How To Become A General Merchandise Clerk: What It Is and Career Path

What is a general merchandise clerk and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A general merchandise clerk's main responsibility is to talk to customers and aid them in selecting and purchasing merchandise. They are also tasked to place special orders, if there are any, and they should also maintain inventory of products yearly. Lastly, they should make sure that they maintain good relationship with customers.

Some general merchandise clerks have a bachelor's degree, but high school degree holders and GED holders can still apply for this job. What is important is that one possesses the skills essential for the job.

A general merchandise clerk should have an extremely strong eye for detail, should be able to multitask, should have strong ability to work with other people, should have excellent communication skills, should possess good presentation abilities, and should be willing to work on flexible hours.

There is a 1% job growth rate and an average salary of $43,799 as a general merchandise clerk. One can be a title owner in the long run.

ScoreGeneral Merchandise ClerkUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,415

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.98%

Asian 5.92%

Black or African American 7.50%

Hispanic or Latino 23.01%

Unknown 5.77%

White 56.82%

Gender

female 49.82%

male 50.18%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a general merchandise clerk

Explore general merchandise clerk education requirements

Most common general merchandise clerk degrees

High School Diploma

36.5 %

Bachelor's

32.7 %

Associate

20.2 %

Start to develop specific general merchandise clerk skills

Skills	Percentages
Product Knowledge	44.25%
Product Displays	19.80%
Customer Service	8.98%
Stock Shelves	6.38%
Sales Floor	3.34%

Complete relevant general merchandise clerk training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New general merchandise clerks learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a general merchandise clerk based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real general merchandise clerk resumes.

Research general merchandise clerk duties and responsibilities

Provide great customer service while effectively bagging groceries.
Collect all carts from outside help cashiers bag groceries for customers and sometimes help the customers take groceries to their car.
Execute grain futures orders for special accounts that require extraordinary attention to detail as well as personalized service.
Work in almost every department in the Kroger store.

Prepare your general merchandise clerk resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your general merchandise clerk resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a general merchandise clerk resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable general merchandise clerk resume templates

Build a professional general merchandise clerk resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your general merchandise clerk resume.