Career in Retail Industry (Retail Management)

Sakshi Education

A sustained growth in the income and purchasing power of the Indian people has given a significant boost to the Retail Industry in India.

Retailing is a vital part of the business industry that involves selling products and services to consumers for their individual or family use. Retailing can also be defined as the timely delivery of goods demanded by consumers at an affordable and competitive price.
There has been a significant change in retail trading over the years, a transition from the traditional retail sector to organized retailing. The size of Indian retail at present is US $ 300 billion; by 2015 Indian retail business will be worth US $ 637 billion. With around 13% contribution to the GDP and 7% employment of the national workforce, retailing is undoubtedly a strong pillar of the Indian economy and a sector offering huge opportunities.
Eligibility Criteria:

You should be a graduate from a recognized university or college in any discipline.
You are required to crack all India entrance exams such as CAT, MAT, XAT etc. You may also need to clear entrance exam conducted by the institution independently. However, rules and regulations for admission into MBA retail management vary from institution to institution.

Course details:
The curriculum on retail management include subjects like supply chain management, marketing information, finance management, accounting in retail, electronic retailing merchandise management, marketing and business communication. Students also learn about sales promotion with public relation, inventory management, customer relationship, business ethics, retail brand management, business communication, management and organizational behavior, quantitative methods in retailing. Retail management courses open up job prospects in the books and publishing industry, music stores, multiplexes, shopping malls, garment industry and even in the processed foods industry.

Career in Retail Management:
According to Global Retail Development Index by A.T. Kearney, India is positioned as the leading destination for retail investment. There are about 300 new malls, 150 supermarkets and 325 departmental stores being built very soon.
The present scenario depicts that there will be very high demand for talented manpower in the retail business. It is predicted that retail employers in India will need more than 8 lakh skilled people in various specialized areas for retail across the country.
The career opportunities are in the areas of Store Operations, Retail Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Buying & Merchandising, Brand Management, Store Location & Design, MIS in Retail, Human Resource Management, E-Tailing and Digital Retailing.
The vacancies in retail sector are available from the entry to senior management level.

Store Manager works towards meeting personal and location sales metrics and customer satisfaction standards by maximizing the customer’s experience.
The prime responsibility of the Manager Retail Operations is to drive the sales to maximize business performance.
Regional Sales Manager takes care of day to day running of the stores in a region with the aim of achieving optimum profits. Identify the new areas for progress.
Merchandisers work in coordination with buying teams. As a merchandiser you will be forecasting he future scenario in term of consumers purchase preferences and competitors moves.
Designers communicate their ideas to buying team to buy product ranges that attract customers.
Visual Merchandiser gives recognition or face value to the brand through effective display to increase store traffic and sales volume.
Warehouse Manager oversees, coordinates and plans the storage distribution of the products within the company.
Product Development Manager develops the merchandise and develops marketing plans. He has to coordinate the activities of production, sales, advertising, and promotion.

Recruiters:
Companies like Reliance India, Pantaloons, RPG Group, Titan, Raymonds, Westside, Barista, Bata, Cafe Coffee Day, Crossword, Food World, Nilgiris and Trent are some of the big Indian companies who have opened their retail chains in India. This has created huge employment opportunities for trained retail management professionals. Jobs of department managers, assistant store managers, buyer trainee, merchandising assistant, customer service representative, and management trainees are available in the retail sector.

Retail Management Scope abroad:
There are also opportunities for retail management professionals abroad. They can work as store manager, inventory monitoring officer or as marketing and sales executive. A flair for communication and a burning zeal to sell with an aggressive go getter attitude is a must for applying for managerial and administrative jobs in companies abroad.

Remuneration:
Inexperienced ones can easily start with Rs. 20,000-25,000 per month. The remuneration increases with experience and after gaining quality experience one can easily reach up to 6 figure packages and it can be 7 figures after 5 to 7 years in the field.
Institutes offering Retail Courses

Institution	Course	Duration	Eligibility Criteria
Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai	PGDM Retail Man-agement	2 years	A minimum 50% in graduation & appeared for CAT.
K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Mumbai	PGDM Retail Man-agement	2 years	Somaiya Entrance Test, followed by Communication Test, GD and Interview
Pearl Academy of Fashion, New Delhi	PGDM Fashion Retail	2 years	Graduate in any discipline
Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida	PGDM-Retail	2 years	A Bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi	Fashion Retail Mana-gement (FRM)	1 year	Graduation in any discipline or 3 year Diploma from NIFT/ NID.
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai	Merged with the MBA programme, optional specialisa-tion in the 2nd year	2 years	10+2+3 degree 50% marks at degree level. Work experience will be preferred.
IILM Graduate Sschool of Management, Greater Noida	PGDM in Retail	2 years	Graduate in any discipline with 50% marks in aggregate and qualified in CAT/ MAT/ ATMA and GD+PI
Jaipuria Institute, Lucknow	PGDM Retail Mana-gement	2 years	Bachelor’s degree with at least 50% aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA in any discipline from a University recognized by Association of Indian Universities / AICTE
Mudra Institute of Communications	PG Certificate programme in Retail Commun-ications	1 year	Any Graduate or equivalent through MICA admission test (MICAT)
Indian Retail School	UG, PG diploma and PG in Retail Mana gement	PG – 2years UG – 3 Years	Any Graduate or equivalent
Indian Institute of Jewelry	Jewellery in Organized Retial Man agemen	1 year	Anyone who has the zeal & enthusiasm to learn about organised jewellery retailing
Indian School of Business Management Administration	Advanced diploma in Retail Management	1 year	10+2 or equivalent

Retail Management through Distance Learning

Indira Gandhi National Open University (1985)
1. Advance Diploma in Retail Management
2. Certificate in Retail Services Management
3. Certificate in Retail Marketing
For more details Click here
Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL), Pune PGDM Retail Management
Eligibility: Graduate in any discipline from a recognised University, Diploma holders, with minimum 5 years supervisory experience after completion of diploma
For more details Click here
MIT School of Distance Education, Pune PGDM Retail Management
Eligibility: Any Graduate or Diploma holder with three years of experience
For more details Click here