Retail Manager Resume: Examples and Tips

A retail manager is responsible for overseeing daily retail store operations, serving as the link between top-level company management and store staff. Store manager responsibilities include administrative duties, monitoring employee performance, ensuring customer satisfaction, managing inventory, and developing business strategies.

Create a retail manager resume that gets you noticed, based on our resume examples and tips below.

Average Rating

4.1/5 stars with 101 reviews

Retail Store Manager Combination Resume Sample

Top 4 characteristics of a best-in-class retail manager resume

  1. Summary This section should be a brief recap of your career and background to date, summed up in a few short sentences. Feature your top “selling point” and key strengths, and use job-specific action verbs.  For example: “Goal-oriented retail manager with proven experience in boosting store revenue” rather than “I am a successful retail manager who has managed to increase revenue at every company I have worked at.” Focus on your achievements rather than your responsibilities.
  2. Skills Mention specific skills, avoiding broad terms like “sales.” Be sure to include a wide range of qualifications, from technical skills such as inventory management software knowledge, vendor negotiations and promotional projects to interpersonal skills such as customer relations, personnel management and multitasking.
  3. Work History The work history section on your resume should highlight the value you’ve brought to your previous job rolesUse bullet points to list your responsibilities and achievements in a precise and clutter-free manner. Concentrate on specific examples of effective on-the-job performance, using phrases backed by metrics such as “Ensured that standards for quality, health, safety, and customer service were met for retail store serving 2000+ customers daily,” or “Managed costs to keep operations 20% more profitable than company targets.”
  4. Education Look to feature a degree in Business Administration or a related field such as retail management, marketing, accounting, or finance in this section. You should also consider featuring any additional certifications or training you’ve had in management principles, customer service, supply chain management, and inventory handling, as well as key computer skills in documentation, databases and spreadsheet management.

See Why My Perfect Resume is a 5-Star Resume Builder

Find the right template for your resume

Use these employer-approved, carefully designed layouts as a foundation for your own retail manager resume.

Knowledgeable

This template effectively highlights each section with prominent colored headers, making them easy to scan.

Distinguished

This elegant, classic design features subtle uses of color for section headings, providing a break from traditional black-and-white.

Managerial

This template uses a strong header and two-column layout, with plenty of space to customize each section.

Custom-build your own resume using our complete lineup of resume templates.

Do’s and don’ts for your resume

  • DO include soft skills Intangible assets that define how well you work in solo or team environments are highly valued by employers. Be sure to define these skills in terms of how they impact a retail position when you add them to your resume. For example, instead of using a general term like “customer service,” be more specific and write “Customer complaint resolution.” Other essential soft skills for a retail manager position include “effective communication,” “conflict management” and “retail staff leadership.”
  • DO quantify your achievements Highlight the abilities and skills you’ve used and developed by listing your accomplishments. Quantify your results with statements like “composed budget to cut costs by 22% through analysis of sales and customer satisfaction data,” “increased quarterly sales revenue by 10% each quarter for 2+ years,” “improved customer satisfaction rating by 27% as per regularly conducted customer surveys” and “reduced in-store theft rate by 68% by implementing effective safety and inventory procedures.”
  • DO begin statements with action verbs Describe your achievements using strong action verbs to give them more kick, and give employers the impression that you’re at the center of your accomplishments. For example, don’t say you “were tasked with” a certain responsibility; instead, say you “slashed costs,” “boosted sales,” “encouraged teamwork,” “managed promotions” or “mobilized funds.”
  • DON’T use a single resume Even if you’re applying to jobs in the same industry, you should prepare different resumes for each job. Tailoring your resume each time will lead you to more relevant job-specific skills and phrases, increasing your chances of passing a human or applicant tracking system (ATS) scan. For example, a retail manager job in an electronics store requires more emphasis on skills like “tech savvy” and “troubleshooting computer software.”
  • DON’T write an over-long resume Employers usually take scant seconds to scan a resume — the longer your document, the greater the chance that something important is missed, resulting in a resume in the recycle bin. Stick to information in your resume that directly relates to the open position, and use bullet points and short, concise phrases whenever possible. Your statements should be short and concise and contain only job-specific information. Use bullet points in your work history section to elaborate on your experience in a clutter-free manner.
  • DON’T forget to proofread Retail work requires a high attention to detail — mistakes on your resume gives the opposite impression. Check your final document for typing, spelling and grammatical errors, and also use this final check as an opportunity to review the information you’ve included, and make sure it’s both relevant and accurate.