Retail Contract Job Trends

Retailing
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Retail in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Retail over the 6 months leading up to 15 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 88 122 87
Rank change year-on-year +34 -35 +5
Contract jobs citing Retail 1,582 753 974
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 2.95% 2.28% 2.51%
As % of the General category 5.35% 3.60% 4.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 921 393 540
10th Percentile £313 £300 £300
25th Percentile £450 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £513 £500
Median % change year-on-year +7.32% +2.50% -6.76%
75th Percentile £663 £635 £625
90th Percentile £738 £725 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +5.00% - -3.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 115 46 62
10th Percentile £12.85 £14.50 £12.15
25th Percentile £13.51 £15.25 £12.50
Median hourly rate £17.12 £16.30 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% - -17.72%
75th Percentile £22.50 £25.15 £21.37
90th Percentile £43.75 £44.63 £23.97
UK excluding London median hourly rate £14.50 £15.96 £16.00
% change year-on-year -9.15% -0.25% -19.23%

All General Skills
UK

Retail falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 29,561 20,915 22,309
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.10% 63.46% 57.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,532 13,009 14,027
10th Percentile £313 £276 £289
25th Percentile £414 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £626 £650
90th Percentile £738 £748 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £497
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.45% -0.58%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,237 1,144 1,369
10th Percentile £13.97 £13.25 £14.06
25th Percentile £17.23 £16.29 £17.08
Median hourly rate £31.50 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +25.25% -34.02% +37.42%
75th Percentile £57.50 £50.75 £58.49
90th Percentile £80.00 £71.50 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £22.14 £38.12
% change year-on-year +46.79% -41.92% +48.91%

Retail
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Retail relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Retail job vacancy trend in the UK

Retail
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Retail.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Retail

Retail
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Retail over the 6 months to 15 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Retail in the UK

Retail
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Retail.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Retail

Retail
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Retail over the 6 months to 15 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Retail in the UK

Retail
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Retail within the UK over the 6 months to 15 August 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +27 1,450 £550 +4.76% 2,613
London +47 830 £561 +2.05% 1,362
UK excluding London +21 640 £525 +5.00% 1,488
Work from Home -1 341 £525 +5.00% 961
North of England -17 188 £550 +10.00% 421
South East +9 176 £525 -4.55% 399
Midlands +25 137 £550 +27.76% 280
North West +2 120 £550 +10.00% 224
East Midlands +16 77 £500 +17.86% 130
East of England +17 68 £550 +4.76% 132
West Midlands -4 59 £606 +38.57% 150
Yorkshire -44 53 £500 -9.09% 159
South West -44 40 £350 -1.48% 135
Scotland -3 25 £447 -14.86% 90
North East -34 15 £340 -23.13% 41
Wales -11 4 - - 37
Northern Ireland +5 3 £203 -63.18% 32

Retail
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 46 (2.91%) Confluence
2 18 (1.14%) CMS
3 12 (0.76%) Adobe Experience Manager
3 12 (0.76%) Apache Airflow
4 9 (0.57%) SharePoint
5 6 (0.38%) SAS
6 4 (0.25%) WebSphere
7 3 (0.19%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.13%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.13%) CICS
8 2 (0.13%) Mule
9 1 (0.063%) Apache
9 1 (0.063%) Mendix
9 1 (0.063%) Microsoft Exchange
9 1 (0.063%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 55 (3.48%) Microsoft Excel
2 38 (2.40%) Microsoft Office
3 24 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 16 (1.01%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 15 (0.95%) Microsoft Project
6 9 (0.57%) Chatbot
6 9 (0.57%) Photoshop
7 8 (0.51%) Adobe Illustrator
8 7 (0.44%) Spreadsheet
9 6 (0.38%) InDesign
9 6 (0.38%) MS Visio
10 4 (0.25%) CPLEX
10 4 (0.25%) Notion
11 1 (0.063%) PlantUML
11 1 (0.063%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 44 (2.78%) SAP S/4HANA
2 28 (1.77%) Shopify
3 11 (0.70%) Dynamics CRM
3 11 (0.70%) SAP Retail
4 10 (0.63%) SAP CRM
5 9 (0.57%) Oracle Retail
6 8 (0.51%) Magento
7 6 (0.38%) Salesforce CRM
8 5 (0.32%) NetSuite
8 5 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
8 5 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
8 5 (0.32%) SAP MDG
9 4 (0.25%) SAP SD
10 3 (0.19%) OpenText VIM for SAP
10 3 (0.19%) Oracle Payables
10 3 (0.19%) Oracle Receivables
10 3 (0.19%) SAP ERP
10 3 (0.19%) SAP IBP
10 3 (0.19%) Workday HCM
11 2 (0.13%) IBM Planning Analytics
Cloud Services
1 188 (11.88%) Azure
2 145 (9.17%) AWS
3 73 (4.61%) Power Platform
4 68 (4.30%) GCP
5 54 (3.41%) Snowflake
6 43 (2.72%) GitHub
7 33 (2.09%) Entra ID
8 32 (2.02%) Azure DevOps
9 27 (1.71%) GitHub Actions
10 24 (1.52%) Dynamics 365
11 23 (1.45%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
12 20 (1.26%) Figma
13 19 (1.20%) SaaS
14 15 (0.95%) Azure Data Factory
14 15 (0.95%) Microsoft 365
15 13 (0.82%) Azure Synapse Analytics
16 12 (0.76%) dbt
17 11 (0.70%) Salesforce Service Cloud
17 11 (0.70%) Serverless
18 10 (0.63%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 20 (1.26%) WAN
2 19 (1.20%) Firewall
3 16 (1.01%) ATM
3 16 (1.01%) VPN
3 16 (1.01%) Wireless
4 14 (0.88%) Network Security
5 12 (0.76%) LAN
6 11 (0.70%) Wi-Fi
7 8 (0.51%) BGP
7 8 (0.51%) IPsec
7 8 (0.51%) OSPF
7 8 (0.51%) SD-WAN
8 7 (0.44%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
8 7 (0.44%) Structured Cabling
8 7 (0.44%) VLAN
9 6 (0.38%) Cisco Firepower
9 6 (0.38%) VSAN
10 5 (0.32%) Cisco ASA
10 5 (0.32%) Cisco Nexus
10 5 (0.32%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 72 (4.55%) Power BI
2 36 (2.28%) Data Warehouse
3 29 (1.83%) BigQuery
4 24 (1.52%) Data Lake
5 20 (1.26%) NoSQL
6 18 (1.14%) Metadata
7 17 (1.07%) MongoDB
8 15 (0.95%) Tableau
9 14 (0.88%) MySQL
9 14 (0.88%) SQL Server
10 12 (0.76%) Amazon Redshift
10 12 (0.76%) Power Query
10 12 (0.76%) Relational Database
11 11 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
12 10 (0.63%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 8 (0.51%) Couchbase
13 8 (0.51%) Redis
14 7 (0.44%) SAP HANA
15 6 (0.38%) Semantic Layer
15 6 (0.38%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 75 (4.74%) JIRA
2 28 (1.77%) Git
3 19 (1.20%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.51%) Subversion
5 7 (0.44%) Claude Code
6 5 (0.32%) GitLab
6 5 (0.32%) JMeter
7 4 (0.25%) Cypress.io
7 4 (0.25%) Eclipse
7 4 (0.25%) Hudson
8 3 (0.19%) Maven
9 2 (0.13%) git-flow
9 2 (0.13%) MLflow
9 2 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
9 2 (0.13%) Postman
9 2 (0.13%) Selenium
9 2 (0.13%) Terragrunt
9 2 (0.13%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.13%) webpack
10 1 (0.063%) REST Assured
General
1 438 (27.69%) Social Skills
2 375 (23.70%) Finance
3 164 (10.37%) Analytical Skills
4 127 (8.03%) Banking
5 105 (6.64%) Marketing
6 97 (6.13%) Manufacturing
7 65 (4.11%) Organisational Skills
7 65 (4.11%) Retail Banking
8 48 (3.03%) Investment Banking
9 45 (2.84%) Corporate Banking
10 33 (2.09%) Public Sector
11 32 (2.02%) Influencing Skills
12 30 (1.90%) Legal
12 30 (1.90%) Telecoms
13 28 (1.77%) Advertising
14 23 (1.45%) French Language
15 21 (1.33%) Documentation Skills
15 21 (1.33%) Presentation Skills
16 18 (1.14%) Spanish Language
17 15 (0.95%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 253 (15.99%) Architect
2 234 (14.79%) Analyst
3 184 (11.63%) Senior
4 140 (8.85%) Solutions Architect
5 136 (8.60%) Business Analyst
6 128 (8.09%) Project Manager
7 109 (6.89%) Lead
8 86 (5.44%) Developer
9 50 (3.16%) Consultant
10 49 (3.10%) Senior Manager
11 47 (2.97%) Product Manager
12 46 (2.91%) Data Analyst
13 45 (2.84%) Designer
14 40 (2.53%) Service Manager
15 37 (2.34%) Enterprise Architect
15 37 (2.34%) Senior Developer
15 37 (2.34%) Supply Chain Architect
16 35 (2.21%) Data Architect
16 35 (2.21%) Programme Manager
17 34 (2.15%) Transition Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 68 (4.30%) REST
2 41 (2.59%) React
3 33 (2.09%) Kafka
4 30 (1.90%) Middleware
5 29 (1.83%) Node.js
6 28 (1.77%) Spring
7 21 (1.33%) Spring Boot
7 21 (1.33%) VML
8 20 (1.26%) Django
8 20 (1.26%) RESTful
9 19 (1.20%) MACH
10 18 (1.14%) SOAP
11 15 (0.95%) HTML
12 14 (0.88%) Next.js
12 14 (0.88%) OAuth
13 13 (0.82%) CSS
14 12 (0.76%) Jakarta EE
15 10 (0.63%) .NET
15 10 (0.63%) Lightning Web Components
16 9 (0.57%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 87 (5.50%) Product Ownership
2 67 (4.24%) FMCG
3 58 (3.67%) EPoS
4 57 (3.60%) Onboarding
5 48 (3.03%) Cloud Native
6 33 (2.09%) Legacy Systems
7 31 (1.96%) Driving Licence
8 30 (1.90%) Data Centre
9 27 (1.71%) Mobile App
10 24 (1.52%) Greenfield Project
11 23 (1.45%) Data Structures
11 23 (1.45%) Marketing Technology
12 21 (1.33%) Mainframe
12 21 (1.33%) Operational Technology
12 21 (1.33%) Self-Motivation
13 19 (1.20%) Smartphone
14 18 (1.14%) Management Information System
15 17 (1.07%) AI Agents
16 16 (1.01%) IoT
17 15 (0.95%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 57 (3.60%) Windows
2 22 (1.39%) Linux
3 11 (0.70%) Android
3 11 (0.70%) Unix
4 8 (0.51%) Apple iOS
5 7 (0.44%) Mac OS
6 6 (0.38%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.32%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 5 (0.32%) Windows 10
7 5 (0.32%) Windows Server
7 5 (0.32%) zOS
8 2 (0.13%) Debian
9 1 (0.063%) SUSE
9 1 (0.063%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.063%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 390 (24.65%) Stakeholder Management
2 374 (23.64%) Agile
3 237 (14.98%) E-Commerce
4 200 (12.64%) Problem-Solving
5 187 (11.82%) Migration
6 178 (11.25%) Roadmaps
7 168 (10.62%) Analytics
8 167 (10.56%) AI
9 159 (10.05%) Logistics
10 137 (8.66%) Customer Experience
11 136 (8.60%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 130 (8.22%) Decision-Making
13 127 (8.03%) Continuous Improvement
14 121 (7.65%) CI/CD
15 117 (7.40%) Project Management
16 115 (7.27%) CRM
17 109 (6.89%) ERP
18 106 (6.70%) Project Delivery
18 106 (6.70%) User Acceptance Testing
19 104 (6.57%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 139 (8.79%) SQL
2 107 (6.76%) Python
3 53 (3.35%) Java
4 32 (2.02%) TypeScript
5 30 (1.90%) JavaScript
6 12 (0.76%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 10 (0.63%) C#
7 10 (0.63%) PowerShell
8 9 (0.57%) Apex Code
8 9 (0.57%) SOQL
9 8 (0.51%) ABAP
9 8 (0.51%) Bash
10 7 (0.44%) R
10 7 (0.44%) SOSL
11 6 (0.38%) Bicep
11 6 (0.38%) PL/SQL
11 6 (0.38%) Scala
12 5 (0.32%) Groovy
13 4 (0.25%) Shell Script
14 3 (0.19%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 63 (3.98%) Degree
2 43 (2.72%) Security Cleared
3 22 (1.39%) SC Cleared
4 21 (1.33%) PMP
5 13 (0.82%) DBS Check
6 11 (0.70%) PMI Certification
7 9 (0.57%) BPSS Clearance
8 7 (0.44%) CISSP
8 7 (0.44%) ITIL Certification
9 6 (0.38%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (0.38%) CISM
9 6 (0.38%) Computer Science Degree
10 5 (0.32%) CCNP
10 5 (0.32%) CCSE
10 5 (0.32%) CCSM
10 5 (0.32%) CSPO
11 4 (0.25%) Azure Certification
11 4 (0.25%) City & Guilds
11 4 (0.25%) Six Sigma Green Belt
12 3 (0.19%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 78 (4.93%) QA
2 74 (4.68%) Data Quality
3 42 (2.65%) GDPR
4 27 (1.71%) PMO
5 22 (1.39%) Accessibility
6 16 (1.01%) PCI DSS
7 15 (0.95%) SLA
8 8 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 7 (0.44%) NIST
10 4 (0.25%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 4 (0.25%) GRC
10 4 (0.25%) WCAG
11 3 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.19%) GAAP
11 3 (0.19%) IFRS
11 3 (0.19%) PSD2
12 2 (0.13%) ISO 8583
12 2 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 1 (0.063%) COBIT
13 1 (0.063%) GxP
System Software
1 38 (2.40%) Docker
2 34 (2.15%) Active Directory
3 13 (0.82%) Virtual Desktop
4 8 (0.51%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (0.44%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.32%) Firmware
6 5 (0.32%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.19%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.063%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 52 (3.29%) Terraform
2 40 (2.53%) Kubernetes
3 11 (0.70%) Ansible
4 9 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
4 9 (0.57%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
5 8 (0.51%) Microsoft Intune
6 6 (0.38%) FortiGate
7 4 (0.25%) SCCM
8 3 (0.19%) Bosun
9 2 (0.13%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 2 (0.13%) AirWatch
9 2 (0.13%) CA Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.13%) CloudHub
9 2 (0.13%) Jamf Pro
9 2 (0.13%) logstash
9 2 (0.13%) MOM
9 2 (0.13%) PingFederate
9 2 (0.13%) vCenter Server
10 1 (0.063%) Nagios
10 1 (0.063%) vMotion
Vendors
1 136 (8.60%) Microsoft
2 116 (7.33%) SAP
3 75 (4.74%) Salesforce
4 74 (4.68%) Databricks
4 74 (4.68%) Oracle
5 45 (2.84%) Google
6 38 (2.40%) Adobe
7 24 (1.52%) Zscaler
8 20 (1.26%) MuleSoft
9 18 (1.14%) Workday
10 17 (1.07%) ServiceNow
11 16 (1.01%) Cisco
12 14 (0.88%) IFS
13 13 (0.82%) Fortinet
13 13 (0.82%) Palo Alto
13 13 (0.82%) VMware
14 12 (0.76%) IBM
15 11 (0.70%) Apple
15 11 (0.70%) Braze
15 11 (0.70%) Informatica