Skills in general sales practices are the most sought-after, while business operations skills and human resources are growing fastest in job advertisement mentions.
Industry-specific skill demand
The most in-demand skills are general sales practices, customer service, and merchandising. Communication, initiative and leadership, and personal attributes (e.g. right attitude/mindset) are also important, with over 70 per cent of job advertisements within the industry mentioning one or more of these skills.
Most mentioned industry-specific skills in 2024 as a share of job advertisements
Industry-specific skill | Share of job ads |
|---|---|
General sales practices | 43.3% |
Customer service | 39.3% |
Merchandising | 25.5% |
Process improvement and | 22.2% |
Retail sales | 18.2% |
Inventory and warehousing | 17.0% |
Physical abilities | 9.7% |
Marketing strategy and | 8.6% |
Employee training | 5.9% |
Company, product, and | 5.8% |
Growing skills mentions within the industry
Skills increasingly being mentioned in job advertisements within the retail trade industry are business operations, human resources management and planning, and scheduling skills.
Note: these exclude industry-specific skills already identified as being in high demand
Growing skills as a percentage point difference in job advertisement mentions from 2019 to 2024
Industry-specific skill | Percentage of job ad mentions in 2019 | Percentage of job ad mentions in 2024 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
Business operations | 2.5% | 7.1% | 4.6% |
Human resources management and planning | 1.0% | 3.7% | 2.7% |
Scheduling | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2.4% |
Cash register operation | 0.4% | 2.1% | 1.7% |
Cleaning and janitorial services | 1.8% | 3.5% | 1.7% |
Cost accounting | 0.6% | 2.3% | 1.7% |
Data analysis | 0.5% | 1.8% | 1.3% |
Sales analysis | 1.0% | 2.3% | 1.3% |
Business strategy | 2.4% | 3.6% | 1.2% |
Quality assurance and control | 0.6% | 1.7% | 1.1% |
Updated