Hiring quality retail associates can be tricky in an industry challenged by high-volume seasonality and a turnover rate of 60%. But it’s worth it when 59% of retail consumers will walk away from a product or company they love after several bad experiences. Asking the right interview questions can help you meet, if not exceed, customers’ in-store expectations.

A streamlined hiring process that addresses the unique challenges of retail recruitment is essential for supporting your stores (and hiring managers) to win sought-after retail talent. Part of setting up talent acquisition systems that support high-volume hiring is defining ideal candidate attributes and empowering hiring managers to vet large applicant pools for them.

Here are tips and interview questions that can help your business hire the best retail associates. In this article you’ll find:

1. What is a retail associate?
2. Key qualities to look for in retail associates
3. Retail associate red flags
4. 20 interview questions for retail associates
5. How hiring retail associates can be faster than ever

What is a retail associate?

Retail associates are the in-store ambassadors of a retailer’s brand. Whether working front of house as a cashier or sales associate, or back of house as a stocker or logistics specialist, these positions play a pivotal role in shaping shoppers’ satisfaction with a retail business.

• 80% of all shopping still happens in stores.

Key qualities to look for in retail associates

Retail jobs attract candidates of all ages and life stages, from teenagers looking for a first job, to retirees in search of part-time work. In fact, 6 in 10 Americans have worked in a retail job and 32% of all first jobs were in retail. Across demographics, successful retail employees share specific attributes. Here are 12 of these key qualities to look for in your retail associate hires.

1. Brand fit: Candidates who align with your brand values make for more engaged hires and will find a better culture fit in your stores. Whether a global technology retailer, national luxury jewelry store, or big box hardware chain, be mindful of brand fit. 
2. Friendliness: Candidates for customer-facing roles must possess a natural friendliness and good social skills. Empathy for the customer is also important, since it will help them provide better service that can help drive loyalty to your brand.
3. Product interest: A candidate who is already a customer of your business and enthusiastic about your products will be able tonsell more effectively and authentically.
4. Customer service skills: Even first-time job seekers can display the building blocks of good customer service. These include skills like active listening, good communication, problem-solving, and a sense of humor.
5. Commercial awareness: Strong retail associates have a solid understanding of how retail businesses work. But even candidates who are new to the industry can display basic comprehension from the customer side.
6. Basic math and money handling: All floor staff should be able to do basic math like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. They should also know local currency denominations and have familiarity with different local payment methods.
7. Cultural awareness: Employees in customer-facing roles should be conscious of other cultures and how their own judgments of those groups of people might lead them to exhibit bias or even worse, prejudice, while on the store floor.
8. Sales acumen: Retail associate need the ability to understand and anticipate customer needs and take action to close sales. is essential in. This includes being attentive to the needs and preferences of customers.
9. Trend savviness: Knowing what’s happening in retail—such as pop culture influences and what trends resonate with different generations of shoppers—can make a big impact on a retail associate’s success with customers.
10. Physical ability: Retail jobs typically require standing, walking, reaching, and grasping. Heavy lifting might also be included in job responsibilities for back of house positions. Either way, candidates should be fit enough to perform these movements.
11. Tech literacy: A growing number of retail stores now use solutions that require a baseline of tech literacy, including self-service kiosks, RFID payments, mobile point of sale (POS), and omnichannel experiences like buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS).
12. Trustworthiness: Retail associates are often responsible for opening and closing stores, handling money, and counteracting shoplifting. As such, they should pass the background check stage and have good references.

Retail associate red flags

Sometimes, a candidate can have a great resume and application, but once you get them on the phone for a screening, it becomes apparent they’re just not the right fit. Here are five retail associate red flags that you never want to hear a promising candidate say in their interview.

1. “I don’t really use your products.” A lack of enthusiasm for your store’s offerings is a clear sign that a candidate is not engaged with your brand. 
2. “I’ve never used a credit card.” Candidates should be somewhat familiar with a POS and how it works, even if just from the consumer side.
3. “Challenging situations just sort of resolve themselves.” If candidates cannot demonstrate how they move through tough situations, they lack self-awareness.
4. “This compensation doesn’t work for me.” Without a lot of negotiation leverage for retail roles, candidates need to be willing to accept what’s being offered.
5. “I don’t know why I want to be in retail.” If a candidate answers this important question flippantly, then they probably shouldn’t be considering a job in the industry.

20 interview questions for retail associates

Work experience

• Have you ever worked in retail before? If so, what are your favorite parts of the job? And if not, what attracts you to retail now?
• Think back to a challenge you’ve had to overcome in a previous role. What was it and how did you overcome it?
• Tell me about a busy time when you were working and how you handled the rush of customers.
• Have you ever experienced conflicts in the workplace before and how did you resolve them?
• What do you feel are the three most essential qualities for a retail associate to possess?
• What does outstanding customer service look like to you?

Retail competency

• Do you have experience managing inventory?
• How do you manage a fitting room?
• Have you used a check-out system before?
• Are you comfortable asking customers to sign up for the company credit card?
• Can you give me an example of a scenario where you had to deal with a particularly difficult customer?
• What is your preferred method of approaching a customer and encouraging them to make a purchase?
• What do you do if someone tries to shoplift?
• Tell me about a time you exceeded a customer’s expectations.

Values and opinions

• Describe a time when you saw a coworker struggling. What did you do?
• How would you respond if one of your coworkers was rude to a customer?
• How would you respond if a customer was rude to one of your coworkers?
• How would you respond if you are scheduled to be off at 4 p.m., but your replacement has not yet arrived?
• Tell me about one product in our store that you own or would like to own. What do you like about it?
• How do you stay current on retail trends and best practices?
• True or false: The customer is always right. Explain your answer.

How hiring retail associates can be faster than ever

Hiring for high-volume retail positions gets significantly easier when your hiring managers are empowered to screen candidates and make offers quickly. Your recruiting software should include efficiency features like conditional screening questions, AI-based candidate matching, interview self-scheduling, and more. 

• JYSK, a global retailer with over 3,200 stores, reduced applicant processing time from 28 days to 3-4 days.
• Frasers Group, a UK-based retailer with more than 1,500 stores, reduced their hiring process for retail associates to 7-10 days.

Ready to navigate your seasonal staffing needs with greater confidence and control? Explore the SmartRecruiters collaborative hiring platform that connects recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates in one place with mobile-friendly workflows, automated candidate communications, and more.