Retail Store Manager

☛ An employee has been arriving 30 mins late to work everyday. Why do you think this is? What would you do?

☛ A certain product is being sold at the same price, same quantity, etc. (i.e. same product) as the competitors, but the product at our stores is not selling well as compared to the competitors. Why do you think this is? What would you do about it?

☛ You had to give a presentation with other colleagues. The others got “good” as their grade, but you got “acceptable”. Why do you think this is? What would you do about it?

☛ The interviewer pretended he was a customer and I had to sell him a few things

☛ Tell me a little about yourself

☛ How are you customer orientated?

☛ Tell me about yourself academically and socially, any hobbies, other awards or skills you may have.

☛ What have you got to offer the company?

☛ What skills can you offer the company?

☛ Why should we pick you?

☛ What are your strengths?

☛ What are your weaknesses?

☛ How would you deal will employees who are older than you and don't like you because of your age?

The answer to this question is another tricky one. Your first impulse is to assume “this company doesn’t want to hear I think the store looks like crap.” Of course, you don’t want to use those exact words, but provide an honest answer. The best answers for retail management interview questions are honest ones. Ideal suggestions include have an employee greet me when I walk through the door, remove bulky displays in the aisles that hinder cart movement, and so forth.

A general yet brief answer would be vision, planning and follow through. An idea is just that until it is actualized. A manager needs to do just that – manage others, according to a planned and thought out strategy.

A retail manager is similar to the proprietor of a store and has many responsibilities as compared to the other employees. If a retail manager is good at planning and has a vision for the future, he or she can take the company to the next level.

This one is such an important question, and is something of an extension to the first question. In fact, you may get your answer to this in the first answer. You want to hire someone who understands your brand, because, after all, your sales people are the face of your brand.

If you’re a manager at an upscale clothing store which prides itself on excellent customer service, you can’t hire someone who believes that your clothes are terrible quality and they can give your customers minimal service. That’s a no-brainer.

It is always good to start and end on a positive note. Make a list of the pros and cons of your previous job(s). Pick a few facets and add some specific examples. Speak about the most important first, and end with an upbeat anecdote. In the middle, speak briefly about a negative aspect. Speak with others in this field to get a better idea of what to emphasize.

The answer to this question might seem a little bit tricky. After all, a good company does not want an employee who wastes company time and money on their payroll. However, an answer such as “terminate them immediately” might be jumping the gun too fast. One of the best answers for retail management interview questions along this line is an answer that involves checking their work history, providing a clear and simple reminder, and then possibly termination if an improvement was not made in a timely matter.

This type of interview question for a retail management position is designed to get an idea of your method of management. Are you a manager who just goes with the flow? By the way, these aren’t the type of store managers that most retailers look for. If you were, your response would include letting each employee perform the tasks they normally do. If you were a take-charge kind of manager who is interested in producing the best results, your answer would involve assessing and communicating with each coworker first. The goal is to determine who is the most productive at what and go from there.

Product knowledge is key to providing good customer service. There are a number of ways that product knowledge can be learned such as informational material, on-line information, other employees and training. Focus on your proactive attempts to learn about the products including asking questions and reading up about the products.