AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Retail Salespersons?

Task-level automation exposure for Retail Salespersons: 24 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

50% weighted task index

24 of 24 tasks scored

Median Salary

$35,410 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

3,897,860 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-0.3% employment change

520,600 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$22,560 – $39,560

Highest medians

Washington $39,560

District of Columbia $38,500

California $38,440

Colorado $37,950

Hawaii $37,790

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $22,560

Guam $24,000

Mississippi $28,640

Virgin Islands $28,790

West Virginia $28,950

State figures come from the 41-2031 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 50%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 18%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 48%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 21%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 11/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

24 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 56%

14 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 11%

3 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 33%

7 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#694 · Core · 33% automatable

Greet customers and ascertain what each customer wants or needs.

interpersonal — Customer needs discovery needs live interaction

Gather customer or product information to determine customer needs. Greet customers, patrons, or visitors.

#700 · Core · 60% automatable

Recommend, select, and help locate or obtain merchandise based on customer needs and desires.

decision support — Product recommendations need customer context and persuasion

Recommend products or services to customers.

#697 · Core · 69% automatable

Compute sales prices, total purchases, and receive and process cash or credit payment.

data analysis — Cost calculation from structured inputs

Calculate costs of goods or services. Process sales or other transactions.

#712 · Core · 6% automatable

Prepare merchandise for purchase or rental.

physical manipulation — Setting up displays requires hands-on placement

Set up merchandise displays.

#701 · Core · 68% automatable

Answer questions regarding the store and its merchandise.

information retrieval — Product questions answered from knowledge base

Answer customer questions about goods or services.

#696 · Core · 82% automatable

Maintain knowledge of current sales and promotions, policies regarding payment and exchanges, and security practices.

information retrieval — AI reviews and summarizes laws; human confirms

Review laws or regulations to maintain professional knowledge.

#706 · Core · 20% automatable

Demonstrate use or operation of merchandise.

interpersonal — Live product demonstration requires physical presence

Demonstrate products to consumers.

#702 · Core · 63% automatable

Describe merchandise and explain use, operation, and care of merchandise to customers.

information retrieval — Product-use advice is largely informational with review

Explain technical product or service information to customers. Advise customers on the use of products or services.

#703 · Core · 6% automatable

Ticket, arrange, and display merchandise to promote sales.

physical manipulation — Setting up displays requires hands-on placement

Set up merchandise displays.

#711 · Core · 64% automatable

Inventory stock and requisition new stock.

decision support — Merchandise purchasing aided; human owns buying decisions

Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies. Monitor inventories of products or materials.

#708 · Core · 55% automatable

Exchange merchandise for customers and accept returns.

data analysis — Transaction processing software-driven; human handles exceptions

Process sales or other transactions.

#699 · Core · 30% automatable

Watch for and recognize security risks and thefts and know how to prevent or handle these situations.

situated mobility — Security monitoring of work areas needs physical presence

Monitor work areas to provide security.

#705 · Core · 65% automatable

Place special orders or call other stores to find desired items.

text generation — Draft contracts; legal terms human-owned

Prepare sales or other contracts.

#707 · Core · 5% automatable

Clean shelves, counters, and tables.

physical manipulation — Hands-on cleaning of work areas

Clean work areas.

#698 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

Maintain records related to sales.

data analysis — Maintain structured sales records via tools

Maintain records of sales or other business transactions.

#695 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

Open and close cash registers, performing tasks such as counting money, separating charge slips, coupons, and vouchers, balancing cash drawers, and making deposits.

data analysis — Reconciling transaction records is rule-based matching

Reconcile records of sales or other financial transactions.

#704 · Supplemental · 65% automatable

Prepare sales slips or sales contracts.

text generation — Draft contracts; legal terms human-owned

Prepare sales or other contracts.

#714 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Estimate and quote trade-in allowances.

decision support — Estimates costs/terms; human negotiates and commits

Estimate costs or terms of sales.

#709 · Supplemental · 5% automatable

Bag or package purchases and wrap gifts.

physical manipulation — Hands-on packaging of products

Package materials or products.

#710 · Supplemental · 45% automatable

Help customers try on or fit merchandise.

interpersonal — Persuasive product advice; human trust matters

Assist customers with product selection.

#713 · Supplemental · 44% automatable

Sell or arrange for delivery, insurance, financing, or service contracts for merchandise.

decision support — AI can arrange deliveries; exceptions need human handling

Sell products or services. Arrange delivery of goods or services.

#716 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Estimate quantity and cost of merchandise required, such as paint or floor covering.

decision support — Estimates costs/terms; human negotiates and commits

Estimate costs or terms of sales.

#717 · Supplemental · 78% automatable

Rent merchandise to customers.

information retrieval — Arranging reservations and services via tools

Arrange services or reservations for patrons.

#715 · Supplemental · 72% automatable

Estimate cost of repair or alteration of merchandise.

decision support — Estimates costs/terms; human negotiates and commits

Estimate costs or terms of sales.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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