10 free retail employee training courses

Returning to work during the pandemic is a challenge, especially in retail, where retail staff is in close contact with consumers. Retail employees also run the risk of exposure as they handle money and merchandise that have been touched by customers. This course by Mitti (by SafetyCulture) educates learners about how COVID-19 can be transmitted and provides safety guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus at work. It addresses workplace cleaning & disinfection and daily preventive measures, such as proper handwashing and social distancing. It also recognizes the stress that may come with working during a pandemic, regardless of whether you're a new business or not, and provides coping strategies and tips in building resilience. Additionally, your sales team will learn how to deal with customer aggression in cases when customers misunderstand the safety rules in place.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) recognizes that training is more effective when you’re having fun. This is why this course has gamification examples included, such as the elevator game and memory game to help reinforce learning in an engaging and interactive manner. These game templates, tested with thousands of learners, have been proven to be effective, which makes a great experience for both trainers and learners alike.

Scope: COVID-19 safety guidelines, workplace cleaning & disinfection, dealing with customer aggression

Every year, thousands of retail employees have work-related injuries that could be easily prevented through safety measures and practices. This course by Retail Training Services aims to provide best practices you can implement in the workplace to avoid these accidents and injuries. This course only takes 15 minutes to complete, and it also includes a certificate of completion. However, you’ll only have 90 days to access this course and you’ll have to purchase it again for conducting future training sessions.

Scope: Ladder safety, fire prevention, safe lifting, cutting tool safety, slips, falls, hazards

This training program is built for retail sales training and team accountability. Employees who complete this course will learn how to properly greet customers, be assertive in serving their shopping needs, maximize the checkout amount, and create a memorable shopping experience. It even includes a train-the-trainer course where you can receive personal coaching via email from Bob Phibbs, who claims to be the World’s Leading Expert on Brick-and-Mortar Retailers. If you’re not yet convinced to purchase this course, they offer a trial that gives you free access to 10 lessons.

Scope: Greeting customers, handling customer complaints, shopper personality styles, how to close a sale

Slips, trips, and falls are common injuries in a busy retail setting. It can happen to both customers and employees, so it’s important to have preventative measures in the workplace. This course begins by uncovering how accidents can occur and how good housekeeping is the key to avoiding these accidents. It provides the best practices, such as providing adequate lighting, following proper waste disposal, and tidying up immediately after spills happen. It also teaches what needs to be done when an accident happens.

This course consists of four easy-to-digest lessons that use a microlearning design model. It means that information is broken down into bite-sized chunks for easy comprehension and understanding. It also increases the likelihood of remembering information and key concepts.

Scope: How accidents happen, housekeeping practices, how to avoid accidents

The goal of this course is to have retail employees develop consistent and excellent retail selling behaviors as part of your sales strategy. It teaches basic selling skills with topics including the selling cycle and the sales process. It also explores the psychology of selling, how to prospect for customers, and understanding yourself and your customers which will greatly help your team to reach your sales goals. Here, employees will learn about buying signals and non-verbal communication. At the end of the course, learners will also discover the secrets to increased sales through various sales skills, tips, and tricks.

Scope: Communication psychology, buying signals, closing the sale method

Improper lifting of heavy objects can cause injuries and accidents at work. This is why it’s important to know about the principles of safe lifting, which is what employees will learn when they take this course. It discusses the things you have to consider, such as the number of objects to be lifted, the weight, and the path that you’ll pass when carrying a heavy object. It then discusses the common hazards when it comes to heavy lifting and tips to avoid them. To ensure injury-free lifting, this course will also discuss the four kinds of safe lifting techniques.

This course is perfect for busy retail employees since it can be taken using their smartphones. Since Mitti (by SafetyCulture) is a mobile learning solution, it ensures that courses are responsive and perfectly formatted on any device. This means that information is readily available anytime and anywhere with just a few taps on their mobile devices.

Scope: Principles of lifting, safety lifting techniques, potential hazards & solutions

This sales training course is specifically designed for retail employees and utilizes video learning. It discusses the five-step process for sales that employees can easily memorize and apply to their day-to-day jobs, such as closing sales, the art of persuasion, handling objections, and more. This course makes use of familiar scenarios that learners can relate to help increase sales. It teaches how to greet customers, determine their needs, present the merchandise, and close the sale. This video-based training program comes in different formats, such as DVD, USB flash drive, on-demand streaming, and many more.

Scope: Greeting customers, presenting merchandise, closing the sale

This sales course is one of the training programs that's not just for retail employees but for anyone interested in the world of retail. It begins by letting learners know the importance of effective customer service coupled with product knowledge proficiency. It also discusses the different payment methods and responsibilities of a retail cashier. It’s also important to maintain a general safe working space in your retail store, so this course also provides the best practices and actions to take when an emergency happens. This course, while comprehensive, is quite lengthy and takes 5-10 weeks to complete.

Scope: Understanding customer service, retail selling process, workplace health & safety

Big sales events like Black Friday and Christmas holidays can be exciting and also stressful at the same time due to a large number of people. This course by Mitti (by SafetyCulture) is perfect for learning how to manage huge crowds during those times or any other similar high-attendance events. It provides the best practices on how to plan and prepare for such an event, like adding more staff and extra security to ensure everyone’s safety. This course will also discuss how to set up lines, admit customers, and handle irate or frustrated buyers. Lastly, it teaches what to do in case of accidents due to overcrowding.

Since this course is offered in Mitti (by SafetyCulture), this means that it’s fully editable and customizable to make it your own. With its intuitive authoring tool, you can easily add images, videos, graphics, and many more. You can even add your store’s policies and floor plans to tailor this training to your organizations’ needs.

Scope: Planning for big events, event preparation, handling emergencies