How to become a retail sales assistant
Official title: Retail sales assistant
Also called: Checkout operator, Shop assistant, Customer service representative, Shelf filler, Fashion sales assistant
Retail sales assistants serve customers, maintain stock items and process sales and returns.
Main tasks
- Greet customers and offer help
- Find out what customers need
- Recommend suitable products
- Answer customer questions
- Process sales and payments
- Calculate prices and totals
- Keep shelves stocked and tidy
- Set up product displays
How to become one
You usually learn on the job to become a retail sales assistant and experience or a qualification may be useful. You usually don't need specific NCEA levels for this job, but Level 2 may be useful. Other requirements: experience in retail or sales; an entry certificate in sales; to do intermediate or advanced training in sales.
Ways in
- Certificates and diplomas: Entry certificates in sales. TEC links this job to study in sales and marketing. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Retail (Customer Service and Sales Support), NZ Cert in Retail. Usually 4 to 6 months. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $40,000 a year one year after study and $52,000 five years after; 29% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).
Pay · Past change · AI and this job
- Median pay: $57,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
- Upper: $91,000 a year
- TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $27.40 an hour.
- TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
- Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
- People employed in the group Sales Assistants (General): 108,702 at the 2018 Census and 94,743 at the 2023 Census (-12.8%). Past change, not a forecast.
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Who does this work
- About 69,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
- In the group Sales Assistants (General), 60% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
- Where people in the group Sales Assistants (General) work (2023 Census): Auckland 33%, Canterbury 13.9%, and Wellington 10.1%.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a retail sales assistant?
You usually learn on the job to become a retail sales assistant and experience or a qualification may be useful. You usually don't need specific NCEA levels for this job, but Level 2 may be useful. Other requirements: experience in retail or sales; an entry certificate in sales; to do intermediate or advanced training in sales.
How much does a retail sales assistant earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $57,000 a year, before tax.
Has the number of people working as a retail sales assistant grown in New Zealand?
It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.
Will AI change the work of a retail sales assistant?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), 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
This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.
Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.
This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.
Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.
Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.
These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.
Updated 4 October 2026