About Retail Management

About Retail Management

Courtesy Sylvia Cochran

Retail management is a challenging career in an economically precarious industry. Getting started is simple, but remaining in demand and getting consistent opportunities for advancement may be tricky. Learn some insights about retail management, find out how to get started, how to pick a good retailer to work for, and how to get promoted to higher tiers of management.

Forms of Retail Management

Retail management differs in scope, depending on the position you attain, the size of the store you work for and the retail sales volume your store generates. Assistant store managers and store managers are the quintessential first tier of retail management.

Next come regional managers, who may manage two or more stores in a geographic locale. Store managers report to regional managers, receive their merchandising instructions from them, and rely on feedback and occasional visits to stay on track.

Home office retail managers are in charge of two or more geographic regions. They are in constant contact with region managers and seek to make all regions profitable with respect to their retail sales numbers.

Retail store owners are the highest tier of retail management. Their involvement varies, depending on the management structure they put in place. Some owners are very hands-on when it comes to the day-to-day store operations; others prefer to remain in the background and review quarterly figures.

Choosing a Retailer to Work for

Visit the National Retail Federation (see the link in Resources) and research the information available on various industry trends. It's unlikely that your career will take off if the retailer you choose to work for is on the verge of bankruptcy. Instead, find a retail venue, chain store or retail field that is currently profitable, going strong and shows a growth trend.

Getting Started in Retail Management

The easiest way to get started in retail management is to work your way up. Start as a cashier or stocker, impress your supervisor with your customer service skills, good attitude and dependability, and over the course of a few years you could find yourself promoted to shift supervisor and eventually assistant manager. When the time is right, you may also apply for manager positions and get a promotion into retail management. This is a time-consuming process, but many retail managers find this is how they got started.

Another option is to attend a career college, such as the online Ashworth College (see the link in Resources) and earn a retail management diploma. Associate degrees in marketing or business management--or bachelor's or master's degrees in management, business administration or marketing--might make you more appealing to a hiring manager. You may even start out as lead cashier, assistant manager or supervisor right away. From there, you still need to prove yourself to make it to the higher tiers of retail management.

Skills Needed in Retail Management

Retail management is a balancing act that requires a mix of human resources management, marketing, communications and sales experience. Other skills include the art of turning a customer's shopping experience into a positive outing, using a greeting to make a great first impression, understanding the steps of a sale in progress, and learning how to heighten employee efficiency when dealing with customers. Loss prevention is another skill that must be honed when working in retail management.

Misconceptions

It's a common misconception that retail management is similar from store to store. This is untrue, considering that the clientele, target demographics and merchandising schemes vary between locales. This is true even at chain stores; retail managers routinely cross-train in other venues to learn how to deal with different customers, their unique needs and the expectations they have.