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 2.8 million jobs and accounting for nearly 10% of all UK jobs. In 2024, there were 192,435 wholesale and retail employers in the UK. ²

What areas can I work in?

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.

What kind of companies can I work for?

Of the huge range of companies to work for, possible employers include: 

• retail stores and outlets 
• local authority and public services, including the Civil Service and National Health Service 
• call centres for businesses such as banks, insurance companies, utility firms and supermarkets 
• construction and manufacturing 
• medical sales companies and pharmaceuticals.

What’s the job market like?

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. 223,000 people worked in Scottish retail across 30,565 businesses in 2023. Retail is one of the largest contributors to the Scottish economy. ²

However, as predicted in recent years, the number of retail jobs have continued to fall across the UK. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported this year that there are 364,000 fewer jobs than 10 years ago, making retail the hardest hit industry compared to others. This can be attributed to the rising costs of employing new staff, which has risen for full time positions by 10%, and for part time positions by 13%. The BRC estimates that over the next three years, 160,000 more jobs could be at risk. ³

In Scotland, as of December 2024, there were around 43,300 people employed in customer service occupations, with 10,100 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.

Facts and figures

Want to find out more?

You can find out more about training and qualifications in Scotland on the Scottish Retail Consortium website.

Sources

¹ Annual Population Survey - Occupation by sex, employment status and full/part-time -  Scotland, NOMIS (December 2024)

² Retail in Numbers, British Retail Consortium (June 2025)

³ Retail down by over 360,000 jobs in a decade, British Retail Consortium (10 June 2025)

⁴ Retail Trade in the UK – statistics and facts, Kasia Davies, Statistica (24 January 2025)

Video

Career Pathway