Retail

From customer service to showcasing new products, retail is the UK's largest private sector employer and offers incredible career opportunities.

What impact could you make?

Retail can support sustainability through waste reduction, recycling and ethical sourcing. You can help by promoting eco-friendly products and reducing the store’s footprint.

Drive innovation and trends! By understanding consumer behaviour, you can bring new ideas, products and services that meet customer needs and keep your business competitive.

Play a role in supporting and growing small, local businesses. When you shop or work with these businesses, you help them succeed and create a stronger community for everyone.

When you walk into a cafe and you see someone wearing your jewellery, that’s definitely the most exciting and rewarding feeling.Olivia Taylor Founder, Olivia Taylor Design

Retail at a glance

In retail, you can have lots of different types of jobs! You could work part-time or full-time, become a manager and learn special skills. If you enjoy talking to people, like working in a busy place and want to learn skills such as marketing or running a store, retail could be a great choice for you!

Employment

In 2024, there were 35,140 Wholesale/Retail businesses operating across Scotland.

Source: Businesses in Scotland report, 2024

Future demand

More and more companies in Scotland are selling online to international markets. In 2023, almost a third of the world's population were buying online!

Source: Scottish Enterprise

Job diversity

There are 329,640 people working in Wholesale/Retail in Scotland – could you be one of them?

Source: Scotland's Labour Market Insights: February 2025

Shape the shopping world

We’ve pulled out some of the most popular retail job profiles for you to explore.

Things you may not know about retail

Scotland has a strong tradition of independent retailers. While big chains are common, lots of people prefer to shop at small, locally owned stores. This helps keep Scottish towns and cities unique. You can find everything from quirky gift shops to family-run bakeries.

Source: Quotidian Small Business Directory

Global brands are using AI to flag potential trends, for example when specific colours or patterns appear frequently in influencer posts.

Source: Digital Defynd

Glasgow is often called Scotland's shopping capital, and its city centre is known as the Style Mile. This area, with streets including Buchanan Street, is a huge retail hub, and one of the largest retail districts outside of London.

Source: Secret Glasgow