A Retail Manager CV should demonstrate that you can drive profitability whilst maintaining a positive shopping experience for customers.
In it show how you can motivate teams to increase sales, maintain high stands of presentation and drive promotions. This information has to be presented in a clear, well-structured, and visually appealing two-page document.
As a Retail Manager, you play a crucial role in creating and delivering the commercial plan to help a store grow and change for the better. These are the type of abilities and experiences that have to be included in your CV.
This guide will show you how to craft a CV that effectively highlights your dynamic leadership style and appetite for success.
By: Iejaz Uddin – Updated 7 December 2025
Page overview
- Retail Manager CV examples
- How to write a Retail Manager CV
- CV structure
- Contact details
- Personal summary
- Retail Manager work experience
- Skills
- Education section
Retail Manager CV examples

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Retail Manager CV 1
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Retail Manager CV 1
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Retail Manager Cover letter 1

Retail Manager CV 2
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Retail Manager CV 2
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Retail Manager Cover letter 2

Retail Manager CV 3
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Retail Manager CV 3
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Retail Manager Cover letter 3

How to write a Retail Manager CV
If you want to work as a Retail Manager, you need to be able to lead by example to the sales staff and be a role model for the company’s values. These abilities must be carefully written in a well-structured CV that overall presents you as a capable operator.
In the competitive UK job market, it’s essential to give hiring managers a CV that stands out from other candidates. The best way to achieve this is for your CV has to include all the key responsibilities and desirable skills can be found on the Job Description. This can be anything from implementing promotions, control costs to overseeing recruitment and training up staff.
Tailor your CV to the vacancy, ensuring you highlight the skills and experience that match the role, thereby maximizing your chances of being shortlisted for that crucial interview.
Also note that, as many Retail Managers start in junior roles such as sales associates, your CV has to show career progressions. A chronological CV is required for this role, as it starts with your most recent job and works backwards.
Retail Manager CV Structure
A Retail Manager CV should be two pages and include your contact info, personal profile, core skills, employment history, and qualifications sections. Consider the structure of your CV as a foundations on which all of these different parts are laid out.
For a Retail Manager role, the chronological format usually works best. It’s a great way to show how your career has progressed whilst at the same time highlighting the experience that matters most listed in reverse order, starting with your most recent job.
Keep your CV clean and easy to read by sticking to one font style and size, such as Arial, Calibri, or Helvetica at 10–12 pts. Also use bold headings or slightly larger text to break the page into clear sections, making it simple for someone to navigate at a glance.
Contact details
Start your CV by listing your full name, address, mobile number, and email. This is your first chance to show you’re formal, serious and professional. Make sure your email sounds professional and not funny or casual as that can give the wrong impression.
Although emails are great for initial contact, a phone or video call is often better for building rapport. Therefore, place more emphasis on your phone number, as ideally you want to have a chat with the recruiter. It’s a great way to make a personal connection with them rather than communicating through cold emails.
Retail Manager CV Personal Summary
This is the ‘tell me about yourself’ section where you give recruiters a quick snapshot of who you are and sets the tone for the rest of your CV. It’s here that you highlight the key attributes and experiences most likely to catch their attention.
Retail managers work in a store setting, overseeing the staffing and operations so as to maximise sales and profits. They are in charge of analysing sales figures, identifying trends and forecasting future performance. Your goal is to showcase these strengths and achievements whilst demonstrating how you can make an immediate impact on their company.
Be concise and focus on the skills and accomplishments that align with the job. Show not only that you’re a good fit, but also that you have the potential to thrive in the role.
Work Experience section
Make it easy for a hiring manager to understand your past work through a concise career history section that outlines your past employment.
It’s here that you include information about the previous company’s, roles, and work environment. Use bullet points to summarize your duties and accomplishments with brief, focused sentences. For recent or current positions, include 4-6 sentences, for earlier roles, limit them to 2-3 sentences.
As a Store Manager, you’ll be in charge of a store, so show can blend operational excellence with a people-first approach. Mention you thrive on building meaningful connections, can inspire your team, and oversee smooth daily operations. Each work experience entry should have your job title, employers name and location, employment dates, and a brief paragraph outlining your responsibilities.
Finally, organize your employment history chronologically, listing jobs in reverse order, starting with the most recent.
Retail Manager CV Skills
Make your CV further stand out by clearly showing your skills and how you’ve applied them in real situations. Specialist skills needed for a Retail Manager position include being able to handle customer enquiries and resolve issues promptly and professionally.
For each job vacancy, tailor your skills to the particular job by carefully reading the job description. Identify those specific skills and qualities the employer is seeking and include those you possess in your CV.
This section can feature both hard and soft skills. Hard skills represent the technical abilities to do some work, while soft skills are all about interpersonal relationship qualities that enable you to succeed at work. If you feel like something is missing in your skill set, then take steps to develop it.
Including the right skills strengthens your CV and also makes you a stronger candidate for the roles you want.
Education
This section is important to allow you to list your Retail Manager qualifications and certifications. The bottom of your CV is where you tell the reader about your qualifications, certifications, and training.
Apart from your education, these can show the recruiter that you have good habits, are able to maintain focus, pace yourself, stay motivated, and manage your study time.
It is traditional with application documents to list your academic qualifications in reverse chronological order. This means that the most recent degrees are listed at the top of your CV, followed by subsequent ones underneath in descending order.
Retail Manager CV example
Samantha Jones
Address
T: 0123 456 789
M: number here
E: samantha.j@dayjob.com
PERSONAL SUMMARY
A passionate, positive team player who is driven to achieve the highest possible standards. Prepared to work long hours to get the job done and having a proven ability and desire to work within a fast-paced and changing retail environment. Focused on having high standards of presentation and pm reducing costs and driving sales performance to ensure maximum profits.
CAREER HISTORY
Fashion Retail Store
RETAIL MANAGER – May 2008 – Present
Responsible for running a retail outlet and making sure that store achieves and exceeds it’s set retail sales and profitability targets.
Duties:
- Walking around the shop floor to ensure visual standards are being met.
- Setting goals for the retail sales teams.
- Providing outstanding customer service.
- Effectively managing staff members.
- Showcasing new retail lines to staff and colleagues.
- Identifying new sources of revenue.
- Supervising stock control.
- Handling, dealing with and storing takings.
- Reviewing the sales performance of the store and staff for the previous day and week.
- Liaising with the company Human Resources department in the recruitment of employees.
- Ensuring that stock levels are constantly maintained and that there are no shortages.
- Choosing which retail lines to offer for promotion.
- Deciding on the layout of the shop floor.
- Ensuring accurate trading and statistical records are kept.
- Organising promotions and publicity in the local press and also trade magazines.
- Carrying out staff appraisals and performance reviews.
- Making sure clothes are correctly priced up and that pricing procedures are followed.
- Re-organising merchandise.
- Collecting and analysing sales figures.
- When theft is suspected organising the searching of staff or customers.
- Dealing professionally and courteously with all customer complaints or queries.
- Arranging for the testing of fire drills and emergency evacuation procedures.
- Checking all retail stock deliveries.
- Making sure that all cash and stock handling procedures are followed in line with audit and security requirements.
- Organising and chairing meeting with senior manager and key staff.
- Meeting with the store manager to update them on performance.
- Undertaking risk assessments of the workplace.
SKILLS
Managerial competencies
- Proficiency with specialist retail management software.
- Able to motivate and incentivise staff to hit targets.
- A comprehensive understanding of all retail laws.
- Keeping up to date with trends in the retail and fashion industries.
- Constantly looking for ways to increase efficiency.
- Excellent retail industry and product knowledge.
- Strategy implementation.
Personal
- Can handle pressure and expectations.
- Ability to inspire trust from both staff and customers.
- Willing to work non traditional hours i.e. late evenings and weekends.
- Excellent communication and people management skills.
- Eye for detail.
- Not deterred by setbacks.
- Good negotiating skills.
KEY COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS
Forward planning
Hospitality
Luxury retail operations
Budget management
Merchandising
Environmental Health & Safety
Marketing
Logistics
Stock control
Time management
Decision making
Business sense
Ability to delegate
Initiative
Strategic thinker
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
Evesham North University 2005 – 2008
BA (Hons) Retail Management
NVQ Level 2 in Retail Skills
Coventry North School 2003 – 2005
A levels: Maths (C) English (C) Physics (B)
REFERENCES – Available on request.
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