Retail industry fact sheet

Characteristics and trends

The retail industry includes those businesses involved in the direct sale or resale of goods. This includes supermarkets, grocery stores and department stores, specialised food retailing, the retailing of clothing and soft goods, furniture, house ware and appliances, recreational and other personal and household goods.  Preparation and sale of take away food is included, but not cafes, restaurants and hotels. 

Key trends and characteristics:

  • The retail industry is the second largest employer in Australia employing over 1.4 million people or around 11% of the working population;
  • There are approximately 80,000 retail businesses in Australia, with around 10,000 of these sole operators;
  • Small businesses or businesses that employ between one and twenty employees make up close to 95% of all retailers, provide 35% of retail employment and contribute 34% of retail turnover;
  • Large businesses employing more than 200 employees make up less than 1% of all retailers but provide 50% of industry employment and contribute 50% of industry turnover;
  • Retail is the largest employer of young people and a significant employer of women;
  • Sixty-six per cent of employment is part time or casual, with about 1/2 of all male employees and 2/3 of all female employees part time or casual; most full time employees are aged 21 years or more and most part time and casual employees are under 21 years of age.
  • The main products or services supplied by the retail industry are;
    • food retailing;
    • personal and household goods retailing;
    • motor vehicle retail and services.
  • Specialised food and supermarket retail accounts for 50% of all employment;
  • The retail industry has grown faster than other industries for the past decade and the ABS predicts 2% growth per year until 2008 with most of that growth being for sales assistants.
  • The retail industry accounts for approximately 36% of personal consumption expenditure in Australia and contributes about 8% of annual GDP;
  • Key issues for the industry include the use of electronic commerce and IT in general;  competition with low profit margins, 10% of retailers moving in or out of the industry each year, foreign businesses setting up from scratch for the first time in Australia and high staff turnover.
  • Changes in retail are driven by changing customer characteristics and demands including an ageing population, increasing cultural and ethnic diversity and the increasing incidence of ‘time-poor’ households. 

Employment opportunities

Entry-level retail jobs include sales assistant, check out operator and cashier, store person, kitchen hand and  fast food cook. A significant number of jobs are available on a seasonal basis. These are usually casual jobs during peak trading periods such as Christmas, back to school, stocktake and other sales.

Employees who undertake structured training can build careers as store managers, retail buyers, supply chain managers and marketing managers. Traineeships are a common point of entry to retail careers with a number of large retailers now operating Registered Training Organisations and “corporate universities” to support internal training and development programs.

The retail industry operates 24 hours/day 7 days/week. Many retail jobs are likely to involve shift work or rosters across any hour of any day. Trading hours may vary from State to State.

Qualifications, education, experience

As the retail industry is the largest employer of teenagers, previous experience in retail is an advantage but not essential.  For entry level positions, employers are looking for applicants who demonstrate particular attributes and skills.  Training or study would be expected of anyone who wishes to progress to positions of higher responsibility.  Some or all of the following are required to work in the retail industry:

  • a high standard of personal presentation;
  • ability to work with others in a team environment;
  • good communication, social and interpersonal skills;
  • good work ethic;
  • high availability of time;
  • the ability to plan and organise time;
  • good numeracy skills;
  • above average literacy skills;
  • an alert mind;
  • a willingness to learn and good problem solving ability; and
  • increasingly, it is important to have IT skills.

What an employer might ask

At entry level, an employer will be seeking to find out how well the applicant demonstrates those skills and characteristics listed above.  It is likely that generic questions will be asked and interviewees will be asked to explain their background, experience, plans for the future and their understanding of the requirements of the role. 

Personal presentation and the demonstration of people skills is usually very important and so how a candidate presents at the interview will be as important to an employer as what they say.  Neat and appropriate grooming, clear and positive communication and evidence of preparation for an interview is very important.

Employers will also be looking for employees whose availability for work is consistent with the span and nature of trading hours.

Most large employers have advice about careers and employment on their web sites.  It is a good idea to read these and to find out about the company. Large employers also commonly have tests and group interview processes.

Conditions of employment

Due to the many occupations, the high level of casual and part-time employment, non-standard hours, state awards and individual enterprise agreements, a range of wage rates apply.  Roughly, wages for sales assistants or clerks range from $8 - $17.50 per hour for an adult working full-time in normal hours.  Junior rates (16 – 20 years of age) range from $6.60 to $12 for full time normal hours.  Penalty rates may apply for after hours and week-end work. 

Hours of work will vary with many employees being required to work late nights and weekends.  Minimum employment conditions apply, including four weeks paid annual leave for every year worked, eight days personal leave (sick or carer’s leave), minimum rates of pay, access to unpaid maternity, paternity or adoption leave, payment for work performed in excess of 38 hours per week and 2 days bereavement leave.  Superannuation payments are also required for all employees being paid more than $450 per month. Part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount of the entitlements for annual and personal leave.

Relevant Accredited Training Modules

Nationally recognised qualifications for the retail industry are based on the Retail Training Package (www.ntis.gov.au). The Retail Training Package contains six nationally recognised qualifications that include:

  • Certificate 1 in Retail Operations:  this is a pre-employment qualification
  • Certificate II in Retail Operation: this is the standard entry-level qualification for the retail industry
  • Certificate III in Retail Supervision:  for those employees wishing to take on a supervisory role
  • Certificate IV in Retail Management: for first line management skills
  • Diploma in Retail Management: for those who want to progress to higher management positions
  • Diploma in Visual Merchandising

The Salvation Army Employment Plus placements

The Salvation Army Employment Plus has placed many people into retail positions with the majority being Sales and Service Assistants, Sales Representatives and Telemarketers.

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