Sales and Related · Holland code ECR

Retail Salespersons

Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers.

Also called: Sales Associate, Sales Clerk, Sales Consultant, Sales Person, Car Salesman, Customer Assistant, Retail Salesperson, Sales Representative.

O*NET 41-2031.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $35,410; Middle half earn $29,900 to $38,670. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 63% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.
Maintain records related to sales.
Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.
Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.8 / 5
Speaking3.8 / 5
Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5
Writing3.0 / 5
Active Learning3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Sales and Marketing4.5 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
English Language3.7 / 5
Administration and Management3.0 / 5
Mathematics3.0 / 5
Administrative3.0 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic37
Investigative0
Artistic16
Social33
Enterprising86
Conventional70

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

sales assistant · DE Verkäufer/Verkäuferin · FR vendeur/vendeuse
shop assistant · DE Verkaufshilfskraft · FR employé de magasin/employée de magasin
specialised seller · DE Fachverkäufer/Fachverkäuferin · FR vendeur spécialisé/vendeuse spécialisée
ammunition specialised seller · DE Fachverkäufer für Waffen und Munition/Fachverkäuferin für Waffen und Munition · FR commerçant en armes et munitions/commerçante en armes et munitions
computer games, multimedia and software specialised seller · DE Fachverkäufer für Computerspiele, Multimediaprodukte und Software/Fachverkäuferin für Computerspiele, Multimediaprodukte und Software · FR vendeur en jeux vidéo/vendeuse en jeux vidéo
confectionery specialised seller · DE Fachverkäufer für Süßwaren/Fachverkäuferin für Süßwaren · FR marchand de confiseries/marchande de confiseries

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Vehicle and parts salespersons and advisers (7115)37,400 employed
Sales and retail assistants (7111)831,800 employed
Pharmacy and optical dispensing assistants (7114)84,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “販売店員”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥247,600; Middle half earn ¥202,000 to ¥306,700 a month.
Workers in the category: 1,224,470; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Service and sales workers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€32,957
Sweden	€32,596
Netherlands	€29,198
Austria	€29,068
Germany	€27,471
Ireland	€26,978
Italy	€24,995
France	€24,971
Spain	€18,303
Portugal	€10,656
Poland	€7,579

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.09. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (41-2031).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

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