Shop sales assistant; sales promoter; sales adviser

Food retail shop assistants welcome and help clients who come into the shop or establishment, providing and selling products related to the food sector, such as meat, poultry, fish, cold cuts, cheese, frozen foods, bread and cakes, drinks, fruits and vegetables or packaged products, among others. Their main goal is to sell food products to clients. Food shop assistants usually start working as apprentices. After acquiring the basic knowledge about methods and products, they will become shop assistants. These professionals usually report to the store manager or section manager.

• Identify clientele's needs by asking them questions to find out as much as possible about exactly what they are looking for.
• Answer customers' questions and provide them with information on the establishment's products and added-value services (product tastings, home delivery, etc.).
• Direct, advise and offer different alternatives. Present different products/services to clients that could meet their needs, advising them precisely and clearly about particular product characteristics.
• Prepare products and package them quickly and neatly, taking the style and image into account that the shop wants to convey. Use pertinent materials and follow hygiene standards in force to assure their physical protection.
• Close sales and assure collection by entering product codes and/or prices quickly and correctly using the keyboard or scanner. Verbally state the amount and verify the authenticity of different payment methods.
• Keep discrete surveillance for possible stealing and harmful handling of products in the establishment.
• Handle claims and transfer them to hierarchical boss, section manager or shop manager.
• Supervises stocks (perishable goods / products with different expiry dates), controls product stock. Check expiry dates. Replace sold out articles following regular replacement criteria and procedures.
• Detect supplying needs according to sales made in order to keep stock permanently up to date. Verify all sales made in a specific period using the sales receipts or entering the codes into the computer.
• Keep price tags updated and deliver advertising / promotional material occasionally according to the instructions received.
  

Regulated training and graduates

• Minimum compulsory education
• Professionalism Certificate: Sales activities (Level 2)
• Certificat de Professionalitat de la Família Comerç i Màrqueting: Activitats de gestió del petit comerç (Nivell 2)
• Professional Training Course(s) in the field of Trade and Marketing - Intermediate Level: Trade activities
• Professional Training Course(s) in the field of Trade and Marketing - Intermediate Level: Trade activites, fresh product professional profile
• A-levels

Complementary training

Other specific skills

Learning and use of knowledge: Level 1

Initiative: Level 2

Commitment to the organisation: Level 1

Concern for order and quality: Level 2

Customer orientation: Level 1

Customer service

Direct and personal interaction with people and relating to the public are highly-motivating activities for individuals who have an interest in the field of customer service. A focus on people and on satisfying customers' needs is key in the occupations included in this field. These jobs entail the need to know suitable techniques for attending to the public and being able to give appropriate service that is tailored to their needs and expectations. Good examples are activities which offer assistance and guidance during functions, trips or at facilities, and those which provide advice in relation to products and services.

Logistics

The planning, organisation, control and carrying out of logistics and administrative tasks are the focus of people who work in the field of logistics. Activities in the field of logistics include the organisation and planning of supply, storage, production and distribution systems, taking inventories, controlling stock and estimating production, as well as the organisation and/or carrying out of the administrative tasks necessary for the implementation of these activities. Knowledge of organisation, control and management techniques is essential for carrying out these activities.

Shop assistant

Telesales operator

Conference assistant

Section manager

Plant operator

• Work hours

  There is a wide variety of options for this occupation, where hours are concerned, because these largely depend on the area where the establishment is situated (shopping centre, city centre or peripheral neighbourhood), as well as on the type of establishment (street stall, stall at a municipal market, etc.). The opening hours of commercial establishments are regulated by the Law on Business Hours, which sets forth the opening and closing hours for shops, as well as the public holidays on which establishments can open. The usual working hours of 40 hours a week can be done in intensive shifts (in the morning or afternoon) or split-shifts (morning and afternoon with a break at lunchtime). A lot of business is done on Fridays and Saturdays at this type of shops.

• Salary

  Salary range: between 13.658 and 17.095 euros annum gross. Median: 15.280 euros annum gross.
  
  Source: Report "Observatory of Jobs and Salaries of the Labour Market. Barcelona Activa", elaborated by ICSA Grupo. April 2015.

• Professional category

  Non-specialist staff