# Retail Salespersons

> Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers.
- **Entity Type:** role
- **Schema Version:** role.v1
- **Soc Code:** 41-2031.00
- **Summary:** Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers.

## Aliases

- Sales Associate
- Sales Clerk
- Sales Consultant
- Sales Person
- Car Salesman
- Customer Assistant
- Retail Salesperson
- Sales Representative
- Salesman
- Art Dealer
- Art Objects Salesperson
- Auto Dealer

## Tasks

| Text | Type | Iwa |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs. | Core | 4.A.1.a.1.n |
| Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. | Core | 4.A.4.b.6.b |
| Maintain records related to sales. | Supplemental | 4.A.3.b.6.j |
| Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment. | Core | 4.A.2.b.1.a |
| Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.h |
| Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise. | Core | 4.A.4.a.8.c |
| Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices. | Core | 4.A.2.b.3.a |
| Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits. | Supplemental | 4.A.2.a.2.d |
| Prepare sales slips or sales contracts. | Supplemental | 4.A.3.b.6.m |
| Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers. | Core | 4.A.4.a.1.a |
| Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise. | Core | 4.A.4.a.6.c |
| Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales. | Core | 4.A.3.a.2.h |

## Emerging Tasks


## Activities

| Name | Iwa |
| --- | --- |
| Gather customer or product information to determine customer needs. | 4.A.1.a.1.n |
| Greet customers, patrons, or visitors. | 4.A.4.a.5.j |
| Reconcile records of sales or other financial transactions. | 4.A.2.a.2.d |
| Review laws or regulations to maintain professional knowledge. | 4.A.2.b.3.a |
| Calculate costs of goods or services. | 4.A.2.b.1.a |
| Process sales or other transactions. | 4.A.4.c.1.c |
| Maintain records of sales or other business transactions. | 4.A.3.b.6.j |
| Monitor work areas to provide security. | 4.A.1.a.2.g |
| Recommend products or services to customers. | 4.A.4.b.6.b |
| Answer customer questions about goods or services. | 4.A.4.a.8.c |
| Explain technical product or service information to customers. | 4.A.4.a.1.a |
| Advise customers on the use of products or services. | 4.A.4.b.6.b |
| Set up merchandise displays. | 4.A.3.a.2.h |
| Prepare sales or other contracts. | 4.A.3.b.6.m |
| Demonstrate products to consumers. | 4.A.4.a.6.c |
| Clean work areas. | 4.A.3.a.1.c |
| Package materials or products. | 4.A.3.a.2.ap |
| Assist customers with product selection. | 4.A.4.a.5.j |
| Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies. | 4.A.4.c.3.e |
| Monitor inventories of products or materials. | 4.A.4.c.3.g |
| Sell products or services. | 4.A.4.a.6.b |
| Arrange delivery of goods or services. | 4.A.4.b.4.j |
| Estimate costs or terms of sales. | 4.A.2.b.1.a |
| Arrange services or reservations for patrons. | 4.A.4.a.5.j |

## Capabilities

| Name | Family | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sales and Marketing | knowledge | 4.52 |
| Customer and Personal Service | knowledge | 4.34 |
| Oral Expression | ability | 4 |
| Persuasion | transferable_skill | 3.88 |
| Oral Comprehension | ability | 3.88 |
| Active Listening | essential_skill | 3.75 |
| Speaking | essential_skill | 3.75 |
| Service Orientation | transferable_skill | 3.75 |
| English Language | knowledge | 3.67 |
| Speech Recognition | ability | 3.62 |
| Speech Clarity | ability | 3.62 |
| Social Perceptiveness | transferable_skill | 3.5 |
| Negotiation | transferable_skill | 3.5 |
| Critical Thinking | essential_skill | 3.12 |
| Problem Sensitivity | ability | 3.12 |
| Administration and Management | knowledge | 3.04 |
| Mathematics | knowledge | 3.03 |
| Administrative | knowledge | 3.01 |
| Reading Comprehension | essential_skill | 3 |
| Writing | essential_skill | 3 |
| Active Learning | essential_skill | 3 |
| Monitoring | essential_skill | 3 |
| Coordination | transferable_skill | 3 |
| Time Management | transferable_skill | 3 |
| Written Comprehension | ability | 3 |
| Written Expression | ability | 3 |
| Information Ordering | ability | 3 |
| Near Vision | ability | 3 |
| Psychology | knowledge | 2.89 |
| Instructing | transferable_skill | 2.88 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | transferable_skill | 2.88 |
| Fluency of Ideas | ability | 2.88 |
| Originality | ability | 2.88 |
| Deductive Reasoning | ability | 2.88 |
| Inductive Reasoning | ability | 2.88 |
| Category Flexibility | ability | 2.88 |
| Selective Attention | ability | 2.88 |
| Complex Problem Solving | transferable_skill | 2.75 |
| Computers and Electronics | knowledge | 2.75 |
| Memorization | ability | 2.75 |

## Skills

| Name | Type |
| --- | --- |
| Active Listening | Common Skill |
| English Language | Common Skill |
| Speech Recognition | Specialized Skill |
| Social Perceptiveness | Common Skill |
| Negotiation | Common Skill |
| Critical Thinking | Common Skill |
| Mathematics | Common Skill |
| Writing | Common Skill |
| Time Management | Common Skill |
| Reading Comprehension | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Word | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Windows | Common Skill |
| Microsoft SharePoint | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Outlook | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Excel | Common Skill |
| Microsoft Edge | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Access | Specialized Skill |
| Information Ordering | Specialized Skill |
| Google Docs | Specialized Skill |
| Facebook | Specialized Skill |
| Adobe Photoshop | Specialized Skill |
| Adobe InDesign | Specialized Skill |
| Adobe Illustrator | Specialized Skill |
| Adobe Acrobat | Specialized Skill |
| Active Learning | Common Skill |
| Psychology | Specialized Skill |
| Instructing | Specialized Skill |
| Inductive Reasoning | Common Skill |
| Deductive Reasoning | Common Skill |
| Complex Problem Solving | Common Skill |
| Learning Strategies | Specialized Skill |
| Visualization | Specialized Skill |
| Finger Dexterity | Common Skill |
| Telecommunications | Specialized Skill |
| Systems Analysis | Specialized Skill |
| Microsoft Dynamics | Specialized Skill |
| LinkedIn | Specialized Skill |
| IBM Notes | Specialized Skill |
| Google Meet | Specialized Skill |

## Tools

| Example | Category | Hot | In Demand |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Adobe Acrobat | Document management software | yes | no |
| Adobe Creative Cloud software | Graphics or photo imaging software | yes | no |
| Adobe Illustrator | Graphics or photo imaging software | yes | no |
| Adobe InDesign | Desktop publishing software | yes | no |
| Adobe Photoshop | Graphics or photo imaging software | yes | no |
| Apple macOS | Operating system software | yes | no |
| Apple Safari | Internet browser software | yes | no |
| Autodesk AutoCAD | Computer aided design CAD software | yes | no |
| Eclipse IDE | Development environment software | yes | no |
| Facebook | Web page creation and editing software | yes | no |
| Google Docs | Word processing software | yes | no |
| Intuit QuickBooks | Accounting software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Access | Data base user interface and query software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Edge | Internet browser software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software | yes | no |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software | yes | no |
| Microsoft SharePoint | Document management software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Windows | Operating system software | yes | no |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software | yes | no |
| Mozilla Firefox | Internet browser software | yes | no |
| Oracle PeopleSoft | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | yes | no |
| Salesforce software | Customer relationship management CRM software | yes | no |
| SAP software | Enterprise resource planning ERP software | yes | no |
| Advanced Retail Management Systems Retail Pro | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| American Precision Instruments Regit | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| ASI Point of Sale | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| Attitude POS itive AccuPOS Retail | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| Bibase 4POS Retail | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| Blink | Instant messaging software | no | no |
| CAP Automation SellWise | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| Comcash ERP | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| CompuTant CounterPoint | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| CyberMatrix | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| Data entry software | Data base user interface and query software | no | no |
| Database software | Data base user interface and query software | no | no |
| Datasym SYMFINITE | Point of sale POS software | no | no |
| Exact business software | Human resources software | no | no |
| EZ Software Solutions | Point of sale POS software | no | no |

## Work Context

| Name | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Contact With Others | 4.89 |
| Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams | 4.88 |
| Telephone Conversations | 4.61 |
| Deal With External Customers or the Public in General | 4.6 |
| Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team | 4.35 |
| Indoors, Environmentally Controlled | 4.16 |
| Frequency of Decision Making | 4.15 |
| Importance of Being Exact or Accurate | 4.15 |
| Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals | 4.08 |
| Spend Time Standing | 4.07 |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results | 4.03 |
| E-Mail | 3.89 |
| Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People | 3.88 |
| Spend Time Walking or Running | 3.76 |
| Physical Proximity | 3.74 |
| Level of Competition | 3.7 |
| Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities | 3.61 |
| Importance of Repeating Same Tasks | 3.53 |
| Freedom to Make Decisions | 3.43 |
| Time Pressure | 3.42 |
| Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls | 3.12 |
| Conflict Situations | 3.08 |
| Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers | 2.85 |
| Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions | 2.76 |
| Health and Safety of Other Workers | 2.7 |
| Written Letters and Memos | 2.66 |
| Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions | 2.58 |
| In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment | 2.37 |
| Consequence of Error | 2.36 |
| Exposed to Contaminants | 2.26 |
| Degree of Automation | 2.16 |
| Spend Time Sitting | 2.14 |
| Exposed to Sounds, Noise Levels that are Distracting or Uncomfortable | 2.12 |
| Spend Time Bending or Twisting Your Body | 2.12 |
| Public Speaking | 1.98 |
| Exposed to Very Hot or Cold Temperatures | 1.94 |
| Exposed to Extremely Bright or Inadequate Lighting Conditions | 1.78 |
| Spend Time Kneeling, Crouching, Stooping, or Crawling | 1.78 |
| Exposed to Disease or Infections | 1.76 |
| Outdoors, Under Cover | 1.7 |

## Preparation

- **Job Zone:** 2
- **Job Zone Name:** Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- **Education:** Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- **Experience:** Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
- **Svp Range:** (Below 6.0)

### Education Distribution

| Label | Percentage |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 63.45 |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 19.32 |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 9.79 |
| Bachelor's Degree | 4.01 |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 2.02 |
| Some College Courses | 1.42 |

## Person Fit

| Name | Family | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sales | specific_interest_area | 6.84 |
| Enterprising | career_interest_type | 6.13 |
| Conventional | career_interest_type | 5.17 |
| Realistic | career_interest_type | 3.2 |
| Personal Service | specific_interest_area | 3.1 |
| Social | career_interest_type | 2.96 |
| Social Orientation | work_style | 2.6 |
| Marketing/Advertising | specific_interest_area | 2.5 |
| Public Speaking | specific_interest_area | 2.19 |
| Optimism | work_style | 2.06 |
| Artistic | career_interest_type | 1.98 |
| Dependability | work_style | 1.98 |
| Management/Administration | specific_interest_area | 1.96 |
| Cooperation | work_style | 1.88 |
| Business Initiatives | specific_interest_area | 1.86 |
| Perseverance | work_style | 1.78 |

## Related Roles

| Soc Code | Slug | Title | Tier |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 41-2021.00 | role-41-2021-00 | Counter and Rental Clerks | Primary-Short |
| 41-9091.00 | role-41-9091-00 | Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers | Primary-Short |
| 53-7065.00 | role-53-7065-00 | Stockers and Order Fillers | Primary-Short |
| 41-9011.00 | role-41-9011-00 | Demonstrators and Product Promoters | Primary-Short |
| 41-1011.00 | role-41-1011-00 | First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers | Primary-Short |
| 41-2011.00 | role-41-2011-00 | Cashiers | Primary-Long |
| 41-2022.00 | role-41-2022-00 | Parts Salespersons | Primary-Long |
| 43-4051.00 | role-43-4051-00 | Customer Service Representatives | Primary-Long |
| 41-9041.00 | role-41-9041-00 | Telemarketers | Primary-Long |
| 43-4151.00 | role-43-4151-00 | Order Clerks | Primary-Long |
| 41-4012.00 | role-41-4012-00 | Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products | Supplemental |
| 13-1022.00 | role-13-1022-00 | Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products | Supplemental |

## Career Clusters

| Cluster | Slug |
| --- | --- |
| Marketing & Sales | marketing-sales |

## Education Level

- **Category:** No formal educational credential

## Study Programs


## Market

- **Median Wage:** 34580
- **Mean Wage:** 37150
- **Pct10Wage:** 25600
- **Pct25Wage:** 29140
- **Pct75Wage:** 37850
- **Pct90Wage:** 47930
- **Employment:** 3800250
- **Area Title:** U.S.

## Industries


### Top

| Naics | Slug | Title | Level | Employment | Median Wage | Lq |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 44-45 | 44-45 | Retail Trade | Sector | 3445820 | 34550 | 8.97 |
| 459110 | 459110 | Sporting Goods Retailers | National industry | 145500 | 34710 | 19.83 |
| 42 | 42 | Wholesale Trade | Sector | 63020 | 37440 | 0.42 |
| 71 | 71 | Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | Sector | 52100 | 32590 | 0.8 |
| 31-33 | 31-33 | Manufacturing | Sector | 44090 | 34560 | 0.14 |
| 56 | 56 | Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | Sector | 34190 | 35980 | 0.15 |
| 62 | 62 | Health Care and Social Assistance | Sector | 23230 | 32310 | 0.04 |
| 72 | 72 | Accommodation and Food Services | Sector | 21110 | 31740 | 0.06 |
| 81 | 81 | Other Services (except Public Administration) | Sector | 21030 | 35100 | 0.19 |
| 54 | 54 | Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | Sector | 17140 | 34710 | 0.06 |
| 52 | 52 | Finance and Insurance | Sector | 15290 | 35440 | 0.1 |
| 456110 | 456110 | Pharmacies and Drug Retailers | National industry | 11100 | 35050 | 0.64 |

### Concentrated

| Naics | Slug | Title | Level | Employment | Lq |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 459110 | 459110 | Sporting Goods Retailers | National industry | 145500 | 19.83 |
| 44-45 | 44-45 | Retail Trade | Sector | 3445820 | 8.97 |
| 339910 | 339910 | Jewelry and Silverware Manufacturing | National industry | 1000 | 2.04 |
| 71 | 71 | Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | Sector | 52100 | 0.8 |
| 423820 | 423820 | Farm and Garden Machinery and Equipment Merchant Wholesalers | National industry | 1800 | 0.64 |
| 456110 | 456110 | Pharmacies and Drug Retailers | National industry | 11100 | 0.64 |
| 621320 | 621320 | Offices of Optometrists | National industry | 1930 | 0.51 |
| 42 | 42 | Wholesale Trade | Sector | 63020 | 0.42 |
- **Count:** 42

## Ai Signals

| Source | Label | Score | Scale | Release |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| frey_osborne | Computerization probability | 0.92 | 0-1 probability | 2013-baseline-2016-employment-snapshot |
| felten_aioe | AI occupational exposure | 0.0873069 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |
| felten_image_generation_aioe | Image generation occupational exposure | -0.7188671 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |
| felten_language_modeling_aioe | Language modeling occupational exposure | 0.3573965 | relative exposure score | 2021-plus-generative-ai-workbooks |

## Ai Outlook


### Index

- **Value:** 63
- **Percentile:** 62
- **Band:** Moderate
- **Version:** ai-exposure-index-v1

#### Components

| Percentile | Source |
| --- | --- |
| 50 | felten_aioe |
| 50 | openai_gpts_are_gpts |
| 89 | microsoft_working_with_ai |
- **Component Count:** 3

### Exposure

| Source | Label | Value | Percentile | Band | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| felten_aioe | Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.) | 0.0873069 | 50 | Moderate | How much this job's abilities overlap with what AI systems can do, across many AI capabilities. A relative research score, not a forecast of job loss. |
| eloundou_gamma | LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou) | 0.6052631578947368 | 50 | Moderate | Share of this job's tasks where a large language model plus simple tools could cut the time to do them by at least half. γ is capped at 1.0 and many jobs reach that ceiling, so treat a top score as 'in the top group', not a precise rank. |
| microsoft_applicability | AI assistant applicability (Microsoft) | 0.29869120703853463 | 89 | High | How applicable today's AI assistants are to this job's activities, measured from real Microsoft Copilot conversations. Applicability is not the same as replacement. |

### Frey Historical

- **Source:** frey
- **Label:** Computerization probability (Frey & Osborne, 2013)
- **Value:** 0.92
- **Percentile:** 82
- **Band:** High
- **Note:** A pre-LLM (2013) estimate of how automatable this job is by computerization and robotics. Shown for historical context only — it is not part of any current AI ranking.
- **Teleworkable:** no

### Eloundou

- **Alpha:** 0.07894736842105263
- **Beta:** 0.3421052631578947
- **Gamma:** 0.6052631578947368

### Usage Tasks

| Task | Usage Percent | Importance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise. | 0.05073764733432207 | 4.53 |
| Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs. | 0.042315608707977105 | 4.84 |
| Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. | 0.019719895320222343 | 4.68 |
| Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers. | 0.007805791897588011 | 4.33 |
- **Usage Release:** 2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2

### Bls

- **Growth Percent:** -0.5
- **Growth Percentile:** 24
- **Direction:** Declining
- **Annual Openings Thousands:** 555.8
- **Annual Openings Percentile:** 100
- **Employment2024Thousands:** 3936.7
- **Employment2034Thousands:** 3917.1

### Sources

| Source | Version |
| --- | --- |
| bls_employment_projections | 2024-2034 |
| dingel_neiman | dingel-neiman-workathome |
| felten_aioe | felten-raj-seamans-aioe |
| frey_osborne | frey-osborne-automation |
| microsoft_working_with_ai | working-with-ai |
| openai_gpts_are_gpts | gpts-are-gpts |

## Ai Playbook

- **Trusted Task Count:** 5
- **Task Count:** 6
- **Total Sample:** 2760
- **Autonomy Median:** 4
- **Dominant Collaboration:** none
- **Automation Share:** 26.53
- **Augmentation Share:** 31.39
- **Work Use Percent:** 2.52

### Collaboration

| Label | Percent |
| --- | --- |
| none | 39.35 |
| directive | 24.48 |
| task iteration | 20.83 |
| learning | 9.9 |
| feedback loop | 2.05 |
| validation | 0.66 |

### Use Case

| Label | Percent |
| --- | --- |
| personal | 96.53 |
| work | 2.52 |

### Delegated Tasks

| Task | Usage Percent | Collaboration | Autonomy Median | Sample Count |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. | 0.1095136892111514 | task iteration | 4 | 1095 |
| Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs. | 0.10591323915489437 | none | 3 | 1059 |
| Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers. | 0.036904613076634576 | learning | 4 | 369 |
| Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise. | 0.01740217527190899 | directive | 3 | 174 |
| Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental. | 0.004000500062507814 | directive | 4 | 40 |

### Boundary Tasks

| Task | Human Needed Percent | Sample Count |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers. | 100 | 369 |
| Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise. | 100 | 174 |
| Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. | 99.90867579908675 | 1095 |
| Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs. | 99.71671388101983 | 1059 |
| Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental. | 95 | 40 |

### Seed Prompts

| Prompt | Collaboration |
| --- | --- |
| Let's work through this together, step by step: recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires. I'll give feedback as we go. | task iteration |
| Help me with this part of my job: greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs | none |
| Teach me how to describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers, then check my work as I try it myself. | learning |
| Do this for me: answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise. Give me a finished draft I can review and adjust. | directive |
| Do this for me: prepare merchandise for purchase or rental. Give me a finished draft I can review and adjust. | directive |
- **Release:** 2026-01-15-v4-plus-2025-03-27-v2

## Counts

- **Tasks:** 24
- **Skills:** 53
- **Capabilities:** 120
- **Tools:** 80
- **Related Roles:** 20

## Source

- **Dataset:** gold.onet_role_starter_surface
- **Version:** 30.3
- **Generated At:** 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00
- **Content Hash:** 243e4b648817bfc2