Ensure your CV format is structured to best highlight your unique experience and life situation.
Sales assistant CV template (text format)
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Customer-focused professional with 5+ years of experience in the retail industry. Skilled in advising customers and increasing sales generation. Ability to maintain customer satisfaction by upholding high service standards. Developed reputation for personalised, high-quality service while demonstrating strong work ethic. Optimistic about my ability to perform the job and tenacious in achieving success.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Sales Assistant
TESCO, Birkenhead, Jan 2019–Present
- Provide sales consulting and support to customers, effectively selling products and meeting as well as exceeding sales goals
- Develop close and personal relationships with clients to ensure customer loyalty and retention
- Support manager in merchandising to feature new items and best sellers
- Exceeded monthly sales target by more than 47% through increased client engagement
- Delivered excellent customer service and improved retention rate by 98%
- Received ‘Sales Associate of the Month’ award and various other customer accolades
Cashier
ASDA, Liverpool, Sep 2017–Dec 2018
- Operated POS system to record all transactions and process refunds and sales returns
- Advised customers on purchases, provided exceptional customer service/support, and resolved customer complaints, reducing sales return rate by more than 65%
- Increased sales by £15K by upselling products and making informed recommendations
- Established reputation for prompt, efficient service with high level of accuracy
EDUCATION
Wirral Metropolitan College, 2015–2017
Birkenhead
- A-Levels: Maths (A), French (B), English Literature (B)
Birkenhead Park School, 2010–2015
Birkenhead
- 10 GCSEs A–C, including Maths, English, and ICT
KEY SKILLS
- Retail procedures
- Customer relations
- Sales management
- Upselling
- Merchandising
- Communication skills
- Conflict resolution
- Time management
HOBBIES & INTERESTS
- Movies
- Yoga
- Video games
How to write a sales assistant CV
Sales assistants use their product knowledge and customer services skills to help customers make the right buying decisions.
Most sales assistant roles don’t require specific qualifications, but when you write your CV you’ll need to show employers that you’re able to handle the main responsibilities of a sales assistant.
Here’s how to write a sales assistant CV that effectively captures your skills, experience, and achievements.
1. Spotlight your customer service skills
Retail success depends on a positive customer service experience that directly results in sales. So sales assistants should have exceptional customer service skills.
But don’t wait until a job interview to showcase your service abilities — include these skills on your CV too.
As a sales assistant, you’re used to interacting with many different people, recommending products, and dealing with disgruntled customers. So when you write your CV, show your customer-centric skills by listing upselling techniques and active listening skills you’ve used.
One way to feature these skills is to create a dedicated skills section. Also, fit your skills into your work experience and personal statement to ensure the recruiter doesn’t miss them.
Here are some other hard skills and soft skills to feature on your sales assistant CV along with your customer service abilities:
2. Feature your top accomplishments
If you’ve been working in sales, you should have a record of achievements. Sales is a numbers game, and employers will expect your CV to show how you met your sales targets and what kind of revenue you generated in previous positions.
Show what impact you’ll make if hired by describing specific accomplishments. For example, list your ‘Sales Assistant of the Month’ award or mention accolades you’ve received from customers.
Where possible, add hard numbers so the recruiter can measure your success, including:
- how many staff members you trained
- how much money you saved
- the number of customers you dealt with daily
Here are two examples of using hard numbers from our sample sales assistant CV:
By citing specific numbers, this example tells employers exactly what the applicant is capable of.
If you want to expand on your achievements, do so when you write a sales assistant cover letter for your application.
3. Use strong action verbs
Start each bullet in your work experience section with a sales-oriented CV action verb to give your application a confident tone.
Replace worn-out phrases like ‘responsible for’ with synonyms such as ‘oversee’. Upgrading cliches with unique action verbs gives your CV energy and focuses on the impact that you made, rather than the duties that you performed.
So add strong action verbs like these throughout your sales assistant CV to create the impression that you’re a proactive employee:
Sales assistant jobs outlook for 2025 — things to know
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), sales and retail assistants in the UK earn an average annual salary of £21,530.
Additionally, there are similar pay levels for both men and women in this type of role.
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