Shelf Filler

A shelf filler stocks and arranges merchandise on shelves and display units in retail and warehouse environments, following store layouts and planograms. They maintain product visibility, rotation, and availability to support customer access and sales in supermarkets, department stores, and other retail outlets across Australia.

Unpack stock from delivery boxes and crates using hand tools such as box cutters and crowbars. Position products on shelves according to planograms and merchandising standards to maximise shelf space and product visibility. Rotate stock by removing older products and placing newer items toward the front, ensuring compliance with first-in-first-out (FIFO) rotation practices. Check product expiry dates and remove expired or damaged items from shelves for disposal or return. Arrange promotional displays and end-cap displays following store instructions and seasonal marketing campaigns. Maintain accurate product pricing by checking tickets against store systems and amending prices using label guns or electronic shelf labels. Clean shelves, remove packaging debris, and maintain neat appearance of merchandise and display areas. Identify stock shortages or misplaced items and report to supervisors or replenishment teams.

The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate I or compulsory secondary education (ABS skill level 5). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

The pay is genuinely low and flat. The work is also physically repetitive, with constant bending, lifting, and standing that takes a toll on your back and knees over time.

Jobs concentrate heavily in metro areas where supermarkets and big retailers cluster. Regional towns have retail work too, but fewer opportunities. Remote work doesn't exist in this role.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 8912, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Attention to Detailcore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Change shelf labelscore
• Check price accuracy on the shelfcore
• Goods Receipt Processingcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Multitaskingcore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Stock Counting and Stocktakecore
• Stock Reconciliationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Active Listening
• Carry out stock rotation
• Characteristics of products
• Characteristics of services
• Incident Reporting
• Quality Assurance and Checking
• Returns Processing
• Risk Identification
• Workload Self-Management

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Shelf Filler workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026