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Sales & business development · Helping & Teaching

Retail salesperson: what the job actually is

Helping people find and choose things in a shop, and keeping the floor looking like somebody cares.

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Retail salesperson: quick facts

Retail salesperson salary in Ontario: the median pay is $17.95 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is limited. The job usually needs a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training.

Median pay in Ontario
$17.95 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$17.95 to $28.85 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Limited
People working in it in Ontario
219,000
Usually needs
Usually a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 64100. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Helping customers on the shop floor: finding the thing, explaining the difference between two things, and sometimes talking somebody out of the one they picked.
  • It also means everything around the selling: stocking, tidying, setting out displays, tagging, counting stock and sometimes running the till.
  • Job Bank reports this as one group, "Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers", so it covers people selling clothes, hardware, phones, furniture or building materials, and those who arrange the displays. The work differs a lot between them.
  • Pay structure varies. Some retail salespeople are paid an hourly wage and some have part or all of their pay tied to what they sell. Check which a job is before you accept it.
  • Job Bank says employers want demonstrated sales ability and product knowledge for complex or valuable items. Selling a cardigan and selling a hot tub are different jobs under one name.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:45 — In before opening. Walk the floor, fix what customers messed up yesterday, check the price tags on the sale table.
  2. 9:30 — Doors open. A customer wants a different size. You go to the back to look, and it is not there.
  3. 10:15 — You help somebody who knows exactly what they want and somebody who does not know at all. The second one takes forty minutes and buys the cheaper thing.
  4. 11:30 — A delivery arrives. You unpack, tag and put it on the shelves, then check it against the invoice.
  5. 12:30 — Your lunch. You eat it standing up in a back room.
  6. 13:15 — The floor is quiet. You tidy, rework the front display, and answer a phone call about whether you carry a product you do not.
  7. 15:00 — A customer returns something that has clearly been used. You apply the policy and are friendly about it.
  8. 16:30 — Busy again. A new colleague asks you how to do a refund, and you realise you now know things.
  9. 18:00 — A manager asks you to stay and help with a stock count. You do or you do not, depending on what you agreed.
  10. 20:30 — Close. Vacuum, lock up, count out the till.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like talking to people and you are curious about the product, whatever it is.
  • You are willing to say 'I do not know, let me find out' rather than bluff.
  • You like a job where the day moves from selling to stocking to tidying without you having to plan it.
  • You do not mind being judged on how much you sold if the job pays partly that way.
  • You want something flexible while you are in school.
You may hate this if
  • You dislike being approached by sales staff, and cannot imagine doing it to others.
  • Standing for the whole shift sounds hard. Most of the work is on your feet.
  • You need weekends and evenings free. Retail is open when other people are not working.
  • If part of your pay depends on sales, you hate the idea that a slow week is a smaller cheque.
  • You hate being told to push a product you would not buy.
  • You need security in the long run. Job Bank rates the Ontario outlook as Limited and mentions store closures and online shopping as affecting prospects.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Nothing is required to start, but the job varies

    Job Bank says completion of secondary school may be required, a university degree or college diploma may be required by some employers, and specific courses may be required for some products. For most entry-level shop-floor jobs, an application and a good first impression are the way in.

  2. Know which jobs in this group are regulated

    Job Bank lists related retail positions in Ontario that are regulated: hardware retail salesperson and lumber and building materials retailer, both regulated by Skilled Trades Ontario, and motor vehicle salesperson, regulated by the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council. Most retail sales jobs do not need that.

  3. Get a first job and a reference

    Apply to shops you actually shop in. Knowing the product is the real advantage. Ontario's minimum-age page lists 14 as the minimum age for stores. Under 16, you cannot work during school hours.

  4. Move toward what you like

    Some salespeople move into visual merchandising, buying, training or store management. The retail-manager page covers the management route. A degree or diploma is more likely to be asked for if you want to sell complex or high-value products.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers requirements (Ontario) · Ontario — Minimum age for work · Ontario — Employment Standards Act: young workers' rights

The money

Retail salesperson salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$17.95
Low (hourly)
$17.95
Median (hourly)
$28.85
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 64100. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Retail salesperson wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Limited2 out of 5 stars

  • Employment is expected to remain relatively stable.
  • A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
  • There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
  • High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Staff turnover is expected to create job openings since this occupation has lower entry requirements, a younger workforce, and a higher degree of part-time work
  • Prevalence of online shopping may temper demand for some workers over the long term
  • The closure of some stores is also expected to affect job prospects

Who hires for it

  • Employed across the retail trade industry with the largest number in food and beverage stores, general merchandise stores, and building material and garden equipment and supplies stores
219,000
people work in this job in Ontario
55%
are women (48% across all jobs)
8%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers job prospects in Ontario (NOC 64100). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take a part-time shop job when you are old enough. It is the standard first rung and the one most employers will ask about.
  • Ask your guidance office about a co-op placement in retail. It is a way to try the job while still getting credit.
  • Take business, marketing or visual arts courses if offered. Displays and persuasion are both in the job.
  • Help at a school fundraiser sale. Selling to your classmates at a table is the same job in small.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Watch how good salespeople actually talk to people

About 60 minutes
  1. Go into three shops of different kinds. Do not buy anything. Notice how each salesperson approaches you, and how it feels.
  2. In one of them, ask a real question about a product and see how they answer. Write down whether they asked you anything back.
  3. Pick the shop where the person made you feel helped rather than pushed. Write down two things they did.
  4. Next, take something at home you could sell and try to explain it to a family member in two sentences without sounding like an advert.

What it tells you. If you found yourself paying attention to what made the good salesperson good, and the practice felt a bit fun, this work could suit you. If you found it uncomfortable to approach or be approached, retail may be hard going, and a stock room or back-of-house job may fit better.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “How much of your pay depends on what you sell?”
  2. “What is the hardest kind of customer to help?”
  3. “What do you know about this product that most people do not?”
  4. “What does a good week look like compared with a bad one?”
  5. “How do you handle being told to push something you would not recommend?”
  6. “Where have the people who started here ended up?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Yes, and shop-floor experience is useful for it. Opening your own shop takes money, a lease and stock, which is a lot of risk, and many people start smaller with a market stall or an online shop first. Working on a shop floor teaches what customers ask, what sells and what gets returned.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a retail salesperson make in Ontario?

The median pay for a retail salesperson in Ontario is $17.95 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $17.95 to $28.85 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a retail salesperson in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as limited for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment is expected to remain relatively stable. A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements. There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation. High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a retail salesperson in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a high school diploma, or several weeks of on-the-job training. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Nothing is required to start, but the job varies; Know which jobs in this group are regulated; Get a first job and a reference.

Where does a retail salesperson work in Ontario?

Employed across the retail trade industry with the largest number in food and beverage stores, general merchandise stores, and building material and garden equipment and supplies stores. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a retail salesperson in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 219,000 people working in this job in Ontario. 55% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Where people come from

Which programs lead here?

In the 2021 Census, this job is one of the 12 most common for graduates of these programs. Each page shows what else they do, and which of those jobs have openings.

What can you do with your degree?

Not sure this is the right list to be reading

Start from yourself, not from the job.

Future Finder is free, takes about ten minutes, needs no account and stores nothing. It will tell you which kinds of work you lean toward, and which of these pages are worth your time.

Try Future Finder — freeAll jobs

Parent of a teenager weighing this up? Career coaching for teens gets them talking to people who do the work, anywhere in Ontario.

If this appeals, look at these too

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.