Shopkeepers and owners - retail
and wholesale
Shopkeepers and proprietors in this unit group co-ordinate, direct and undertake the activities in the running of small, independent retail and wholesale establishments.
- Employees (UK)
- 6k
- Median annual pay
- £35,083
- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 9.4/10 Very high strict reading, with tools is 9.4/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
- £0 £0
Higher exposure than 8% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's models. Roles like this are being rebuilt, usually not by disappearing but by one person using AI to produce what several did.
If you are in this role
Be the person doing the rebuilding. People who learn to run this kind of work with AI become very valuable, and the ones who wait tend to have the change made for them.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
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Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
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Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
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Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
-
Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "General and Operations Managers" (11-1021.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 17 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
17 of 17 tasks
Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
Direct administrative activities directly related to making products or providing services.
Set prices or credit terms for goods or services, based on forecasts of customer demand.
Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties.
Direct or coordinate financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
Perform sales floor work, such as greeting or assisting customers, stocking shelves, or taking inventory.
Plan or direct activities, such as sales promotions, that require coordination with other department managers.
Perform personnel functions, such as selection, training, or evaluation.
Establish or implement departmental policies, goals, objectives, or procedures in conjunction with board members, organization officials, or staff members.
Develop or implement product-marketing strategies, including advertising campaigns or sales promotions.
Direct non-merchandising departments of businesses, such as advertising or purchasing.
Monitor suppliers to ensure that they efficiently and effectively provide needed goods or services within budgetary limits.
Implement or oversee environmental management or sustainability programs addressing issues such as recycling, conservation, or waste management.
Plan store layouts or design displays.
Recommend locations for new facilities, or oversee the remodeling or renovating of current facilities.
Tasks via O*NET "General and Operations Managers" (11-1021.00).
What AI can already do
16 of 17 tasks, with tools
Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
Direct administrative activities directly related to making products or providing services.
Set prices or credit terms for goods or services, based on forecasts of customer demand.
Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties.
Direct or coordinate financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
Plan or direct activities, such as sales promotions, that require coordination with other department managers.
Perform personnel functions, such as selection, training, or evaluation.
Establish or implement departmental policies, goals, objectives, or procedures in conjunction with board members, organization officials, or staff members.
Develop or implement product-marketing strategies, including advertising campaigns or sales promotions.
Direct non-merchandising departments of businesses, such as advertising or purchasing.
Monitor suppliers to ensure that they efficiently and effectively provide needed goods or services within budgetary limits.
Implement or oversee environmental management or sustainability programs addressing issues such as recycling, conservation, or waste management.
Plan store layouts or design displays.
Recommend locations for new facilities, or oversee the remodeling or renovating of current facilities.
What still needs a person
1 of 17 tasks
Perform sales floor work, such as greeting or assisting customers, stocking shelves, or taking inventory.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Sales and customer service occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons