Meet customer needs by providing a timely, attentive and upbeat service with customer service and retail apprenticeships

Customer service is at the heart of most business activity, so the skills gained from customer service and retail apprenticeships in this sector will prove valuable across a range of industries and roles.

In a small shop, customer service can be as simple—and important—as the person behind the counter giving a friendly greeting and helping shoppers find what they’re looking for. Larger retail businesses and other organisations might employ a dedicated team, whose job it is to answer questions, give advice and offer refunds on faulty products or services. They’re also the ones who have to sort out problems and deal with complaints.

Customer service often involves dealing with the public face-to-face, but as many companies now have clients all round the world, telephone call centres and computer help desks are becoming increasingly important.

Each customer service and retail apprenticeship in this sector is able to prepare you for one or more facets of working within customer service and retail. In particular, the butcher, retail, funeral services and fishmonger apprenticeships allow you to specialise in areas that are always in high demand.

As an assistant buyer and merchandiser apprentice you’ll cover two roles integral to retail in particular, but which are important to other industries, too. You’ll need a good understanding of the brand and customer in order to source, select, maintain and deliver the right products to meet demand and business objectives. Crucially, buyers identify and source the right products and services for the organisation to sell to customers, while merchandisers ensure that the right products are available to customers in the right place, at the right time and in the right quantities.

Offering a great service is important to keeping and finding new customers, for without them the company would go out of business.

To find your perfect customer service and retail apprenticeship, take a look at the options below.