Retail / Sales

Sales Assistant CV example (UK)

A sales assistant CV for target-led shop roles in fashion, beauty, phones and electricals: advising customers, add-on sales and honest targets.

Example CV profile

Customer-focused sales assistant with [two] years' experience on the shop floor of a busy [electricals] store. Enjoys finding out what customers need and explaining products clearly, and regularly met individual targets for [add-on sales and product protection]. Available weekends and late-night shopping.

Key skills to include (if true for you)

• Needs-based selling and questioning
• Product knowledge in [category]
• Add-on sales (accessories, care plans, warranties)
• Working to individual and team sales targets
• Till operation, card payments and refunds
• Handling returns and complaints
• Age-restricted sales (Challenge 25)
• Visual merchandising and display standards
• Weekend, late-night and seasonal availability

Example experience bullet points

• Greeted and advised customers on [laptops, tablets and phones], matching products to how they planned to use them.
• Met my individual monthly target for [product protection and accessories] in [n] of the last [n] months.
• Ran short in-store demonstrations of new [devices] on launch weekends and set up customers' purchases before they left.
• Handled returns and faulty-item queries calmly, following store policy and escalating to a supervisor when needed.
• Signed customers up to the loyalty scheme as part of a team target, and suggested matching items in the fitting rooms.
• Trained [n] seasonal starters on the till, the returns process and how to suggest add-ons without pressure.

Illustrative only. Replace with your own real roles, dates and results — never copy experience you don't have.

Education & training

• GCSEs or equivalent, including English and Maths – [School], [year]
• In-store product or brand training – [brand / category], [year]
• Age-restricted sales training – [year]

Keywords UK recruiters screen for

sales assistant · customer service · product knowledge · sales targets · add-on sales · till · returns · visual merchandising · weekend availability · Challenge 25

Tips for a sales assistant CV

• Use this example when the advert mentions targets, commission, product knowledge or add-ons. If the job is mainly tills, stock and shop-floor service, the Retail Assistant CV example is a closer fit.
• Only give sales figures you can explain at interview, such as how many months you met your add-on target. If you don't know your numbers, describe what you did instead.
• Name the products you sold and any brand training (for example on a beauty counter or for a phone network). It shows you learn product detail quickly.
• Put your availability near the top: the days and hours you can work, and whether you can do Sundays, late nights and December.
• No sales job yet? Use real selling or public-facing experience: a school enterprise project, a stall at a fair, selling online, volunteering in a charity shop or helping at events.
• Leave off your photo and date of birth. UK employers don't expect them.

Sales assistant pay is usually hourly, sometimes with commission or a bonus. Check the advert for the rate, and GOV.UK for the National Minimum Wage rates for your age. Salary checker (ONS data).

Official sources and further reading

• National Careers Service: Sales assistant job profile
• GOV.UK: National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates
• GOV.UK: Child employment

What sales assistant employers look for

Read a few sales assistant adverts side by side and the same themes come up:

• Confidence with customers. Greeting people, asking what they need and not leaving them to wander.
• Product knowledge. Explaining the difference between two phones, two mattresses or two foundations in plain words.
• Selling without pushing. Suggesting the case, the care plan or the matching item when it genuinely helps the customer.
• Working towards targets. Individual or team sales, average transaction value, loyalty or credit sign-ups, customer feedback scores.
• Reliability and availability. Weekends, late nights, sale periods and the run-up to Christmas.

Your CV should prove each of these with something you've actually done. Paste the advert into the free job ad keyword extractor to see which ones that employer cares about most.

Sales assistant, retail assistant or sales executive?

First job or under 18?

The 16-year-old CV example, student CV example, part-time job CV example and the guide to a CV with no experience show how to structure a first CV. If you're under 18, there are limits on the hours you can work and rules on selling age-restricted products such as alcohol, so check GOV.UK's child employment guidance and ask the store.

Check it before you send it

Run your CV through the free CV checker to see how an applicant tracking system and a busy store manager will read it, with a suggested fix for each issue. No account needed. Starting from scratch? The CV builder is free to use and preview in UK format. See the UK CV format guide and how long a CV should be.

Want it tailored to one advert? A tailored pack is £4.99, or £14.99 for five (£3 per job), paid once with no VAT and nothing to renew. It only uses experience you've given it. It never adds roles, targets or results you don't have. For a cover letter, see the retail assistant cover letter example.

FAQs

Related examples

• Retail Assistant CV example
• Customer Service Advisor CV example
• Retail Manager CV example
• Sales Executive CV example
• Part-Time Job CV example

UK CV format · Skills to put on a CV · How to tailor your CV to a job description · Cover letter examples · All UK CV examples