Stock clerks are needed many businesses to receive, check, and unpack supply orders. To work as a stock clerk, you usually only need a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma (GED). Despite the fact that most stock clerk jobs are low-paying entry-level positions, advancement to higher positions such as supervisor or even buyer may be possible. Stock clerk jobs can be found in wholesale warehouses, retail specialty stores, grocery stores, and hospitals, among other places.
Stock clerk jobs are available in hospital purchasing departments and entail stocking medical supplies in supply rooms as well as food items in the hospital cafeteria or snack bar. When receiving supply orders, hospital stock clerks must carefully inspect the items to ensure they are exactly as ordered. Signed invoices must be filed in the proper locations.
Because supermarket shelves may need to be restocked frequently, grocery stores are a good place to look for a stock clerk job. After customers have purchased the previous stock of fruits and vegetables in the produce department, the produce department must be constantly replenished with fresher items. A large part of grocery store stock clerk jobs is checking expiration dates on food products and replacing soon-to-expire items with fresh groceries.
A stock clerk job description in a retail specialty store, such as one that sells clothing or home electronics, may include sales and cashiering duties. To handle multiple responsibilities at once, you must work efficiently and quickly. Aside from increasing sales and providing excellent customer service, the most important priority is to avoid loss, so store merchandise must be closely monitored and accounted for at all times. Stock clerk jobs exist in some retail stores and most wholesale warehouses, and they require clerks to stay in the back of the store full time, receiving shipments and assisting the shipper with order fulfillment. These stock clerks may also be responsible for filling customer orders.
Warehouse stock clerk jobs may require clerks to track shipments using computers. In larger warehouses, a stock clerk’s job may be combined with that of a forklift driver or other machinery operator. Knowledge and experience in inventory control are required for some warehouse jobs as a stock clerk. Some companies, on the other hand, are willing to train stock clerks in the fundamentals of inventory management.