Retail Sales as a Possible Career Choice

Lots of people work in retail. Whether one has chosen it as a career or is parked there temporarily as they try to put their career plans together, retail employment occupies the time and energy of millions of employees. 

Retail is viewed simultaneously as both career-lite by some and then again very seriously, particularly for managers and people passionate about the product they are selling. Trying to determine if long-term work in retail is right for you requires a bit of contemplation and planning. 

By retail we generally mean selling products in a brick-and-mortar store. How much longer this will last is uncertain. On the one hand it is obvious that millions still love to “go shopping”, i.e., getting into a car, driving to a store where you can browse, selecting items to buy, packing them into the car, and taking them home. 

But buying products is migrating much more to an online shopping practice that leaves the driving to UPS and FedEx. Come home from work and there awaits the product you ordered two days ago from your phone while watching TV. Even Best Buy, which appeared victorious when defeating Circuit City in the consumer electronics war a few years ago, is now in trouble. Are they being challenged by another big box outlet? No. They are being threatened by Internet shopping. 

So, expecting a long career in retail is like expecting certainty in any kind career today — do not count on it. But does that mean devoting your career to selling products is a dead end? Not necessarily. Let us look at a company that knows a thing or two about the Internet, but that also performs retail selling at a high end. 

Apple Retail Stores, yeah, the computer guys, manage to create a superior shopping experience for consumers. Ever walk into one of these glass and white steel shops? They are as clean and antiseptic as the spacecraft on 2001 A Space Odyssey and occupied by intelligent, enthusiastic, and hip salespeople. Apple has done a great job of not only creating a compelling store, but they have mastered providing high quality customer service and an overall attractive customer feel.   

They have a way of dividing and training their sales teams into Experts, Specialists, Geniuses, and Creatives. Experts determine what you need and then send you to Specialists who understand the products inside and out or to Geniuses who are real live human tech support. Maybe a chat with a Creative is needed so that you can truly geek out with someone who knows your Mac at a higher level. Together they work to deliver the revered Apple brand at the most personal of levels while leaving the consumer feeling that they are being well cared for. 

It is possible to work in high quality retail as our friends at Apple have shown. And it stands to reason that this model could work with other products as well. Perhaps a way to look at a career in retail is to think about which of these Apple-like categories you may fall into and then hone your skill in one or more of these select selling areas. 

Combining product expertise with person-to-person outreach to consumers looking for solutions can develop into a wonderful career, whether it is in a real or in a virtual store. 

Bill Ryan