Dec 20205,287
Nov 20206,138
Oct 20208,880
Sept 20208,289
Aug 20206,754
Jul 20205,875
Jun 20204,135
May 20202,310
Apr 20202,974
Mar 20209,047
Feb 202010,953
Jan 20209,538
Dec 20197,032
Nov 201910,074
Oct 201912,367
Sept 201910,786
Aug 201910,178
Jul 201911,272
Jun 201910,735
May 201910,645
Apr 20198,014
Mar 20198,860
Feb 20197,284
Jan 20199,099
Dec 20185,972
Nov 20189,995
Oct 201811,919
Sept 201811,942
Aug 201810,370
Jul 20189,658
Jun 20189,836
May 20188,819
Apr 20188,424
Mar 20189,989
Feb 20189,067
Jan 201810,313
Dec 20175,551
Nov 20179,972
Oct 20179,587
Sept 201710,246
Aug 201710,443
Jul 201710,846
Jun 201710,619
May 201710,402
Apr 201710,172
Mar 201711,000
Feb 20177,712
Jan 20179,378
Is there a shortage of sales assistants?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedUsual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Note: uncertain in multiple indicators: change in hourly wage, visa density.
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
14%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London2,914
Manchester399
Leeds391
North Yorkshire376
Birmingham366
Somerset363
Glasgow City352
City of Edinburgh339
Cheshire West and Chester286
Cornwall272
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where sales assistants are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. Fewer than 10 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of sales assistants
39%
17%
11%
13%
16%
4.1%
Show as table
16–2439%
25–3417%
35–4411%
45–5413%
55–6416%
65+4.1%
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent19%
Higher education below degree3.7%
A levels or equivalent29%
GCSEs or equivalent30%
Other qualifications7.6%
No qualifications7.7%
Show as table
Degree or equivalent19%
Higher education below degree3.7%
A levels or equivalent29%
GCSEs or equivalent30%
Other qualifications7.6%
No qualifications7.7%

Main employers: retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating (31%), retail sale of clothing in specialised stores (11%), other retail sale in non-specialised stores (9%), restaurants and mobile food service activities (3.1%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
19%
as their highest qualification
Most common qualification
GCSEs or equivalent
held by 30%
Apprenticeships
1
from level 2
Apprenticeships take
14 months
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

College

You could do a college course in retail skills or retail knowledge, to help prepare you for work as a sales assistant.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:

  • Retail Service, Supply and Administration Level 2 Foundation Apprenticeship
  • Retailer Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • no specific qualifications or experience to apply for a foundation apprenticeship
  • some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
More about this route
Foundation apprenticeship

You can apply for a foundation apprenticeship if you're aged 16 to 21.

If you're aged 22 to 24, you can apply if you:

  • have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
  • are in care or have been in care
  • are in prison or have been in prison

Other ways in

Work your way up

You could start as a temporary sales assistant and work at the weekend or during a busy season like Christmas.

You could then apply for a permanent role after getting some experience.

Volunteering

Volunteering in a charity shop is a great way to pick up customer service and retail skills. To do this, contact charities about vacancies or simply drop in to your local shop and speak to the staff. Experience gained here could help you to find paid work.

Apply directly

You can apply directly for sales assistant jobs. It will be helpful if you have retail or customer service experience though this is not essential.

Some employers may want you to have GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), such as English and maths.

What you’ll need

  • be over 18 to sell alcohol and other restricted goods

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

When applying for sales assistant jobs, it can help if you:

  • are confident about selling
  • have a positive and helpful attitude
  • get on well with a range of different people

You'll find opportunities in all types of retail, including clothing and footwear, electronic and household items, garden and pet supplies, and food and drink.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for sales assistant. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • discusses customer requirements, including type and price range of goods/services desired
  • advises customer on selection, purchase, use and care of merchandise and quotes prices, discounts and delivery times
  • advises customer making major purchase on credit terms and arranges finance as appropriate
  • receives full or partial payment, checks validity of form of payment, writes or prints bill, receipt or docket and packages merchandise for customer
  • arranges and replenishes goods on display stands, undertakes stock checks and assists with the receipt of deliveries from suppliers into the stock room
  • handles returns and deals with customer complaints

Skills

  • identify customer's needs
  • provide customer follow-up services
  • use different communication channels
  • perform multiple tasks at the same time
  • process payments
  • achieve sales targets
  • assist customers
  • carry out active selling
  • carry out order intake
  • demonstrate products' features
  • examine merchandise
  • guarantee customer satisfaction
  • have computer literacy
  • issue sales invoices

Knowledge

  • teamwork principles
  • characteristics of products
  • characteristics of services
  • company policies
  • product comprehension
  • car controls
  • e-commerce systems

Suits people who like

  • Leading and persuading
  • Organising and following procedures

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for sales occupations, a group of 13 jobs that includes sales assistants.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↓ 12%about 255,000 fewer jobs
Workers needed by 2035671,000including people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

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