You definitely want to paint a picture of someone who wants a long term job. And also that in many cases you have just had bad luck. There may also be some performance related stuff that you want to address. Breaking it down into a few strategies...
Highlight relevant experience, summarize less relevant experience:
If the job opportunity isn't in retail, summarize the retail positions as something like "start date - end date Retail positions in companies X, Y and Z" - so you aren't highlighting work that isn't so relevant. It shows that you did work, but lets you gloss over some of those job changes.
Vice versa is true if you apply for a retail job - any contracts can be summed up similarly.
When something is for a fixed time period, say it explicitly:
Something like "90 day contract for company XYZ". Even if there was an option to renew, which wasn't renewed - the terms of the contract were fixed.
I'm not sure I would advise that you go through each of the cases for why the job was terminated if it wasn't an agreed upon fixed contract.
Do be ready with something that can pull it all together
And put it in both your cover letter and be ready with a rendition you can give in person - practice it with a friend if you need to. Try not to sound robotic or un-genuine, but practice does help here.
Things to consider that well beyond your control:
Know how in demand the field you are working on is... there are fields out there where the kind of history you describe is normal. Employers who don't hire frequently may not actually know that (especially if they are a small business). Many sound engineers I know, for example - have the history you describe because the entry-level jobs in that business are very, very rare. Saying "this is pretty common among my peers" is valid if it's true. At the same time - don't B.S., it's too easy to get caught. I would absolutely not believe you, for example, if you were a software engineer in Boston giving me this line - the market is way too hot.
Do you have an unconventional background? Even in a hot job market - if you have an unusual resume, it can be hard to get your foot in the door. You can turn that into a win - but you have to get creative - what do you have that other candidates may not have. For example, many military veterans enter the market with skills from their time of service, that aren't from a typical university. Which means they don't always have resumes that fit keyword searches in bots. But many of them are good at pivoting pointing out that they have a sense of responsibility and discipline that is unusual for their age. Also, some can draw form their service work and describe how it would fit in a commercial world role.
Is your area going through a hard time? especially in an area with a less diverse economy, 1 big company that drastically changes their business can have a broad impact. Theoretically the company you interview with will know that already, but maybe not. Worth showing that you know.
Within your control, but equally valid:
- You took on short term work because you liked the challenge of the role - sometimes the short term jobs or the risky jobs (like startups) will teach you more, faster, that a nice safe stable job. Be ready if that's your claim, to also claim what you got out of it.
- The money - usually a short term contract will pay better - they are paying you for your willing to deal with the uncertainty of what you will do after your contract ends. It's OK to say you did it for the money. It also means you have to explain why the money isn't such a motivator for you now.
- Needed flexibility for personal reasons - always valid, and you don't owe them detail. OTOH - making this up as a reason may lead to the (hopefully unasked question) - what are those reasons. At least in the US, it would be against typical business practice to ask... but if you end up working with them, they'll probably be trying to figure it out for the entire time they know you. People are just inquisitive this way. And YMMV across cultures and countries in whether you may or may not get asked point blank what the personal reason is.
A series of unfortunate events is also valid. At some point, that gets less and less plausible, and the series may be due to some of those environmental factors above - in which case, it's good to look clued in.
During-education:
Everyone should expect that while you are in school, you are working short term jobs. At 1-4 years after school, many people will blob their schooling and any career relevant work into 1 clump. Something like:
year X - year Y University of Whatever, degree in Something:
- Date A - Date B Coop 1 @ company A, position A - did XYZ
- Date C - Date D Coop 2 ....
- Date E - Date F Coop 3 ....
Which makes it easy to see that whole pile as one big thing.
Are there any patterns you can fix?
From all the stuff above, I think there are ways you can and should clarify how many of these job changes are not relevant, beyond your control, and in short not red-flags.
There are a fair number, though, that are - the #6, 7, and 8 don't sound too great. Pretty much whenever a role ends, ask for feedback (if you haven't) - sounds like you've gotten at least some degree of feedback. You don't need to put any of it on your resume or disclose it to future potential employers - but you do want to look at the reasons why... it sounds from the post like you really want a longer term job, so you may need to see what's holding you back from that, and dedicate time to changing that. You can also ask jobs that turn you down for feedback - although many may not be able/willing to give that information depending on company policy. A third avenue is mentorship and volunteering in your area of career focus - it's often easier to get volunteer work, and there are some volunteer jobs that realize that one payment they can give is experience and mentoring. This can be particularly helpful for building your network, as well, since contacts from volunteering may know of job openings and may be able to be referrals.
