Will AI replace Retail Salespersons?
Estimated risk score: 57 out of 100
Moderate replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (38 to 76).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 24 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 41-2031.00 · Sales and Related
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 12 of its 24 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain records related to sales.
- Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.
- Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.
- Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.
- Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.
- Inventory stock and requisition new stock.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 8 of its 24 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
- Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.
- Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.
- Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.
- Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.
- Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.
What the job is
Sell merchandise, such as furniture, motor vehicles, appliances, or apparel to consumers.
Also called: Sales Person, Shop Girl, Car Dealer, Auto Dealer, Haberdasher, Shop Worker, Car Salesman, Meat Hostess.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Sales and Related). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate