Do you think of yourself as a ‘people person’, someone who’d enjoy providing information and advice to people looking to buy a product or service? Or, maybe you’d prefer to negotiate with suppliers to get the best deal for your company or employer?
If either option applies, then this career area may be a good choice. Whether you are dealing with customers or suppliers you need to have good communication skills, a confident and positive outlook, and the ability to deal with complaints while you are busy.
The retail industry remains the UK’s largest private sector employer, with 2.9 million jobs and a turnover of over £462 billion in sales in 2023. This was a 5.2% growth in retail sales from the previous year. ³
As buying and selling affects most types of business, a wide variety of careers are available. Jobs and courses are split into three sectors: buying; call centres; and retail and sales.
This doesn't include careers in warehousing – you'll find those in the Transport and Distribution career area.
To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.
Of the huge range of companies to work for, possible employers include:
The buying, selling and related work industry is one of the biggest employers in Scotland, with the retail sector alone remaining Scotland’s largest private sector employer. Around 261,000 people work in Scottish retail, and it remains one of the largest contributors to the Scottish economy. 4
Between 2015 and 2021, retail employment rose the most in Scotland, at 6.1%. However, due to the current cost of living crisis and the impact of the pandemic, it is predicted that the retail sector will lose at least 131,000 jobs by the end of 2024 in the UK, the bulk being lost in 2023. 4
According to Ibis World, between 2020 and 2025 there is expected to be 522 call centre businesses in the UK with 50,968 employees, with a revenue of around £3.2 billion. ²
In Scotland, as of March 2024, there were around 53,600 people employed in customer service occupations, with 18,200 of those working in call and contact centre operations. ¹
There are lots of ways to get into these jobs. You can start straight from school with few or no qualifications, where you can work your way up to a senior position, such as retail manager. Many employers provide the opportunity to work towards vocational qualifications on the job to help with promotion. There are Modern Apprenticeship frameworks for both retail and procurement.
You can find out more about training and qualifications in Scotland on the Scottish Retail Consortium website.
1 Annual Population Survey - Occupation by sex, employment status and full/part-time - Scotland, NOMIS (March 2024)
2 Call Centres in the UK – Market Size, Industry Analysis, Trends and Forecasts 2024 – 2029 Ibis World (February 2023)
3 Retail Economics: UK Retail Stats and Facts (July 2024)
4 Retail Jobs Report, December 2022 – British Retail Consortium
British Retail Consortium
