Retail managers look after stores, motivate staff to achieve sales targets, organise promotional events and monitor industry trends.


Typical Salary

£25,000 – £60,000

per year

Working Hours

40–42

hours per week

Career Area

Managers and directors in retail and wholesale

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Day-to-day tasks

As a retail manager you'll:

  • manage and motivate teams to increase sales
  •  oversee recruitment and training of staff
  •  keep track of stock and ordering
  •  organise sales promotions and in-store events
  •  deal with queries, complaints and feedback from customers
  •  analyse sales figures and forecast future sales
  •  control budgets and provide reports to senior company executives
  •  put security measures in place to protect against fraud and theft

Skills needed

  • customer service skills
  • the ability to work well with others
  • leadership skills
  • the ability to sell products and services
  • business management skills 
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • the ability to monitor your own performance and that of your colleagues
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

How to get into this role

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • a college course
  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role
  • a company training scheme

Career progression

With experience you could:

  • progress into area or regional management
  •  move into more specialist areas, like customer service, training and operations management
  •  use your management skills to work in another industry