How to become a shop keeper
Official title: Shop keepers
Also called: Grocer, Newsagent, Shopkeeper
Shopkeepers operate small retail shops either independently or with support from a small number of others.
Main tasks
- Determining product mix, stock and price levels for goods to be sold
- Purchasing and ordering goods for sale from markets, wholesalers and other suppliers
- Budgeting and maintaining records of stock levels and financial transactions
- Determining prices and displaying goods for sale
- Selling goods to customers and advising them on product use
- Examining returned goods and deciding on appropriate action
- Taking inventory of goods in stock
Ways in
- Qualifications Framework: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Retail. The Qualifications Framework publishes a Vocational Qualifications Pathway for the Retail industry (零售業), showing QF-recognised qualifications by level: https://www.hkqf.gov.hk/retail/en/vqp. Link between the industry and this job by Peernovo.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$16,500 a month
- About 732,700 people in 2025, and about 740,500 projected by 2028. (+1.1%)
- Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Related jobs
Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz
Questions people ask
How do I become a shop keeper?
Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Retail.
Do you need a degree to become a shop keeper?
Usually not. Only 6% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Vocational Qualifications Pathway: Retail.
Will AI change the work of a shop keeper?
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (Annual Earnings and Hours Survey): Monthly and hourly wage percentiles by occupational group (5 groups) (Tables 220-23014, 220-23024, 220-23003) (2025 (May to June 2025), released 2026-03-23), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026
