How to write a retail CV

If you're ready to move on to your next retail role, you'll need to know how to write a CV that wows recruiters. Here are some hints and tips from CV Shed, to ensure that your retail CV stands out from the crowd. 

Explain your background

Every retail job is different, so your first task is to help the recruiter understand exactly where your experience and expertise lies. Small boutique or department store? Fashion or electricals? High-end or mass market? 

In addition to explaining the type of retail you specialise in, you’ll also need to give details of the scope of each of your roles. For example, if you’re a manager, you’ll need to specify the size of your team and your leadership responsibilities. More senior managers will need to quantify the number of stores they work across. The key here is to identify how your role compares with others with a similar job title, to leverage your unique experience and skills.

Include keywords 

In a competitive job market, you need to show the recruiter that you can hit the ground running and that you have relevant experience that aligns with their requirements. It’s unlikely that anyone will bother to guess at your responsibilities or give you the benefit of the doubt, if they have a huge pile of CVs to plough through. 

Keywords to consider for when writing a retail CV include: customer service, sales, visual merchandising, replenishment, targets, marketing, promotions, upselling, customer relationships, product knowledge, transactions, complaints, refunds and so on – there will be plenty more depending on your personal background. Don’t just plonk these keywords onto your CV with no context though! Explain your experience and success in these areas. Which brings us on to…

Add achievements

Every role should include an Achievements section, detailing your successes and contributions to the company. This is the most effective way of positioning you above every other candidate for the role, as you’ll be showing how you added value. 

If you’re struggling to come up with any, consider:

• Did you meet or exceed sales targets? By how much?
• Did you receive positive feedback from customers or managers? What for?
• Did you build a loyal / repeat customer base? How?
• Did you have success with upselling or cross-selling? Can you quantify it?
• How did you score on mystery shopping assignments or audits?
• Did you, your team or your department win any awards? What for?
• Did colleagues ask you for advice or recognise your strength in any particular area?
• Did you train, develop or mentor colleagues?
• Did you break any store records?
• Did you contribute to any increase in profitability?
• Did you contribute to any key projects or new store launches?
• Were you promoted?
• Did you improve any processes? Which ones and how? What was the outcome?

There are many ways you can positively impact a business; these are just a few examples. It’s really worth racking your brain to come up with a list of achievements for every role you’ve held in the last few years – it will make your retail CV so much stronger.

Quantify as many achievements as possible, as this makes them more credible and has a greater impact – for example “increased sales by 20%”, rather than just “increased sales”. 

Name-drop

It may not be tasteful in real life, but name-dropping on a retail CV never did any harm. If you’ve worked with well-known or luxury brands, or in a flagship store, include this on your CV. It will show that you’re trusted to work with high-end customers and represent the public face of leading retailers. 

Emphasise your value 

Every retail CV should include a Professional Profile at the top. Use these few lines to emphasise your unique selling point and your value to a new business. This is NOT the place for a dry summary of your career, meaningless clichés or an explanation of why you left your last role. Show the recruiter why they should hire you. For example,

Consider Applicant 1:

A good team player who works well independently. Enthusiastic and reliable. Looking for a job after being made redundant.

Versus Applicant 2:

Leverages local knowledge to drive FMCG retail sales. Reputation for increasing turnover and reducing shrinkage. Leads by example to deliver customer service excellence. Proven to drive operational efficiency across multiple stores.

These aren’t full profiles, but show how you can influence the recruiter’s perception of you from first glance by changing the focus of your introduction. Applicant 1 could be applying for a job in any sector with those generic statements. Applicant 2 is clearly showing expertise in sales, customer service and results delivery in a retail environment. 

Further help with your retail CV

Now that you know how to write a retail CV, you're ready to hit the job market! If you still feel like you need more help, CV Shed has plenty of options to support your job search. Please do get in touch - I’m looking forward to .

helping you.