Top 120 most popular Retail Sales Interview Questions

Interviewing for a job in retail sales can be a daunting experience, but it doesn’t have to be. With these helpful interview tips and questions, you’ll be ready and confident when it’s time to go face-to-face with your potential employer. We have compiled the best of the best questions that are sure to give you the edge you need in an interview.

Retail Sales Interviews are becoming an increasingly popular way to assess potential employees. Whether you’re interviewing for a large department store or boutique retail shop, these interviews can be daunting experiences. Here’s how to use the right interview questions to find the perfect candidate for your organization!

 

From preparing ahead of time and defining job requirements to asking detailed questions about customer service, there are many components that go into a successful retail sales interview. Asking the right questions will help you identify the qualities and skills in each candidate that best fit your needs.

To ensure that your interview is both informative and productive, consider some key questions such as: “What type of customer service experience do you have?”, “How would you handle difficult customers?” and “What strategies do you use when responding to customer complaints?”.

Retail Interview Questions

Interview Questions in Retail Sales- Part 1

1. How did you hear about this job?
2. What do you know about our company or brand?
3. What do you hope to gain from this job?
4. Where do you see yourself in 3 to 5 years?
5. Why did you leave your last job?
6. What is your dream job?
7. What is your hobby/past time?
8. How much time you can commit for this job?
9. What is your level of Math skills? (You may be asked few simple math to test your quantitative skills)
10. If we have to ask your colleague, what one word will describe you?
11. Tell me about a time you overcame a challenge at the current or previous job.
12. What is your proudest professional accomplishment?
13. How many years that you  have worked in retail?
14. What type of retail stores have you worked for?
15. Do you prefer working at a cash register or on the  sales floor?
16. How comfortable are you offering product suggestions to customers?
17. Do you have experience managing inventory?
18. Do you have experience managing Stock?
19. Are you experienced with folding and presenting clothes for sale on the floor?  (If this job relates to Retail Clothing)
20. Are you experienced in displaying the expensive jewels to the customers?  (If this job relates to Retail Jewelry)
21. Are you comfortable marketing the product to customers?
22. Are you comfortable calling the customers over the phone?
23. Are you comfortable pitching customers to sign up for the company credit card?
24. Are you comfortable working late hours during the Holiday Season?
25. Tell me about a time a rush of customers came to a store you were working in and how you handled it.

Questions for Retail Professionals – Part 2

1. How long do you intend to stay in retail as a career?
2. Have you ever been a manager or informally placed in charge of running a shift at a previous retail job?
3. How would you handle the situation if a coworker is rude to a customer?
4. How would you handle the situation if a customer is rude to a coworker?
5. What do you do if a customer wishes to pay for a large order entirely with cash?
6. How do you handle the racism issues at work place?
7. You’re working the fitting rooms and found  that a customer has left fewer items than their tag indicates, but you didn’t see them carrying any in their hands when leaving the room. How do you handle this?
8. You have just closed the door when a customer arrives and requests to allow them to come in to make a purchase. Do you open back up to accommodate them?
9. Tell me about a time you were called on to lead and how you responded to the challenge.
10. Your Immediate boss is not treating you with respect. How would you handle this situation?
11. Tell me about a situation when you exceeded a customer’s expectations.
12. How would you approach a customer visiting the store?
13. Tell us a situation  in your previous job where you noticed a problem, proposed a solution and saw your idea improve store performance.
14. You were late to the store due to unforeseen situations. How would you handle this?
15. The Competitor Store is trying to poach you. But you liked working with your current employer. How would you handle this?

Questions in Retail Sales Interview -Part 3

1. What makes you the best candidate for this Job?
2. If not this Retail Job, what and where you will be?
3. When was the last time, you had beat your monthly targets?
4. If we are asking you to sign a contract to be with us for 18 months, will you do? If so, why ?
5. We had verified your past employment background checks. You have had many late show ups to the store. What is the guarantee you will not do the same here?
6. Are you doing anything additional to improve your skills?
7. What are your salary expectations for this role?
8. Tell us about your previous boss.
9. Are you open to report to Female Boss?
10. We are gender neutral brand. Are you open to work with any gender people?

Retail Interview Questions for Sales -Part 4

1. Tell us about your family background.
2. What motivates you to come to the store every day?
3. Retail Jobs are not liked by everyone. Why you like Retail?
4. Are you an extrovert or introvert?
5. How do you commute to work daily?
6. The Retail shops are closed late night. Are you ok to work up to late evening?
7. Are you ok to stand for long time at work?
8. 10 years from now, where you think you want to be in your career?
9. Do you have offers from other brands?
10. What is good customer service according to you?
11. We look for attractive individual. Why you think you are attractive?
12. Your communication  Skills are ok. What would you do to improve your skills?
13. Do you know basic Accounting?
14. How good are you with MS Office?
15. Have you worked on MS Excel?
16. Are you familiar with the KPIs for Store Performance?
17. What was your last month Sales target and your achievement?
18. For Store Manager Role: What was your store target last quarter?
19. What are the top 3 KPIs that you measure on daily basis?
20. How would you improve your English Communication? (For Non English Speaking Countries)
21. What was the worst customer experience you had faced as a consumer?
22. Have you handled any E-Commerce Sales for your retail employer?
23. Can you tell us your best customer buying experience?
24. How do you make sales and also convert into high volume transaction?
25. Are you willing to work on a commission based payment?

Retail Sales Questions- Part 5

1. Tell us about your last job incentives.
2. Are you comfortable working in an environment with sales targets?
3. Are you currently part time or full time student?
4. This is not WFH job. Are you open for this?
5. Being on time for the job is very important. Can you commit to it?
6. How far is your home from the retail store location?
7. Are you legally allowed to work? (Applicable for Foreign workers)
8. Are you bi-lingual? (Do you speak more than 1 language)
9. Suggest three things that you will look to improve in any store
10. Who are our direct and in-direct competitors?
11. What do you know about our brand that we don’t know?
12. How do you evaluate our customer service compared to other retailers?
13. How good are you with Puzzle Solving?
14. What are your interesting hobbies?
15. Have you worked in Omni-Channel retail environment?
16. There is theft at the store while you were working. How would you respond?
17. Give us  an example of sales target that you didn’t meet
18. Have you worked under the Boss who is younger than you?
19. There will be frequent Class Room and Floor Level Training. Are you open to take such training?
20. Who do you know the best sales person in your network?

Sales Interview Questions (Retail) – Part  6

1. If you have to give a reference, who would you give to do Background Check?
2. Do you have any one in your family who is into Retail Job or Business?
3. Have you worked under a Bad Boss? Tell us your experience
4. How would you handle a customer who doesn’t understand the language you speak?
5. Say you are driving a car with your spouse and mom. Unfortunately you met with an accident. Both your spouse and mom are severely injured and in critical condition. You can only save one of them. Who would you prefer?
6. Can you tell us the Basic Retail Price Formulas?
7. You are harassed by your coworker in the store. How would you respond to this situation
8. Pick up a product that you can sell to me. Tell me how you will convince me to buy the product.
9. How do you improve the Retail KPIs?
10. Can you explain the Forward Stock Cover Formula?
11. Open to Buy (OTB)- How do you improve this?
12. How do you calculate  SPSF (Sales Per Square Foot)?
13. How do you calculate the Average Order Value or Average Transaction Value?
14. How do you measure the Sales per Square Foot KPI?
15. What is the average Transaction value (ATV) of the store per day?
16. What would you say the Good KPI in Retail?
17. How do you calculate the Items per Customer (aka UPT-Units Per Transaction) ?
18. How would you  track the total number of visits to the store?
19. How to calculate the LFL (Like for Like) Growth?
20. Define Gross Margin Cost.
21. Define the Markdown Price formula
22. Can you explain the Markup Price formula
23. How  to calculate the Net Profit Margin for a product
24. What is the DSI (Days Sales In Inventory) for your current store?
25. How do you improve the Inventory Turnover (IT) Ratio?

Updated in 2024

1. What do you know about Experiential Retail?
2. What do you think will be AI impact on Retail Industry?
3. What are the AI tools or Softwares you familiar with in Retail?

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, retail sales interviews are a great opportunity for any applicant to showcase their qualifications and personality. Not only do these interviews help employers decide if a candidate is right for the job, but they also let candidates know if the job is right for them. With some preparation and practice, any candidate can make an excellent impression during a retail sales interview. The best way to show off your skills and expertise is to go into the interview with confidence and enthusiasm.