Get advice on each section of your resume:
Jump to a resource:
A retail sales manager is someone who oversees the sales processes and operations for a retail store. Depending on the company, the retail sales manager may oversee just one location or several stores within a region. As a retail sales manager, you will be responsible for overseeing sales within the store, conducting loss prevention strategies, tracking key KPIs, training retail sales associates, and more.
To become a retail sales manager, you’ll need a combination of relevant experience and skills. Typically, hiring managers will look for someone with a minimum of an associate’s degree, although adequate experience may substitute for a college education in some cases. It’s extremely important that candidates for this role have considerable client-facing, customer service, and sales experience. Prior roles held as a customer care representative or inside sales representative are preferable.
To become a retail sales manager, it’s important to show hiring managers that you have leadership skills. The retail sales manager will be primarily responsible for leading employee training, development, and conflict resolution. As such, it’s important to highlight times where you have successfully managed or trained employees in the past.
Often, retail sales managers will be asked to track and interpret data about their store’s sales and customer activity. Highlight skills such as sales management, sales forecasting, and data entry on your resume will help you stand out for this role.
If you have experience in sales and customer service, and great organizational abilities, a role as a retail sales manager might be right for you. The retail sales manager oversees the daily operations of a retail store’s sales department. They typically manage the sales staff, set sales goals, monitor revenue, develop and maintain store budgets, track inventory levels, and train new sales staff.
There are many ways to become a retail sales manager. A combination of education and relevant knowledge is ideal. A bachelor's degree in business is preferable for this role, though some organizations may overlook lacking education if the candidate has significant retail sales experience. It’s important that candidates for the role have previous sales experiences, such as prior roles held as retail sales specialists or business development representative. It’s also important that candidates demonstrate the desired skills, such as sales planning, budget planning, inventory management, and people management skills.
Retail sales jobs are often transient because they are popular roles among young people. Managing young salespeople is no easy task. The retail sales manager must be knowledgeable in creative techniques to engage and retain their staff - as such, it’s important to highlight the experience you have improving staff morale on your resume.
As a retail sales manager, you will be tasked with implementing new strategies to boost sales and revenue. As such, it’s important to detail any experience you have creating and effectively executing new sales strategies or incentives on your resume.
Retail sales managers are on the front lines of sales, meaning they will be having more customer interactions than sales managers in other positions. This applicant shows that they have the ability to work with both customers and employees in a way that supports business sustainability.
Businesses that are looking for retail sales managers are primarily looking for competent, friendly faces that will be able to handle any situation that arises for customers on the sales floor (or off of it). This applicant does that by referencing their focus on fostering “a positive customer experience”, attaining over 96 percent customer satisfaction with their team, and expanding the customer account base by 35 percent, to highlight a few instances. To demonstrate that you have an affinity for building and maintaining constructive customer relationships, you should aim to emphasize customer- or client-centered accomplishments at your past positions.
While all sales managers can be expected to have a degree of interpersonal skills, retail sales managers generally need to have the ability to keep both their customers and their employees happy. In this resume, the applicant includes several accomplishments that give the impression that they have a solid ability to work with others. As examples, they list how they were among the few who received a teaching fellowship at their university, as well as their work to develop a project that led to 85 percent employee retention. If you want to show hiring managers that you care for others in a way that elevates their performance, provide data points that support it.
Retail sales managers are on the front lines of sales, meaning they will be having more customer interactions than sales managers in other positions. This applicant shows that they have the ability to work with both customers and employees in a way that supports business sustainability.
Businesses that are looking for retail sales managers are primarily looking for competent, friendly faces that will be able to handle any situation that arises for customers on the sales floor (or off of it). This applicant does that by referencing their focus on fostering “a positive customer experience”, attaining over 96 percent customer satisfaction with their team, and expanding the customer account base by 35 percent, to highlight a few instances. To demonstrate that you have an affinity for building and maintaining constructive customer relationships, you should aim to emphasize customer- or client-centered accomplishments at your past positions.
While all sales managers can be expected to have a degree of interpersonal skills, retail sales managers generally need to have the ability to keep both their customers and their employees happy. In this resume, the applicant includes several accomplishments that give the impression that they have a solid ability to work with others. As examples, they list how they were among the few who received a teaching fellowship at their university, as well as their work to develop a project that led to 85 percent employee retention. If you want to show hiring managers that you care for others in a way that elevates their performance, provide data points that support it.
As a hiring manager who has recruited for retail sales manager roles at companies like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, I've seen thousands of resumes. The best ones always stand out because they are tailored to the specific role and company, and highlight the candidate's relevant experience and accomplishments. Here are some tips to help you create a strong resume for a retail sales manager position.
Retail sales manager roles require strong leadership skills. Use your resume to highlight your experience leading and motivating teams.
In contrast, avoid simply listing your management duties without context:
A resume summary is a short paragraph at the top of your resume that highlights your most relevant qualifications for the job you're applying for. While it's optional, a well-written summary can grab the attention of hiring managers and convince them to take a closer look at your resume.
For a retail sales manager position, your summary should showcase your leadership skills, sales experience, and ability to drive store performance. Avoid using an objective statement, as it focuses on your goals rather than how you can benefit the company.
Your work experience section is the heart of your resume. It's where you prove to employers that you have the right experience to excel in the role. Let's break down how to write an effective work experience section step-by-step, with examples from winning retail sales manager resumes.
When describing your work experience, choose powerful action verbs that showcase your contributions and impact. Consider verbs like:
Avoid bland, generic verbs like 'managed,' 'handled' or 'responsible for.' Instead, opt for strong, descriptive verbs that paint a picture of your accomplishments.
Your education section is an important part of your retail sales manager resume. It shows employers that you have the necessary background and training for the role. Use this section to highlight your degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework.
The skills section of your resume is a key area that hiring managers and recruiters look at to determine if you have the right abilities for the job. It's important to be strategic about which skills you include and how you present them. Here are some tips to help you write an effective skills section for your retail sales manager resume.
Here are examples of popular skills from Retail Sales Manager job descriptions that you can include on your resume.
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Retail Sales Manager job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more likely you should include it in your resume.
Use our free resume checker to get expert feedback on your resume. You will:
• Get a resume score compared to other Retail Sales Manager resumes in your industry.
• Fix all your resume's mistakes.
• Find the Retail Sales Manager skills your resume is missing.
It's instant, free and trusted by 1+ million job seekers globally. Get a better resume, guaranteed.
Upload your resume
Thank you for the checklist! I realized I was making so many mistakes on my resume that I've now fixed. I'm much more confident in my resume now.
