7111 Sales and retail assistants
Unit group 7111 in the ONS Standard Occupational Classification 2020, with the line the Appendix Skilled Occupations gives it. Not immigration advice.
In short
- ONS unit group 7111, in minor group 711 (Sales assistants and retail cashiers) and major group 7 (Sales and customer service occupations).
- Appendix Skilled Occupations (figures as at 3 August 2026, re-checked 26 October 2026): Not on the list: Table 6.
- Going rate as the tables print it:
What the ONS says
Description
Sales and retail assistants demonstrate and sell a variety of goods and services in shops, stores, showrooms and similar establishments.
Typical entry routes
No minimum academic qualifications are required although some employers may require GCSEs/S grades. Training is typically provided on-the-job. Vocational qualifications in Retail Operations and relevant apprenticeships are available at various levels.
Tasks
- discusses customer requirements, including type and price range of goods/services desired
- advises customer on selection, purchase, use and care of merchandise and quotes prices, discounts and delivery times
- advises customer making major purchase on credit terms and arranges finance as appropriate
- receives full or partial payment, checks validity of form of payment, writes or prints bill, receipt or docket and packages merchandise for customer
- arranges and replenishes goods on display stands, undertakes stock checks and assists with the receipt of deliveries from suppliers into the stock room
- handles returns and deals with customer complaints
Related job titles
- Retail assistant
- Sales adviser
- Sales assistant
- Sales consultant (retail trade)
- Shop assistant
What the Appendix Skilled Occupations says
The Appendix lists this code in the table below, with the table’s own caption and the row as printed. Read the full table, and any condition in it, on GOV.UK.
Table 6: SOC 2020 occupation codes which are not eligible for the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility or Scale-up routes
- SOC 2020 occupation code
- 7111 Sales and retail assistants
- Examples of related job titles (non-exhaustive)
- Retail assistant
- Sales adviser
- Sales assistant
- Sales consultant (retail trade)
- Shop assistant
Other unit groups in minor group 711
- 7112 Retail cashiers and check-out operators
- 7113 Telephone salespersons
- 7114 Pharmacy and optical dispensing assistants
- 7115 Vehicle and parts salespersons and advisers
Sources
Occupation text: Office for National Statistics, SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions of unit groups (file dated 27 August 2026, version V13). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Open Government Licence v3.0. Tables: Home Office, Immigration Rules Appendix Skilled Occupations on GOV.UK, page updated 3 August 2026; re-checked against the page updated 8 October 2026 on 26 October 2026, tables unchanged.
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