Retail Industry - Career Growth, Salary & Job Profiles

How does Retail Management Course help in improving job prospects?
Today the organized retail sector is booming with opportunities. Lots of Indian and intentional multinational companies have made the foray into retail with companies like Reliance India, Pantaloons, RPG Group, Titan, Raymonds, Westside, Barista, Bata, Caffe Coffee Day, Crossword, Food World, Nilgiris and Trent. This has created huge employment opportunities for trained retail management professionals as opposed to a informal job sector that existed before their entry. These courses make the students eligible for jobs of department managers, assistant store managers, buyer trainee, merchandising assistant, customer service representative,  management trainees etc at the entry level and are now considered a prerequisite by most of these companies for hiring anyone.
Retail management courses also open up job prospects in the books and publishing industry, music stores, multiplexes, shopping malls, garment industry and even in the processed foods industry. There are lots of opportunities in retail management abroad also where the profiles include store manager, inventory monitoring officer or as marketing and sales executive.


What is the career path in Retail Management Industry? Starting Salary etc.
Having been largely a industry emphasis on experience rather than professional degree's till, there is still a lot of importance on experience in the industry. With the multinationals coming in the are formal career paths for people engaged in the industry. The actual career path will depend on the stream that the person wishes to specialize in and the company and of course his/her performance. People with cross functional expertise are also appreciated in the industry. It is an industry looking for people at all levels, from the school pass out with basic skills, to the well qualified supply chain and retail management professionals.
Being a growing and highly dynamic industry the compensations are among the best across industries at most levels, especially if you have the right education or the right background or both. Though the renumeration depends on the nature of work, area of work etc the average salaries for sales people (the lowest rug so to speak ) in the retail industry is around Rs 4,000-5,000 per month. This can be higher in metros where the cost of living is higher.  The salaries for people without a specific education in retail and non managerial (but administrative) profiles can range between 6,000 to 22,000. Being a sales oriented profile the packages generally include performance linked bonuses etc. As for managerial posts, since the industry competes with the other industries for the best talent, the compensation depends on the type of institute and the profile offered and is up there among the best pay packages offered to marketing profiles among b school graduates.

The growth is tremendous and opportunities and profiles in offer are vast ,It can be like a sales organization at the bottom but there is a increasing emphasis on branding and better work life balance in the companies. Actual career path and work culture will depend on the company that one works for. One could start his career as a management trainee, and with hard work and right attitude, could reach the manager posts of different departments. People with retail management degrees can also find jobs in advertising agencies, airlines, insurance companies, banks etc since they also require these specific expertise.


Job Profiles in Retail Industry
Some of the different profiles on offer and their career path are -:

•    Sales: 
This is usually the entry level post in retail business. Even a management graduate entering the retail business has to go through a compulsory stint in sales to understand the pulse of the industry and then later he/she can choose to remain in sales or move into other verticals depending on the company.  To be a good sales person first and foremost one must be good with people – both in terms of understanding the customers and also managing his/her co-workers. Along with this, a good understanding of the shop and its products is useful but is something that can be learned on the job. The nomenclature of the posts will vary from company to company but Sales associate, Sales Manager, Department Manager etc are some of the posts one could progress to under this vertical.

•    Store Manager: also called  General Manager or Store Director,
Are the people who are responsible for managing the store's day to day operations. He/she is in charge of the employees and is responsible for the P&L of the store to the regional heads. He himself may report to a District or Area manager or the store's owner

•    Retail Manager:
Plans and coordinates the operations of the outlet along/under the store management. His/her work can include layout of merchandise, monitoring the retail orders and stock, analyzing the supply etc. Candidates with MBA can start off as retail manager. Graduates from NID and NIFT etc are also preferred for this job.

•    Retail Buyers and Merchandisers:
These profiles are involved in buying /sourcing for the shop. Though this part is largely moving into IT enabled areas, there is still a need for the human element. The profile involved understanding and anticipating the needs of the customer, should be aware of the trends in the market and make suitable purchasing recommendations.

•    Visual Merchandisers:
These people give the brand a face, so they hold one of the very important positions in the industry. Being a part of concept and design one could also be a technical designer, product developer and store planner.

•    Supply Chain Distributors –
Are involved at the head of supply chain management of the products for the stores. Optimizations at this level help the shops compete with other shops on price and are very important in India.

•    Logistics and Warehouse Managers
•    Marketing Executives
Other roles include customer care executives, merchandise officers, public relations executive and so on.