What is a bagger and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
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Are you an energetic self-starter willing to serve customers politely? If so, becoming a grocery bagger might be the perfect start to your professional career. Working as a bagger is an ideal job for teens in many ways. The job offers an opportunity to learn about customer service firsthand, with minimal skill and education requirements. It's a multifaceted, customer-oriented job, where you'll use your physical strength and bagging techniques to ensure smooth operations of the grocery store.

As a bagger, you'll perform bagging duties and may greet customers, help them find products, collect shopping carts, or carry bags to customers' cars. Working in a grocery store or large department store, you may also assist store staff with other tasks like stocking shelves. Helping customers, bagging groceries, loading or unloading shopping carts,you'll spend most your day on your feet so you must be physically fit.

There are no education requirements to become a bagger and ou may be able to get this job without a high school diploma. While you'll receive on-the-job training, previous experience working in a retail setting as a bagger or greeter may give you an advantage over other candidates. To be successful, you must be friendly and courteous and have an eye for detail when deciding which items will fit in a bag without damaging or ripping it. Grocery baggers, earn a median annual wage of $33,000 and with advanced customer service skills and experience, you may be able to move on to become a cashier or clerk.

ScoreBaggerUS Average
Salary
2.7

Avg. Salary $34,119

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
4.2

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
9.0
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 7.43%

Black or African American 13.08%

Hispanic or Latino 20.78%

Unknown 3.68%

White 54.37%

Gender

female 33.94%

male 66.06%

Age - 39
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39
Stress Level
4.2

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
5.9

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
8.7

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Bagger career paths

Key steps to become a bagger

  1. Explore bagger education requirements

    Most common bagger degrees

    High School Diploma

    52.4 %

    Bachelor's

    19.6 %

    Associate

    14.2 %
  2. Start to develop specific bagger skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Groceries43.80%
    Front End23.13%
    Customer Vehicles12.80%
    Customer Satisfaction9.92%
    Customer Service3.22%
  3. Complete relevant bagger training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New baggers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bagger based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bagger resumes.
  4. Research bagger duties and responsibilities

    • Provide excellent customer service by bagging groceries and accompanying customers to their respective vehicles and offloading their groceries.
    • Provide cleaning and custodian assisting within the Kroger location.
    • Trash removal, wipe down tables and washer and dryers.
    • Sack and run checkout, light stocking and custodial work.
  5. Prepare your bagger resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your bagger resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a bagger resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Bagger Resume templates

    Build a professional Bagger resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Bagger resume.
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  6. Apply for bagger jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a bagger job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How Did You Land Your First Bagger Job

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Average bagger salary

The average Bagger salary in the United States is $34,119 per year or $16 per hour. Bagger salaries range between $27,000 and $42,000 per year.

Average Bagger Salary
$34,119 Yearly
$16.40 hourly

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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