

Retail manager CV example

Hoping to land a top retail manager role? The first step to success is a compelling CV.
A well-written, skills-packed and tailored CV will significantly boost your chances of landing interviews with leading retailers.
This in-depth CV guide, complete with an example retail manager CV, will teach you everything you need to know to get hired:
Guide contents
Retail manager CV example
- Structuring and formatting your CV
- Writing your CV profile
- Detailing work experience
- Your education
- Skills required for your retail manager CV

The CV example above demonstrates how you can highlight your suitability for the retail sector, in a professional and well-organised way.
Here, the candidate’s key skills, experience and achievements are easy to pinpoint, meaning the CV is easily scannable for busy recruiters.
As we move through the guide, you’ll find out exactly how to write your own CV to meet the same high standards.

Retail manager CV structure & format
People often forget the importance of CV structure and format … and end up relying on the written content alone to land them an interview.
But most of these candidates end up with a flat rejection – time-strapped recruiters simply find their CV way too cluttered and disorganised to read!
Taking the time to ensure your CV is organised and easy-to-navigate will put you straight in a recruiter’s good books.
Check out my top tips below:

Formatting Tips
- Length: 2 pages of A4 is the perfect CV length . This gives you more than enough space to showcase why you’re a suitable hire, without waffling or boring the reader with excessive detail.
- Design: When it comes to CVs, simple is always better. Use a legible black font, and stick to the same one throughout. Additionally, avoid including profile photos or other images – they’re just a waste of space!
- Readability: Retail recruiters are usually very short on time, so they need to be able to read your CV with ease and speed. Avoid lengthy blocks of text – break them into small paragraphs instead. You can also format your info into short lists of snappy bullet points wherever possible, as this will make content much easier to skim through.
Structuring your CV
Use the simple structure below to organise your details:
- Contact details – Stick your contact details at the very top of the page – you wouldn’t want them to be missed.
- Profile – Draw recruiters into your application with this snappy, 5-10 summary of your key skills and experience.
- Work experience / Career history – List your relevant work experience, starting with your current job and working back.
- Education – Detail your vocational or academic qualifications.
- Interest and hobbies – Use this optional section to highlight any hobbies you have, especially if they display relevant skills.
Next, I’ll talk you through what you need to include in each CV section.
CV Contact Details

Your CV should always start with your basic contact details, making it easy for recruiters to get in touch with you.
Stick to the essentials, such as your:
- Phone number
- Email address
- Location – The town or city you live in is enough – for example, ‘Chester’ or ‘Birmingham’.
Quick Tip: Don’t bother with your date of birth, marital status or full address – these details are irrelevant to recruiters at this stage.
Retail manager CV Profile
Busy recruiters may only read the top section of a CV before deciding whether it’s worth any more of their time.
This is what makes your CV profile – a short and snappy summary of your relevant skills and experience – so important.
It’s basically your sales pitch. Aim to prove that you’ve got everything they’re looking for and entice them to read the rest of your application.

Tips to consider when creating your profile:
- Avoid clichés: Generic statements, such as ‘Goes above and beyond’ or ‘Dedicated and enthusiastic team player’, are a huge no-no. You might think they add impact, but in reality, they’re very generic and mean nothing to recruiters.
- Tailor it: To make the most impact, it’s important to tailor your profile to the specific role you’re applying for, as well as the retail industry as a whole. So, get online and research your target roles, read over the job description and then pack your profile with relevant skills and keywords. This will instantly show recruiters that you meet their requirements.
- Keep it short and snappy: A CV profile length of 5-10 lines will make the maximum impact on recruiters and make them eager to find out more. Only share high-level information in this section – the smaller details should come later on in your CV.
Quick tip: A poorly written CV will fail to impress recruiters and employers. Use our partner’s CV builder to create a winning CV in minutes with professional templates and pre-written content for every industry.
What to include in your retail manager CV profile?
- Experience – Whether you’ve worked as a retail assistant or assistant manager for several years, or are already an experienced retail manager, start your CV profile by summing up your relevant experience. This might include the number of years in the industry, the types of roles you’ve worked and/or the types of shops you’ve worked in (supermarkets, phone stores, fashion retailers…).
- Management & leadership skills – Do you have any experience of managing and motivating a team, training staff, making decisions or dealing with conflict? Pack your CV profile with a range of management and leadership skills and experience.
- Retail skills – Highlight any general retail skills, especially if they’re listed in the job description – for example, till work, stock tacking, sales and promotions, etc.
- Niche industry/sector knowledge – If you have niche product or industry knowledge, make it known. For example, if you’re applying to manage a technology shop and have previously worked for several years as a computer sales assistant , highlight this experience and knowledge – it’s a serious selling point!
- Achievements – Employers want to know how what value you could bring to their company – and highlighting results and achievements from previous roles is a great way to showcase this. For example, you might have increased sales, decreased staff turnover or improved the customer experience.
Core skills section
Next up is your core skills section, which should be placed directly underneath your CV profile.
This is basically 2 or 3 columns of your most relevant retail management skills, listed in snappy bullet points.

Take another look over the job description and aim to match the skills that are listed in it.
This way, recruiters will immediately see that you’re capable of carrying out the role and will be keen to read further.
Work experience/Career history
Now, it’s time to add the finer details to your CV and really show recruiters what you’re capable of.
Commence by detailing your current (or most recent) position and work backwards through your career history.

If you’ve been working for years, you might struggle to fit everything in. In this case, prioritise space for your most recent and relevant roles, whilst shortening down descriptions for older and less applicable work experience.
Quick tip: Will this be your first attempt at a management position? Throughout your work experience section, focus on showing your potential as a manager by pinpointing transferable skills and experience. For example, in your experience as a retail or sales assistant, you might have been trusted to mentor new recruiters, helped to organise rotas, assisted with training, or filled in when a team leader or manager was out of office.
Structuring your roles
The way you structure your career history can have a huge impact on the overall readability of your CV.
My simple 3-step structure, as shown below, will break up the info into easily-digestible sections.

Start with a brief overview of your role, highlighting the type of company you worked for and what the purpose of your role was.
“Responsible for leading and motivating a team of 24 staff in a busy high-street phone shop, ensuring that high customer service standards are adhered to and sales targets are consistently achieved.”
Key responsibilities
Next, use short bullet points to detail your key duties and responsibilities.
Try to highlight the people you interacted with (assistants, managers, customers…), the managerial and retail skills you used, and the positive effects your work had.
- Motivating a team of sales assistants to achieve and surpass sales goals and targets.
- Monitoring and assessing shop performance on a daily basis, regularly reporting back to the area manager.
- Conducting monthly health and safety audits and preparing appropriate action plans.
Key achievements
To finish up, pinpoint some impressive achievements or results, to show how your work has benefited the stores you have worked for, as well as its customers.
- Improved overall store sales by 35% in 12 months.
- Implemented a new complaint handling procedure, which reduced wait times by 20% and boosted customer satisfaction by 15%.
- Decreased staff turnover by 25% in 6 months, resulting in a saving of over £5k.
After your work experience, you should list your qualifications in an education section.
Retail manager roles are generally open to anyone who’s built up retail experience, but relevant qualifications – such as finance, business, marketing or retail management degrees or HNDs – could put you at an advantage.
Start with your highest qualification and work your way back. You should list the name of the qualification, the date of completion and the school/college/university you studied at.
Quick tip: If you’ve been working as a retail sales assistant for several years and are keen to progress into management, why not boost your skills and prove your enthusiasm by taking a short retail management course ?
Interests and hobbies
The last section of your CV is a hobbies and interests section – but it’s completely optional .
You can use this section to discuss hobbies that further prove your skills. For example, being a captain of a sports team shows that you’re a confident leader, while volunteering in a charity shop demonstrates retail skills and great personal attributes.
Avoid generic hobbies, such as going to the cinema or socialising, as they won’t add any value to your application.
Essential skills for your retail manager CV
Leadership & management skills – You’ll be in charge of managing and motivating a team, so it’s vital to provide a range examples of leadership and managerial skills, such as how you motivate people, handle situations and conflicts with fairness and patience, plan and prioritise workloads, make decisions, solve problems, delegate and strategize.
Customer service – Customers should always be at the heart of your decisions, and you’ll be expected to set high standards of customer service for the rest of your team to follow. Therefore, you need to pack your CV with examples of exceptional customer service.
Sales – You’ll be held to account for setting and meeting sales targets and, ultimately, the success of your store. Provide examples of how you’ve converted browsers into customers and how you’ve maximised sales. Popping a few tangible sales results and achievements – for example, increased sales by 15% in 6 months – will win you even more brownie points.
Recruiting and training – In smaller shops, you might be solely responsible for recruiting new staff, as well as providing and/or organising their training and development. If you have experience of this, make sure to highlight it in your CV – even if it was mentoring or training on an informal basis.
Organisation & time management skills – Retail is one of the fastest-moving industries out there – and as a manager, you need to stay on top of everything that’s going on. Give plenty of examples of your strong organisation, time management and planning skills throughout your CV.
Communication & interpersonal skills – From employees and customers to area managers, the ability to communicate confidently with a wide range of individuals is essential for any retail manager. Make sure to purposely name the range of stakeholders you’ve communicated with in your previous roles.
Writing your retail manager CV
Competition for the top retail manager roles can be tough – but with a flawless CV, there’s no reason why you can’t land your dream job.
By focusing on creating an easy-to-read structure and format, as well as tailoring your CV to the role, your relevant skills and strengths will jump out at recruiters.
Good luck with your job search!
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Retail Manager CV Template
- CV Templates & Advice
If you’re looking to apply for a range of retail manager jobs , we can help get your CV ready with our retail manager CV template. Simply copy our template and follow the examples provided, making sure to add in your own experiences and achievements in retail.
If you also need to go over the basics of CV writing, be sure to check out our handy how to write a CV guide.
Phone number
Email address
Personal statement
A highly motivated and ambitious retail manager with nine years’ experience in retail. Has a unique eye for trend evolution and customer purchasing patterns, and am ahead of the curve when it comes to maximising profits and building a reputation as a forward thinking retailer. A focus on customer satisfaction delivers repeat footfall and word of mouth referrals on a regular basis.
Core skills
- NVQ diploma in retail
- Six years’ experience at team building and leadership
- Confident business and strategic planner
- Broad knowledge of the retail environment and customer care
- Technically competent with extensive experience of POS systems
Employment history
Assistant Retail Manager – Debenhams, London
(November 2013 – Present)
Working directly alongside the retail manager, I was responsible for my own sub team and undertook the everyday running of my own department improving its profit by 25% in under 12 months.
- Focusing on growing the business and maximising in store profitability
- Motivating team of four to achieve and surpass preset goals and targets
- Creating and working to business growth plans
- Managing and training staff in every area of business
- Forging long term and positive relationships with new and existing customers
Team Leader – New Look, London
(March 2010 – November 2013)
Responsible for the everyday running of the shoe department in a busy high street store.
- Designating tasks to small teams
- Creating eye catching displays and promotions
- Making sure customer experience was first class
- Dealing with inquiries and troubleshooting any problems that arose
Shop Floor Customer Service – Topshop, London
(August 2007 – March 2010)
Working in a busy fashion store as a front of house customer liaison.
- Greeting customers and helping them with inquiries
- Ensuring the appearance of the shop is immaculate and welcoming
- Smooth running of the customer checkout, dealing with cash and card payments
- Educating new employees
City & Guilds
NVQ Level 2 in retail
( 2011 – 2012)
Including the following modules:
- Keeping stock at required levels in a retail environment
- Displaying stock to promote sales
- Processing payments for purchase
- Helping customers select products
- Creating profitable business plans
- Monitoring the effectiveness of visual merchandising displays
Enfield Sixth Form College
(2006 – 2008)
A Level Business & retail studies (B) English (C)
(2004 – 2006)
9 GCSEs C grade and above (including Maths and English)
References available on request
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require references from any of my previous employers.
Related links
- Sales Assistant Personal Statement
- Sales Assistant Cover Letter Template
- Assistant Manager Cover Letter Template
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How to write a Retail Manager CV (with example and template)

Your guide to showcasing retail and leadership achievements in your next job application
Retail management requires a large number of flexible skills and there are various ways to enter this level of the retail sector. As a result, many candidates for Store Manager positions often possess a wide variety of experiences and achievements. This makes for tough competition.
Whether you're looking for a leadership role at Harrods, Tesco, Primark, or any store in between, here's how to write a Retail Manager CV, complete with an example and template.
What is a Retail Manager CV?
A Retail Manager CV, also known as a Store Manager CV, is the document you use when applying for a management position in retail. It offers an overview of your contact details, relevant skills, employment history, and qualifications, in two pages.
A Retail Manager CV will not only demonstrate skills and experience in the retail sector, but will also zoom in on managerial and leadership abilities for an in-store position.
Information to include in a Retail Manager CV
The format of a CV can be adjusted to fit your unique career history. After all, employers recognise that everyone's path is different. However, there are sections which are fundamental and employers expect to see them in a CV for a retail management position. They include:
Contact information
Personal profile
Core competencies or key skills
Employment history
Education and qualifications
How to write a Retail Manager CV
Consider the following steps carefully when writing your Retail Manager CV:
1. Contact information
Always start your CV with your name, professional title, and contact information. Include your email address, phone number, and your location, in the format of town and county or city.
If you have a LinkedIn profile , you can include a link alongside your contact information. However, be aware that employers will review it, to check how your professional brand appears online and get to know you a little more. This can be an advantage, but only if your profile is up to date.
2. Personal statement
Next is a personal statement , also known as a professional profile. It's a short paragraph of three or so sentences summarising who you are, what value you can bring to the role, and your career ambitions.
This paragraph is essentially an elevator pitch, as potential employers tend to read this first since it's at the top of your CV. Creating maximum impact is essential to entice them to read the rest of your application.

3. Core competencies and key skills
Following this section is an often overlooked addition to a CV, but one that's essential for a management position. To cut through the noise of other applications, introduce a key skills section and bullet point between nine and 12 of the most relevant skills for the vacancy. In this instance, it will be leadership skills and retail management competencies.
To ensure that you reference the skills that employers care about the most, read the job advert and identify the requirements that align with your abilities. Often, the requirements are listed in priority order.
Examples of leadership and retail management skills include:
Recruitment and training
Organisational skills
Motivational skills
Fairness and patience
Customer service and engagement
Complaint handling
Communication skills
Stock control
Sales management
Interpersonal skills
Attention to detail
Ability to work under pressure
Decision making
Problem solving
Time management
Sales analysis
POS systems
In-store logistics
Leadership skills
Commercial awareness
Prioritisation and delegation
Visual merchandising
4. Employment history
The employment history section of your Retail Manager CV will likely be the chunkiest, as it showcases the highlights of your career so far. List your work experience in reverse-chronological order, starting with your latest role. For each position, detail the company name, your job title, dates of employment, a short overview of the role for context, and a list of your key achievements.
Don't fall into the trap of listing all of your day-to-day responsibilities. This won't set you apart from the competition. On the other hand, your achievements and successes will offer additional insight into your capabilities and demonstrate the value that you can bring to the new role.
And remember, always tailor your achievements to the job advert, to make your career summary as relevant as possible to the employer's needs, and support them with facts and figures .
5. Education and qualifications
Like your employment history, include your education and qualifications in reverse-chronological order. Include the qualification title, the institution you attended or the course provider, and the year of completion .
While university graduates are often favoured, retail management positions rarely require high-level qualifications. However, employers will typically require candidates with GCSE-level English and Maths or equivalent, so be sure to reference this.
Also include any qualifications or courses specific to leadership or the retail sector.
6. Additional CV sections
We've covered the essential sections of a CV, but there are a few additional sections you may not have thought about - and they may give your retail management CV an extra edge. They include:
Technical skills: Show off which retail and POS systems you're confident using
Languages: If you can speak any language other than English, include it along with an indication of how fluent you are
Accreditations: If you're a member of professional bodies relevant to the retail sector, or to leadership and management, you can add this too
Formatting guidelines for a Retail Manager CV
Here are some best practice tips and tricks for formatting your Retail Manager CV:
Length: The standard length of a Retail Manager CV is two A4 pages - no more, no less
Font type and size: Simple, contemporary font types are best to aid legibility, such as Calibri or Arial. Keep body text between 10 and 12 point font and headings slightly larger
File type: The best CV file type is a Word document, as it will maintain formatting and an applicant tracking system (ATS) will be able to read it accurately
What not to include in a Retail Manager CV
Wondering what to avoid including in a CV for a retail management position?
- Don't list referees: Asking for references is standard employment practice and is completed once you're hired. Therefore, you don't need to add the line “ references available upon request ” or list your referees
- No photos or headshots: Adding a headshot may seem professional and polished, but it's not standard practice on UK CVs because of anti-discrimination laws
- Don't reference protected characteristics: Sensitive information such as age, race, religion,marital status, sexual orientation, sex or gender reassignment, and disabilities are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 and do not need to be referenced on your CV
- Don't include an objective statement: This is considered outdated - and presumably, your objective is to get the job you're applying for!
Retail Manager CV template
If you're looking for a retail management job, here's a template to reference when writing your CV:

Retail manager CV example
To help steer you in the right direction, here's a completed example of a CV for a Store Manager role:
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Retail is a competitive sector and management positions are highly sought-after, but using these CV tips and tricks will help you on your way to writing a winning CV. If you want to make sure that your CV showcases your retail skills and achievements, as well as your leadership ability, submit your CV for a free review .
Recommended reading
How to show promotion on a CV
Does your CV pass the seven-second test? Read our guide!
What are transferable skills? (+ examples for CV)
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What File Format Is Best for Your CV? Pros + Cons
Teamwork skills on your CV: How to show you're a team player
How to navigate a sabbatical on your CV
See how your CV stacks up.
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Retail Manager Resume Example 2023 (& Tips to Ace Yours!)

From hiring and training new employees to managing budgets and increasing sales, being a retail manager comes with a number of responsibilities.
And, while you already have the skills and experience for the job, you may still struggle to put all that into a resume that helps you go forward in your career.
If this sounds familiar, worry not!
With the right guidance, writing an effective retail manager resume is easy, and we’re here to teach you how to do that.
In this article, we will cover:
Retail Manager Resume Example
- How to Build Your Retail Manager Resume (Step-By-Step)
- 40 Skills For Your Supervisor Resume
Ready to land that retail manager job? Let’s dive in!

This is a perfect retail manager resume example because of the following reasons:
- Reverse-chronological format. As a retail manager, you have plenty of work experience, and this is the ideal format to show it. Not to mention, it’s recruiters’ favorite, worldwide.
- Contact information. The retail manager resume example above includes important contact information, such as the candidate’s full name, phone number, email address, location, and a LinkedIn profile URL.
- Effective resume summary. In just 2-3 sentences, the resume summary in the retail manager resume example above underlines the candidate’s work experience, skills, and achievements.
- Focus on achievements. Highlighting achievements instead of responsibilities, as in the retail manager resume example above, helps the candidate stand out.
- Brief education section. Because retail management relies more on work experience than education, the retail manager resume example above includes only the key education details.
- Bullet points. Organizing information in bullet points instead of large blocks of text makes the resume look clean and easy-to-read.
- Relevant retail manager skills. The retail manager resume example above only includes skills which apply to the retail manager position and are most valued in the industry, such as customer service, communication, POS skills, and sales analysis.
- Use of additional sections. This retail manager resume example includes language proficiency, which is always a good skill to have in a customer-facing role.
Here’s How to Build Your Retail Manager Resume (Step-By-Step)
Now that you know what makes an effective retail manager resume, it’s time to get started with writing a job-winning resume for yourself.
Here are the exact steps on how to do it:
#1. Format Your Retail Manager Resume
There are 3 main resume formats :
- Reverse-chronological
- Combination
As a retail manager, however, your best bet is the reverse-chronological resume format as it is the most popular worldwide, and makes your retail manager resume well-organized and easy-to-follow.
On top of that, this resume format highlights your work experience in chronological order, which makes it the perfect choice for seasoned professionals.
After choosing the right format for your resume, start working on the resume layout .
Here’s what this includes:
- Use the right margins to make your resume look clean.
- Use a simple and professional font. Instead of using a fancy font for your retail manager resume, pick a font style that is professional and easily readable on a PDF file and stick with it throughout your resume.
- Pick the right font size. Generally, go for 11-12 pts for the body and 14-16 pts for headings in your resume.
- Use bullet points to present information. This way, the recruiter will be able to easily skim through your retail manager resume.
- Keep it short. Optimally, your resume should be one page . A resume focused on your key professional background details helps recruiters to quickly see whether you fit their requirements for a retail manager.
- Save your resume in a PDF format (unless asked to do otherwise). This way, your retail manager resume will look as you intended no matter what device or OS opens it.
Or Use Our Tried & Tested Templates
Formatting is an important step in creating an effective retail manager resume.
Making a resume from scratch, though, can be a hassle.
You can spend forever tweaking the layout of your retail manager resume on Word, making sure it doesn’t spill over to page #2, adjusting margins and font sizes...
And let’s be honest - after all the effort, you will still end up with a basic, average-looking black and white resume.
With a resume like that, it can be hard to get noticed. After all, recruiters get dozens of generic Word resumes every day.
Want to create an attention-grabbing resume fast and easy?
Use our tried and tested templates to create a well-designed retail manager resume in minutes!
Just pick a template, fill in the content, and your retail manager resume is ready to impress the recruiter.
And the best part? 8 of our resume templates are free!

#2. Add Contact Information the Right Way
Now that you’re done with formatting, the next step is to write down your contact information.
This step is easy - all you have to do is make sure you fill in the correct information.
Otherwise, the company won’t be able to get in touch with you.
On top of that, something as simple as messing up your contact information can make you seem irresponsible or unreliable, and even more so if you have ‘detail-oriented’ included as a skill in your retail manager resume.
So, to avoid that, simply make sure to list the following contact information correctly:
- First name and last name
- Title (optional)
- Phone number
- Email address
And, if you are active on LinkedIn, make sure to include the URL, too.
George Smith Retail Manager
012-345-6789 georges[email protected] Buffalo, New York linkedin.com/in/georgesmith871
#3. Write a Powerful Retail Manager Summary
Your retail manager summary is a valuable piece of information that summarizes your professional background in just 2-3 sentences.
As such, just like the most expensive items in the store are placed on the top shelf, your resume summary goes at the top of your resume to show recruiters that you’re a relevant candidate for the position in just a few seconds.
So, if your summary is on-point, they’ll move to other sections of your retail manager resume. If not, they’ll just move to another candidate’s resume.
To write a brief, but powerful retail manager summary, you should mention the following:
- Your position and years of experience
- Your most relevant skills in retail management
- 1-2 professional achievements
Here’s an example of a retail manager resume summary which includes the information we listed above:
- Efficient and customer-orientated Retail Manager with 10+ years of experience and a proven record of success in retail management. Excellent customer service, team leadership, marketing, and time management skills. Regularly exceeded monthly sales goals by up to 16% in 2022.
#4. Pack Your Work Experience With Achievements
The next very important step in your retail manager resume is to fill out your work experience section.
First, let’s talk about formatting this section.
As a general rule, your work experience section should look something like this:
- Job title. It’s the first thing recruiters look for, and it should accurately show the role you had in the company.
- Company name and location. In case the company is relatively unknown, you can also include a short description.
- Employment date. Use the reverse-chronological order and the mm/yyyy format.
- Achievements and responsibilities. Use 5-6 bullet points for recent jobs and 2-3 for older roles.
Of course, if you simply list your responsibilities, you’ll end up with the same list as other retail managers: recruiting and supervising staff, managing budgets, analyzing market trends...
The HR knows that these are your responsibilities - they don’t need you to repeat what everyone else noted on their resume.
Rather, HR wants to know how you stand out from the rest of the applicants.
Want to know how to do this? In your retail manager resume, focus on achievements instead of responsibilities.
Sure, you managed the store budget, but how well did you do it? What changes did you make, and how profitable were they?
So, to take your work experience section from great to perfect, here’s what you should do:
- Tailor your retail manager resume to the job you’re applying for by only including relevant work experience (e. g. since you already have relevant retail experience, focus on that and skip your part-time delivery driver job).
- Use action verbs to describe your achievements (e. g. hired, trained, implemented, reduced, etc.).
- Make your achievements quantifiable (e. g. “Hired, trained, and coached a team of 36 retail assistants” instead of “Hired, trained, and coached employees”).
Here’s an example of what an effective work experience section should look like:
Retail Manager
03/2018 - 12/2022
- Consistently met and exceeded monthly sales goals by up to 43% for two consecutive years.
- Exceeded annual sales goals for 2021 by $67,000.
- Hired and trained 8 retail sales associates.
- Increased employee retention to 98% by implementing an Employee of the Month program and an employee development system.
- Implemented new customer service strategies, resulting in a 62% customer return rate.
#5. Keep Your Education Short
Because your work experience tells more about your skills as a retail manager than your education, you should only mention the key education details.
As such, start with your latest degree and list the following information:
- University, college, or other institution
- Program location (optional)
- Years attended
Only include your high school education in your retail manager resume if you don’t have higher education.
And here’s what this looks like on a resume:
B. A. in Business Management
University of Birmingham
09/2015-06/2019
#6. Include Relevant Skills
The next step in writing your retail manager resume is to list your skills .
Naturally, as a retail manager, you’re expected to have a wide variety of skills to help you with your responsibilities.
While you might think including all of your skills will show recruiters just how well-rounded you are, the aim of the skills section in your resume is to prove you’re the right fit for this particular position.
So, to create an impactful retail manager resume, you should tailor your resume and only include those skills which are relevant to retail management.
Here are some tips on how to do it:
- Carefully read the job description and note the required skills.
- If you possess these skills, include them in your resume.
- Research the most in-demand skills for retail managers, and write down those that apply to you.
- Make separate lists of your soft skills (e. g. customer service, decision-making, and adaptability) and hard skills (e. g. POS skills, sales analysis, and visual merchandising) related to retail management.
Not sure which soft and hard retail manager skills you should list in your resume?
Worry not, we’ve compiled a list of 40 retail management skills to get you started!
List of Skills For Your Supervisor Resume
20 soft retail manager skills.
- Customer Service
- Leadership
- Communication Skills
- Active Listening
- Problem-solving
- Time-management
- Decision-making
- Stress Management
- Organizational Skills
- Multi-tasking
- Motivational Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Strategic Thinking
- Conflict Resolution
- Adaptability
- Collaboration
- Interpersonal Skills
20 Hard Retail Manager Skills
- Point of Sale (POS) Skills
- Product Knowledge
- Market Knowledge
- Performance Management
- Merchandising
- Visual Merchandising
- Marketing Strategy Development
- Sales Analysis
- Sales Management
- Store Management
- Campaign Management
- Prospecting
- Store Maintenance
- Language Proficiency
- Inventory Management
- Negotiating
- Sales Promotional Strategies
- Database Management
#7. Take Advantage of Your Licenses & Certifications
If you’ve done any industry-related training, you should definitely include your licenses and certifications to improve your retail manager resume.
In fact, additional training doesn’t just show you have the competence required for a retail manager.
To recruiters, it shows you’re enthusiastic, motivated, and eager to keep up with the latest trends in the retail industry, making you a valuable employee.
So, consider including the certifications and licenses you own in the following fields to your retail manager resume:
- Human Resources
And here’s what you should include in the certifications and licenses section of your resume:
- Certification or license name
- Name of agency or body
- Year of obtainment
- Location (if applicable)
- Expiration date (if applicable)
- In progress (if applicable, add the expected date of obtainment)
Of course, if you have more than one certification or license, include them in the reverse-chronological order.
#8. Make Use of These Additional Sections
Got some extra space on your resume?
Use some of these optional sections!
These sections add further depth to your retail manager resume and allow you to show off your unique experiences in the field.
Some such sections you can include in your resume are:
- Associations and organizations, including your role in them, if applicable.
- Publications , including interviews, scientific articles, studies, etc.
- Conferences , such as International Conference on Business and Retail Management, International Tourism Retail and Service Conference, Global Conference on Services and Retail Management, etc.
- Awards , both large-scale (statewide, nationwide, etc.) and small-scale (company-wide).
- Personal projects , if any of them are related to retail management, business, marketing, and other similar fields.
- Languages , which are especially valuable if you’re applying for a job in an international retail company.
And here’s an example of how to put these optional sections on your resume:
Additional Sections
Associations
- Retail Industry Leaders Association (2016 - Present) Board Member
Conferences
- eCommerce Summit 2021
- Future Stores Europe 2020
#9. Attach a Cover Letter to Your Retail Manager Resume
From a recruiter’s perspective, picking the right retail manager can be a difficult task, and it’s not without reason.
In fact, research shows that employees’ performance, customer satisfaction and store’s financial performance largely depend on the retail manager.
As such, recruiters aim to hire retail managers who not only have the required skills but also share common goals with the company.
And this is exactly why you need to write a compelling cover letter that shows you’re the perfect fit for the position and the company.
The point of a cover letter, however, is not to simply repeat what you’ve already written in your resume.
Instead, a cover letter should cover your professional background in detail and mention anything of value that you’ve left out of your retail manager resume.
This might sound difficult, but actually you don’t even need exceptional writing skills to craft a convincing cover letter.
Just follow these tips, and you’ll write an effective cover letter in no time:
- Include your contact information in the header of your cover letter.
- Start your cover letter greeting the recruiter .
- Open up with a personalized paragraph highlighting your top achievements in the retail industry.
- In the body of your cover letter, describe why you’re the retail manager they’re looking for by focusing on your work experience, skills, and achievements.
- Make sure to research the company and explain how and why you’d be a great asset to their team. Don’t forget to mention why you wish to work for this company in particular!
- Close your cover letter with a call to action.
- Lastly, check our cover letter writing tips and cover letter mistakes to perfect your cover letter and land that retail manager job!
And here’s an example of a compelling cover letter:

As a retail manager, you know the role packaging plays in selling a product. Make sure your cover letter matches your resume by choosing one of our cover letter templates !
Key Takeaways
By now, you have all the tools and knowledge to write the perfect retail manager resume (and cover letter!) that will help you land the job.
Before you start creating it, though, let’s go over some of the main points in writing a retail manager resume again:
- Pick the reverse-chronological format to highlight your impressive work experience.
- Write a compelling resume summary by focusing on your years of experience, skills, and top achievements.
- Only include relevant work experience, and make sure to focus on your achievements instead of responsibilities to boost your resume.
- Take your retail manager resume to the next level by listing your certifications, licenses, associations, languages, and other additional information.
- Attach a convincing and personalized cover letter to secure your retail management job in the company.

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