Retail Management: Ever wondered, how the discount policy at Big Bazaar is implemented? What is the need of introducing such heavy discounts? Why do they offer so many deals? What is the deal with those student cards? The one and only reason to do so is to attract more and more customers and optimize profitability. Such timely offers and deals lure more customers to the store. All these strategies are formulated with the help of retail professionals. They are responsible for operating a store and overseeing each department from sales to stock to yield profits.
Retail can be defined as the sale of various goods and services to consumers. Retail Management is one of those branches of business administration that manages and monitors the retail department of the organization. Read the article provided below to get all the information about retail management and why to pursue a career in the field. We have also included the list of courses available, their eligibility, job prospects, and others.
Career in Retail Management
What is Retail Management?
Retail Management is defined as a process of sales and merchandising that brings the customers to the store, identifies their needs, helps them find the right product, and leaving the store satisfied. It is a service-oriented profession that focuses on brand naming and sales management.
Retailing in India is one of the fastest-growing industries. It contributes around 10% to the Indian GDP. With the enhancement in people’s demands for better and quality products and services, the retailing market has profited manifold over the past few years.
In a field like retailing, “Customer is King”. Thus, the main motive of retailing professionals is to please the customers anyhow. They focus on building proficient relations with customers along with sales and brand naming. They wish to transform the shopping experience of the customers into an enjoyable one.
Scope in Retail Management
With the advancement in globalization, the retail industry is booming. People are becoming more advance and modern. There are around 3800+ malls, 8500+ supermarkets, and over 14 million outlets in India. Every day there are hundreds more coming up. Clearly, the retail industry is not going anywhere. Companies will come up with new goods and services every day and there will always be a requirement for retail professionals to manage things.
Retail professionals are and will always be in high demand. Pursuing a career in retail management is a lucrative career path as it offers an ample number of job opportunities in different departments in hundreds of companies at their thousands of outlets. Also, one can always start his own store and be an entrepreneur.
However, it is highly recommended to pursue a career in retailing if and only if you have an interest in retailing and possess effective qualities and skills to be a retailer. A field like management in retailing demands fast-paced work and often the employee is struck with crazy work shifts and immense workload.
Retail Management Courses
If you wish to enter the field of retail management, you need to possess enough qualifications to have a safe and secure future in the field. One can start by opting for any course from the list provided below. The list contains the number of courses available in the field of retailing ranging from Certificate courses to PhD levels.
| Course Level | Course Name |
|---|---|
| Certificate | Certificate Course in Retail Management |
| Diploma | Diploma in Retail Management PG Diploma in Retail Management PG Diploma in Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management |
| Undergraduate | B.Sc. in Retail Management BBA in Retail Management B.Sc. in Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management |
| Postgraduate | MBA in Retail Management M.Sc. in Retail Management M.Sc. in Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management |
| PhD. | PhD in Retail Management |
Specializations
Specialization in the subject helps to master a specific division in the whole course curriculum. The specializations in the field of retailing that one can opt for are-
- Store Management
- Advertising
- Sales
- Operations
- Supply Chain
- Logistics
- Customer Relations
- Fashion Buying
- HR Management
- Quality Control
- Merchandising
- Pricing
- Accounting
- Personnel
- Inventory
Retail Management Admission & Eligibility
The admission procedure is subject to vary from institute to institute. However, we have provided here the key eligibility required to be satisfied to get admission in any of the retailing courses.
| Course Level | Duration | Key Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate | 6 – 12 months | – Intermediate pass out |
| Diploma | 1 – 2 years | – Intermediate pass out – For PG Diploma: must be graduated in a related discipline |
| Undergraduate | 3 years | – Intermediate pass out – secured at least 50% of marks in previous qualifying exam – qualify entrance exam, if applicable. |
| Postgraduate | 2 years | – Bachelor in related discipline – secured at least 50% of marks in the graduation – qualify entrance exam, if applicable. |
| PhD. | 2-4 years | – PG degree in a related discipline |
Entrance Examinations
Some institutes require the qualification in national or state-level entrance exams to get admission in the retail management course. Some of the popular entrances exams for this purpose are-
- CAT
- MAT
- GMAT
- XAT
- CMAT
- MICAT
- SNAP
- IPU CET
Top Institutes for Retail Management Courses
India’s topmost institutes to pursue management in retailing courses are as follows-
| Symbiosis Skills and Open University (SSOU), Pune |
| Symbiosis University of Applied Sciences (SUAS), Indore |
| Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar |
| Amity University, Noida |
| Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi |
| Chitkara University, Patiala |
| School of Communication and Management Studies, Cochin |
| Prin. LN Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai |
| Tezpur University, Assam |
| K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai |
| Birla Institute of Management Technology, Noida |
Skillset Required
In order to make a career in the field of retailing, aspirants must endure a service-minded approach. The following list consists of some of the core skills that a retailing aspirant must possess.
Furthermore, the candidates in retailing must also possess other soft skills such as:
- Analytical Skills: It is very important for retail professionals to have strong mathematical and analytical skills.
- Active Listening: People engaged in retailing must possess good listening skills so as to understand what the customer needs and fulfill his demands accordingly.
- Strong negotiation skills
- Leadership qualities
- Have patience
- Be cheerful in nature
Career & Jobs in Retail Management
Pursuing a career in retailing is very rewarding as well as challenging. There are a great number of job prospects in this field. The aspirants in this field must keep in mind that it’s not just a nine-to-five job. They might need to work with a hectic schedule at crazy work shifts. Also, in retailing customer happiness is paramount and therefore they must possess interpersonal skills to achieve greater heights in the field.
Some of the top profiles in the field of retailing are-
| Job Profiles | Job Description |
|---|---|
| Retail Manager | The retail manager supervises every department and aspect of the store. He oversees the functioning of sales, stock, and staff and manages budgets and costs to enhance profit rates. |
| Digital Manager | The digital manager develops various digital campaigns to optimize the productivity and profitability of the store. |
| Merchandiser | The merchandiser monitors the ongoing sales trends and collaborates with sales and stock departments and prepares a strategy to attract more customers. |
| Retail Sales Assistant | The retail sales assistant is directly related to the customers. He engages customers to identify their needs and assist them accordingly. Also, introduce them to the discounts and deals offered by the store. |
| Visual Merchandiser | The visual merchandisers are responsible for the layout and design of the store. They plan and implement a visually pleasing window to attract more customers to the store. |
Top Recruiters for Retail Management
Some of the top recruiting companies that hire retail professionals are –
| Big Bazaar | Aditya Birla Group | Westside |
| Reliance Group | Lifestyle | Bata |
| Pantaloons | ITC Retail | Shopper’s Stop |
Employment Sectors
Different employment sectors where retailers are employed in high numbers are-
| Shopping Malls | Multiplexes | Airlines |
| Logistics | Fashion Industry | Advertising Agencies |
| Super Markets | Restaurants | Healthcare |
Salary in Retail Management
In India, the salary packages in the field of Retail management range from INR 1.5 lacs – INR 10 lacs per annum. Remuneration tends to increase with the gain in work experience. The salary packages being offered by the recruiting company highly depend on the factors such as:
- Job Location
- Job Profile
- Recruiting Company
- Qualifying Institute
- Educational qualifications
- Specialization
Also, several incentives are granted to the retailers for their excellent performance and for augmenting the store’s profitability.
Books and Study Material
| Name of the Book | Author |
|---|---|
| Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping | Paco Underhill |
| Retail Management | Prabhu TL |
| The Retail Revival: Reimagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism | Doug Stephen |
| Retail Management: A Realistic Approach | Neelesh Jain |
| Retail Beyond Detail | Gibson G. Vedamani |
| Retailing Management: Text and Cases | Swapna Pradhan |
Frequently Asked Questions
Retail Management can be defined as a process of sales and merchandising that brings customers to the store, identify their needs, help them find the right product and returns them home satisfied. It is a service-oriented profession that focuses on brand and sales management
Yes. The demand for retailing professionals is increasing day by day with the increase in the number of malls, supermarkets and various retail outlets.
There are numerous courses available for retail management ranging from Certificate courses to PhD levels.
The candidate must be intermediate passed with at least 50% marks. Also, he must have qualified for the national or state-level entrance exam as applicable by the rules prescribed by the respective institute.
The candidate must hold a bachelor’s degree under his name in any relevant trade with at least 50% of the marks.
Specialization in the subject helps to master a specific division in the whole course curriculum.
The duration of Diploma courses in Retail Management is 1-2 years
CAT, GMAT, XAT, SNAP, MAT, etc.
Symbiosis Skills and Open University (SSOU), Pune
Symbiosis University of Applied Sciences (SUAS), Indore
Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar
Amity University, Noida
Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi
Good communication skills
Customer service approach
Leadership qualities
Organizational skills
Time management skills
Analytical skills, etc.
Some of the top job profiles in retailing are –
Retail Manager
Retail Sales Assistant
Digital Manager
Merchandiser
Visual Merchandiser
Shopping malls, logistics, healthcare, multiplexes, airline services, restaurants, advertising agencies, etc.
