Retail Industry Overview

In this land of shoppers, retail is the monarch of industries. The US retail sector comprises about 1 million locations with total annual revenue of approximately $4 trillion, according to Hoovers. Some of the largest companies offering retail jobs are Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Costco and Kroger. While large companies dominate some retail sectors (such as mass merchandisers and grocery stores), other sectors (such as convenience stores and auto dealers) are fragmented. Many specialty retailers operate just a single store.

Retail Job Market

Retail sales workers held nearly 4.5 million jobs in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Jobs in retail sales are projected to increase by more than 739,000 from 2010 to 2020. Although there were more than 3.3 million retail cashiers in 2010, this occupation is expected to grow at a slower pace than the average over the forecast decade. More than 1.6 million people worked as first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in 2010; this occupation is also expected to grow more slowly over the decade.

With the retail industry continuously morphing to satisfy the demands of fickle customers, retail employment is more diverse than ever. While millions of retail sales workers are employed in bricks-and-mortar stores, retail career opportunities can also be found in catalog sales, Internet commerce and other digital media distribution channels. At the high end, expert IT workers are applying advanced data-mining techniques to strategic retail decisions such as store locations.

Key retail job opportunities include retail cashier, retail sales associate, retail sales representative, retail sales consultant, retail stock coordinator, retail buyer, retail merchandiser, retail sales manager, retail store manager and retail general manager.

Retail Salaries

Retail cashiers earned median wages of $18,820 in May 2011, according to the BLS. Median wages for retail sales workers were $21,010; the top 10 percent earned $38,510. Median salaries for retail sales managers were $34,900 in 2011. Purchasing managers, including retail trade merchandising managers, earned median wages of $97,130.