What Traits Must You Have to Work as a Cashier?

by Linda Ray; Updated June 30, 2018

Cashiers work in a variety of retail and food service environments and earned a median pay of about $10.11 per hour in 2017, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Typically, there are no education or experience prerequisites and training is provided on the job. Although it may seem like a simple job requiring minimal effort, cashiers actually need a variety of skills to carry out their job functions successfully.

Awareness and Alertness

First and foremost, cashiers need to be aware and alert at all times. You may be required to do any number of things at any given time -- sometimes all at once. You might have to guide people into your line, greet customers walking into the store, engage in conversation, address concerns and ring up your customers -- all at once. You need to master the art of multitasking even when helping just one customer. You must be able to talk and address any concerns as you ring up the sale, all the while keeping track of what you're doing and making sure the transaction is going through properly.

Friendliness and Customer Focus

As a cashier, you need to be friendly and interact with countless customers on any given day. At the very least, a smile, a greeting, a goodbye and minimal conversation in between are necessary when interacting with customers. Part of your job is to make sure customers have everything they need, even if that means they end up exchanging an item or need help finding something else. It's up to you to represent the company and to ensure customers know they are valued. Part of the challenge is balancing friendliness with an ability to get customers through the checkout line and done with their shopping as quickly as possible.

Honesty and Trustworthiness

As a cashier, you are responsible for keeping watch over the money the store takes in during your shift. Since you have direct access to the cash, you must be trustworthy to do this job. Even a small breach of trust might tarnish your reputation beyond repair. The managers of the store trust you to keep an accurate account of the money that comes in and goes out of the drawer, and to keep a safe and responsible watch over it. You will need to come up with a balanced drawer at the end of each shift. You are also being trusted to help customers to the best of your ability and to ensure that customers have the best possible experiences.

Math Skills

Although registers do a lot of the work, an effective cashier still needs to have a solid understanding of basic math and be able to do it quickly and competently. Even if the register does all the work, you still have to count out change for customers quickly and accurately. Basic math is required when registers freeze or break down, or if you work at a business where the register does not do all the calculations. Finally, transactions are often made more complicated by customers changing their minds in the middle of a transaction, asking for several transactions in a row or deciding to use more than one payment method.

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