Will AI replace Market and street traders and assistants?

Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 22 official task statements scored for Market and street traders and assistants (United Kingdom, SOC 7124), 21% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 26 out of 100 (range 22–31, band: low). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.

Which tasks in “Market and street traders and assistants” can AI already do?

The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Determine the need to purchase additional stock for sale” (93/100, very high); “Maintain records related to retail and sales transactions” (93/100, very high); “Record orders for goods into computer systems for inventory management” (93/100, very high). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.

Which tasks in “Market and street traders and assistants” stay human?

About 74% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Unload merchandise from a van” (0/100, minimal); “Distribute literature detailing products to attract customers” (0/100, minimal); “Provide product samples to persuade people to purchase products” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.

What should someone working in “Market and street traders and assistants” do about AI?

Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 21% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 74% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.

How is the AI exposure score for Market and street traders and assistants calculated?

Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 22 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.

UK dataswitch to US

Market and street traders and assistants

collecting payments from customers, packing up a stall at the end of each day and stocking carts or stands for market trading and canvassing activities. If that's your week, this page is about your job.

The honest answer

AI is already taking a real slice of the routine work here: determining the need to purchase additional stock for sale. That is a slice of tasks, not of you.

Your move: what you can actually do about this ↓

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 21%
changing shape: 4%
staying human: 74%

These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.

Whole-job exposure score 26 out of 100 (22–31 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, across 22 scored tasks. The number is the support for the sentence above it, not a headline about anyone’s future.

How we know this

What is measured: Every published task statement for market and street traders and assistants is rated on five dimensions: can a model produce the output, does the work need a body in a room, does it need a legally accountable person, does it depend on a person being trusted in the moment, and how much data exists. A published formula turns those five ratings into the score; the model never writes the number.

How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.

Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-04. Read the full method.

That slice is not coming back; the core of the job, engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods, stays yours. New tools, same person answering for it.

Your week, as this page understands it

Market and street traders and assistants sell goods (other than refreshments) from stalls, barrows and other portable containers in streets and market places. The job title says “market”, “street traders” or “assistants”: officially one job, several names. The real job is the part underneath: engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods. That is the thing someone has to be right about.

The exposed part of this job is specific, and we won’t pretend it is coming back. But market and street traders and assistants is not one task. It is 22 scored ones, and they are nowhere near equally exposed. The most durable of them, on this evidence, is engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods, and the ledger below shows exactly why.

Where the work sits, by task weight

shifting to AI: 21%
changing shape: 4%
staying human: 74%

These bars are tasks changing hands, not people being counted out. The ledger below shows which.

How we know this

How the bar is built: Each task’s share of the bar is its published importance weight, so a task you do all day counts for more than one you do twice a year.

Release: 2026-q4.1, scores computed 2026-08-04. Read the full method.

Your job, task by task

These are the official task statements for this occupation, in plain English, sorted by what the evidence says is happening to each one. The official wording sits under every line so you can check the rewrite against it.

9 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
ASHE suppresses or does not publish a median for this unit group. We leave it empty rather than interpolating one from sibling groups, which would be a fabricated number.
Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.

Shifting to AI

5 tasks

Tasks today’s tools can already do most of. This is the part we will not soften: where these rows are the bulk of your week, the week changes.

Explaining products, services and prices and answering customer queries
This is reading one thing and writing another: products, services and prices and answering customer queries in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 80 · 7124/00
Source: “Explain products, services, and prices, and answer customer queries.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 64 out of 100 (57–71 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Product and price explanations are documented and already handled well by automated help.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Determining the need to purchase additional stock for sale
This is reading one thing and writing another: this work in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 75 · 7124/00
Source: “Determine the need to purchase additional stock for sale.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Deciding when to reorder stock follows sales patterns software forecasts well.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Maintaining records related to retail and sales transactions
This is reading one thing and writing another: records in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 70 · 7124/00
Source: “Maintain records related to retail and sales transactions.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Sales records for a stall are simple structured data software keeps accurately.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Maintaining records of goods purchased for trading
This is reading one thing and writing another: records of goods in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 70 · 7124/00
Source: “Maintain records of goods purchased for trading.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 75 out of 100 (68–82 allowing for uncertainty): high exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Logging purchases from receipts is bookkeeping, which accounting software already does with light checking.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Recording orders for goods into computer systems for inventory management
This is reading one thing and writing another: orders in, a record out. That is the shape today's tools are built for.
importance 65 · 7124/00
Source: “Record orders for goods into computer systems for inventory management.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 93 out of 100 (89–97 allowing for uncertainty): very high exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: reading one thing and writing another; the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Typing orders into an inventory system is routine data entry that software does end to end.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 4/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 3/4.

Changing shape

1 task

Tasks where the machine takes the producing and a person keeps the checking, the deciding, or the answering-for-it. For most jobs this is the biggest group, and it is where "transformation, not termination" is literally visible.

Ordering stock to maintain sales inventory
The software now makes the first pass at stock, but the deciding part still needs a person. So the job becomes checking and deciding rather than producing.
importance 75 · 7124/00
Source: “Order stock to maintain sales inventory.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 49 out of 100 (42–56 allowing for uncertainty): partial exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch.
The rating behind it: Sales history helps a computer suggest an order, but weather, footfall and cash flow still guide a trader’s call.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.

Staying human

16 tasks

Tasks that stay with a person, because they happen in the physical world, because the rules need someone accountable, or because the value is that a specific person does them.

Collecting payments from customers
This work happens in the physical world: payments, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 85 · 7124/00
Source: “Collect payments from customers.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 16 out of 100 (9–23 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Card readers handle the mechanics, but a market stall takes payment from a customer standing in front of you.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Collecting money from customers and give change
This work happens in the physical world: money, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 85 · 7124/00
Source: “Collect money from customers and give change.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 12 out of 100 (5–19 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Handling cash needs someone at the till, though card and self-service payment already cover much of it.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Selling various merchandise items to retail customers
This work happens in the physical world: various merchandise items, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 85 · 7124/00
Source: “Sell various merchandise items to retail customers.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 7 out of 100 (0–14 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Serving customers on the shop floor means being there with them.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 1/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods
This work happens in the physical world: customers face-to-face, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 85 · 7124/00
Source: “Engage with customers face-to-face to market goods.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Selling from a stall is face-to-face patter with people walking past.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 3/4 · how much data exists 2/4.

Show the other 12 tasks

Negotiating orders with suppliers
staying human
The value here is that a specific person handles orders and stands behind it. That is earned, not computed.
importance 65 · 7124/00
Source: “Negotiate orders with suppliers.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 35 out of 100 (28–42 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: AI can prepare the numbers and options, yet supplier deals still turn on a person doing the haggling.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 0/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Taking orders for merchandise to facilitate sales
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: orders, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 75 · 7124/00
Source: “Take orders for merchandise to facilitate sales.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 32 out of 100 (25–39 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; mistakes that are cheap to catch; work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Order-taking systems are common, though on a market stall the order is usually taken face to face.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 3/4 · needs a body in a room 2/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Persuading clients to purchase company products
staying human
The value here is that a specific person handles clients and stands behind it. That is earned, not computed.
importance 70 · 7124/00
Source: “Persuade clients to purchase company products.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 21 out of 100 (14–28 allowing for uncertainty): low exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Software can draft the pitch, but talking a business buyer into signing still depends on a person they know and trust.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 1/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 3/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Implementing sales strategies to encourage customer purchases
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: sales strategies, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 75 · 7124/00
Source: “Implement sales strategies to encourage customer purchases.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 10 out of 100 (3–17 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, medium confidence.
Why it sits in this group: the same decision, made over and over; work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Ideas are easy to generate, but persuading shoppers happens face to face in the store.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 2/4 · needs a body in a room 3/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 3/4.
Setting up market stalls
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: market stalls, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 85 · 7124/00
Source: “Set up market stalls.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Putting up a stall is lifting and building it by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Demonstrating use of products to customers to increase sales
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: use of products, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 80 · 7124/00
Source: “Demonstrate use of products to customers to increase sales.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Showing someone how a product works in front of them is physical demonstration.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 3/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Packing up a stall at the end of each day
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: a stall, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 80 · 7124/00
Source: “Pack up a stall at the end of each day.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Packing away a stall is manual work at the end of the day.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Setting up and displaying sample merchandise at parties or stands
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: and displaying sample merchandise, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 80 · 7124/00
Source: “Set up and display sample merchandise at parties or stands.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Setting out stock on a table is straightforward physical work someone has to do.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Stocking carts or stands for market trading and canvassing activities
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: carts, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 80 · 7124/00
Source: “Stock carts or stands for market trading and canvassing activities.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Loading a cart with stock is carrying and arranging goods by hand.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.
Providing product samples to persuade people to purchase products
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: product samples, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 75 · 7124/00
Source: “Provide product samples to persuade people to purchase products.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world; the value is that a specific person does it.
The rating behind it: Handing samples to people in a shop or hall is purely physical work.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 2/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Distributing literature detailing products to attract customers
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: literature detailing products, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 70 · 7124/00
Source: “Distribute literature detailing products to attract customers.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Handing leaflets to passers-by is done standing in the street.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 1/4 · how much data exists 2/4.
Unloading merchandise from a van
staying human
This work happens in the physical world: merchandise, in a real place. Software cannot follow it there.
importance 70 · 7124/00
Source: “Unload merchandise from a van.” (UK task statement)
How this row was scored
Exposure score: 0 out of 100 (0–4 allowing for uncertainty): minimal exposure, high confidence.
Why it sits in this group: work that happens in the physical world.
The rating behind it: Unloading a van is lifting and carrying.
The five ratings: output a model can produce 0/4 · needs a body in a room 4/4 · needs an accountable person 0/4 · needs to be trusted in the moment 0/4 · how much data exists 1/4.

What this job pays, and how many people do it

Median pay: No median pay figure is published for this exact group, so there is none here. We would rather show you the gap than a number borrowed from somewhere else.The ONS doesn't publish a reliable pay figure for this exact job (too few people in its survey sample), so none is shown here.
People doing this job: 11,700in the UK, 2026.nomis-aps · Apr 2025-Mar 2026 (latest APS 12-month period)This headcount comes from a survey, not a census, so treat it as a good estimate rather than an exact count.

What is deliberately not here: a forecast of how many of these jobs exist in ten years. Where an official projection exists for a market we publish it with its vintage; where it does not, we leave the space empty rather than borrow the other country’s number.

Why this is shifting

The reason is boringly specific. Most of what is shifting here is reading one thing and writing another: products, services and prices and answering customer queries in, a record out. The rows above are exactly that shape: determining the need to purchase additional stock for sale and explaining products, services and prices and answering customer queries. What it cannot do is be there in the room, and that is still where customers face-to-face gets done. Which is why this page talks about your tasks changing, not your job ending.

Your move

Over a pint: what I’d tell you if you were my friend

Your week is splitting in two, and which half fills it is the whole question. Determining the need to purchase additional stock for sale is going; engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods is not.

So, given all that: 21% of this job's task weight sits in rows the software is already learning, 4% in rows that change shape rather than disappear, and 74% in rows it is nowhere near. That is the position, measured across 22 scored tasks. It is not a forecast about you.

The occupation is an average and you are not, so the first job below is finding out where your own week actually sits.

This week: one thing

Print the task ledger above and put your own hours next to each row. Roughly, in pen, in one sitting. Then look at which group your hours actually pile up in. Twenty minutes, this week.

What you end up holding: your own week, on one page, sorted into what is shifting and what is not
How long it takes: about twenty minutes

If printing it isn’t practical: Read the rows off this page and write the same list on the back of an envelope. Same twenty minutes, same page, and it works just as well said out loud to someone who knows the job. The point is your hours next to the rows, not the paper it is on.

Over the next 90 days

Volunteer toward the durable end, visibly. Over the next ninety days put your hand up for the work in the bottom group (engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods) and let people see you doing it. Not a new project: the same job, with your mix deliberately tilted. The point is that when the rota or the reorganisation comes, the version of you people picture is the one doing the part that stays.

Over the next 12 months

Claim a specialism at the durable end and let the other end go. Over a year, deliberately become the person who handles engaging with customers face-to-face to market goods, and deliberately stop being the first choice for the rows in the top group. That trade costs something, because the exposed work is often the comfortable work. Decide it on purpose rather than by drift. Before you pay for anything, spend an hour with National Careers Service. It is free and government-funded, and it is listed below with the rest of the free routes.

The roads out of here, and why I am not sending you down them

I looked at the obvious moves out of this job, and here is what I found.

I checked the 12 nearest UK occupations to market and street traders and assistants (nearest by the work that AI is not taking, not by job title), and none of them survived. The closest was sales and retail assistants: only about 11% of its durable work is work you already do. And on the numbers you do not need one. This job scores 26/100 here, with only 21% of the task list in the top band, and “collect money from customers and give change” is not work that hands over cleanly. None of them beats deepening what you already have.

How that was checked: this job was compared against all 412 UK occupations in this release on their official task statements, and the 12 nearest were examined one by one. A move that turns on an industry, an employer or a qualification rather than on the work itself will not show up in a check like that. And this release carries no licence register, so anything you are weighing needs that looked up separately.

3 moves I checked and rejected

These are the obvious-looking jumps. They are here with their reasons rather than quietly dropped, because the ones that fail are worth knowing about. It is one less thing to turn over at night.

Sales and retail assistants
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour because one of your tasks is on their list in the same words: “implement sales strategies to encourage customer purchases”. Across the whole of both lists that adds up to about 11% of the work in that job the software is not taking.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 11% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. This release publishes no median pay for that job, so I cannot show you what the move costs or pays. I do not recommend a move I cannot price.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Business sales executives
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour because one of your tasks is on their list in the same words: “persuade clients to purchase company products”. Across the whole of both lists that adds up to about 10% of the work in that job the software is not taking.
Why I am not recommending it: You would be starting most of it from nothing: about 10% of the durable work in that job is work you do today, and the rest you would be learning while the bills carried on. This release publishes no median pay for that job, so I cannot show you what the move costs or pays. I do not recommend a move I cannot price.
Look at that job’s page anyway →
Sales related occupations n.e.c.
Why it looked obvious: It came up as a near neighbour because one of your tasks is on their list in the same words: “set up and display sample merchandise at parties or stands”. Across the whole of both lists that adds up to about 9% of the work in that job the software is not taking.
Why I am not recommending it: Almost none of it is work you already do: about 9% of the durable side of that job. That is a different job, not a next step. This release publishes no median pay for that job, so I cannot show you what the move costs or pays. I do not recommend a move I cannot price.
Look at that job’s page anyway →

What I’d stop worrying about

A friend tells you what not to spend fear on. This is that list.

The headline number you read somewhere
The big “X% of jobs” figures are about the whole economy, not about you. The number that describes your job is on this page: 21% of its task weight, across 22 scored tasks. Every row behind it is printed above with the source. Check ours; ignore theirs.
The whole-job doom story
Nothing on this page says this job ends. It says the mix inside it moves. Half the rows above are unchanged or changing shape, and the plan is about which half your week sits in. That is a very different problem, and a solvable one.
Panic-buying a course
Do the twenty-minute sorting exercise first. Most people who buy a course before they have done it buy the wrong one, and the free services listed below will tell you the same thing without charging for it.
The “obvious” next job everyone suggests
I checked the obvious moves and most of them did not survive. The reasons are printed with the routes above, including the pay and the gate. A move that fails on the numbers is worth knowing about so you can stop turning it over at night.

You are reading the United Kingdom figures

The United States splits this work across more than one official group, of which Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers is the closest. The pay and employment figures are not directly comparable, and we do not average them together.

Switch to the United States page →partial match

In US official statistics this job is counted as Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers. Pay and employment stay on this page’s own group; the task list and the scores do not cross over.

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The moves above cost nothing. These are the real services that go with them: public, government-funded, and free at the point of use. Nothing on this page is behind an email address or a payment.

In England:
National Careers Service
A free hour with a government-funded careers adviser is worth more than another evening of reading. In England that's the National Careers Service.
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In England:
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Free to search; individual courses vary
In England:
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In England:
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- Skills Bootcamps - what they are and who can do them (DfE, Skills for Careers)
- Skills Bootcamps - JobHelp (DWP)
In Scotland:
My World of Work (Skills Development Scotland)
In Scotland it's My World of Work, from Skills Development Scotland.
Free, publicly funded
- Skills Development Scotland
In Wales:
Careers Wales
In Wales it's Careers Wales.
Free, Welsh Government-funded
In Northern Ireland:
Careers Service Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland it's the Careers Service on nidirect.
Free, Department for the Economy-funded

No Space for this job, but one for what is happening to it

Nothing Collab365 runs is built for market / street traders / assistants, and we are not going to point you at the nearest one and call it a fit.

There is one that is not about a job title at all. The AI Authority is about being the person who directs these tools at work rather than the person they get compared to. That is worth saying here, because 21% of the work on this page is already inside what they can do.

Try The AI Authority free →

7 days free, no card needed. Explore up to 2 Spaces before you choose a plan: you pick a plan later, not now.

The AI Authority is a general community about working with AI, not a course for market / street traders / assistants. You do not need it to act on anything here: the moves above cost nothing and stand on their own. The data on this page is the same either way.

Noted, and thank you. We’ll email you if a Space for market / street traders / assistants launches. Nothing else.

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No Space for market / street traders / assistants yet. Should there be one?

Collab365 Spaces is built by the same people as this site. We find the problems that AI and automation are creating inside one kind of work, then solve them as short courses, briefings and Blueprints. Each Space is the community too, so the research and the people doing your job are in the same place.

What a Space actually is, in full

Collab365 launches new communities where the need is real. If one for market / street traders / assistants existed, with researched problems, courses and people in the same boat, would you want in?

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This unlocks nothing. Every figure, every row and every step on this page is already yours, whether you fill this in or not.

No deadline on any of this. The page will still be here, and the data is refreshed on a published schedule rather than when someone wants a headline.

Questions people ask about this job

Will AI replace Market and street traders and assistants?: Not as a job, but it is already doing parts of the work. Across the 22 official task statements scored for Market and street traders and assistants (United Kingdom, SOC 7124), 21% of the importance-weighted core work is made of tasks today's AI could already do most of. The overall exposure score is 26 out of 100 (range 22–31, band: low). That is a statement about tasks, not about headcount: this measures what AI could do, not whether any employer adopts it, whether the law allows it, or whether doing the routine parts faster creates more demand for the human parts. Figures are from release 2026-q4.1.
Which tasks in “Market and street traders and assistants” can AI already do?: The highest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Determine the need to purchase additional stock for sale” (93/100, very high); “Maintain records related to retail and sales transactions” (93/100, very high); “Record orders for goods into computer systems for inventory management” (93/100, very high). Each score comes from five published 0–4 ratings turned into a number by a published formula, and each carries the model's one-sentence reason on the page.
Which tasks in “Market and street traders and assistants” stay human?: About 74% of this job's task weight sits in work that scores low for AI exposure. The lowest-scoring tasks in release 2026-q4.1 are: “Unload merchandise from a van” (0/100, minimal); “Distribute literature detailing products to attract customers” (0/100, minimal); “Provide product samples to persuade people to purchase products” (0/100, minimal). Low scores usually mean the task needs a body in a room, a legally accountable human, or trust built in real time. Those are the three things the scoring rubric treats as gates rather than obstacles.
What should someone working in “Market and street traders and assistants” do about AI?: Start from the ledger rather than the headline: 21% of this job's weighted core work is exposed, and roughly 74% is not. The practical move is to spend more of your week on the tasks that score low, the ones above, and to get fluent at directing AI through the tasks that score high, because those are the parts that change whether or not you are ready for them. This page does not predict your job, and nothing here is career advice tailored to you: the score describes the occupation, not the person.
How is the AI exposure score for Market and street traders and assistants calculated?: Each official task statement for the occupation is rated on five published 0–4 dimensions (output replicability, physical embodiment, licensed accountability, real-time human trust, and data availability) by claude-opus-5 using scoring prompt task_scoring_v1.0. The model never writes the score; a published formula turns the five ratings into a 0–100 number, so every score can be recomputed by hand. The occupation figure is the importance-weighted mean across 22 scored tasks. The prompt, the rubric, the formula and the full dataset are published at https://futureproof.collab365.com/method and https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1 under CC BY 4.0.

Where these numbers come from

About the data on this page

The ONS doesn't publish a reliable pay figure for this exact job (too few people in its survey sample), so none is shown here.
This headcount comes from a survey, not a census, so treat it as a good estimate rather than an exact count.
The match between this job and its counterpart in the other country is partial, so the two pages count slightly different groups of people.
9 of this occupation's scored task statements carry a score that was measured under a different occupation's context, because the statement is shared between jobs and has only been scored once so far. Each one names the occupation it was measured under in the free routes below; none is presented as a measurement for this job.
ASHE suppresses or does not publish a median for this unit group. We leave it empty rather than interpolating one from sibling groups, which would be a fabricated number.
Task clusters are not derived in this release, so the task-cluster field is empty and no Collab365 Space routing is attached to this occupation yet.

Task statements: gaisi-indexProcessing: catalogue-bridge → ssc-relatedness-weighting → task-scoring → score-aggregation
Task weights: gaisi-index (relatedness)
Scores: Rubric task_scoring_v1.0, model claude-opus-5, computed 2026-08-05.
Pay and employment: no pay figure published for this groupnomis-aps (Apr 2025-Mar 2026 (latest APS 12-month period))

Figures on this page come from release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Every release keeps its own permanent address, so a figure you cite in March is still there, unchanged, in November.

The plain-English wording on this page is assembled directly from the task statements and the published ratings, not written by hand for this occupation. That is why it is specific, and it is also why we say so.

The routes and free resources further up are today’s, not the release’s (last reviewed 2026-08-05). A route is an offer, not a historical fact, so it moves on its own clock.

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Everything on this site is published under CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, sell something built on it. Just say where it came from, and cite the dated release rather than the site, so the figure you quote stays checkable.

Plain text

Collab365 (2026). Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1 (methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0). https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Built with O*NET data (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); ONS data (Open Government Licence v3.0); GAISI task framework (arXiv:2507.22748, MIT); BLS data (public domain).

BibTeX

@misc{collab365futureproof2026q41,
  title        = {Collab365 Futureproof: task-level AI exposure for US and UK occupations, release 2026-q4.1},
  author       = {{Collab365}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1},
  note         = {Release 2026-q4.1, methodVersion 2.0.0, promptVersion task_scoring_v1.0, CC BY 4.0}
}

Permalink

https://futureproof.collab365.com/data/2026-q4.1

Data as of release 2026-q4.1, published 2026-08-05. Releases never change after publication; when the figures move, a new dated release is published beside this one and this one stays exactly where it is.