Introduction
In today’s extremely difficult and competitive business conditions, the management of supermarkets or hypermarkets is called retail management. This industry has developed a lot in India in the last decade. From making a new marketing policy to spreading the business in various fields, companies have tried all the tricks to woo customers.
It is an industry that works on the principle of “Customer is paramount”. The next time you go to buy an item of your choice from a hypermarket or supermarket like Reliance Fresh or Big Bazaar, be sure to analyze the discount you get. Today the market is dynamic and the system present here is fully computerized. Gone are the days when you used to bring goods from nearby grocery stores at a high price. Today almost everything is available with a discount. Actually this is the sale season, that too without any reason. Today almost all brands are offering discounts everywhere from their factory outlets to supermarkets to increase their penetration in the market.
Therefore, retail management is a subject for which knowledge about all brands, their marketing policy and retail philosophy of winning customers is necessary.
Step by step
To make a career in this field, one has to pass CAT (Common Admission Test) examination for admission in a prestigious institute like IIM and GMAT examination to do MBA from foreign universities.
There are some good institutes offering retail management courses – MDI, Gurgaon and NMIMS University, Mumbai. For admission in these, you have to pass the entrance exam.
As a student, the Retail Management course will help you understand the following topics
Introduction and Concept of Retail Management
- Retail Trends
- Retail Market Division
- Retail Pricing and Merchandising
- Relationship marketing in retailing
- Information Technology’s contribution to retailing
All other subjects are either sub-subjects of these subjects or are related to them in some way.
Get your start soon
Retail management is just a traditional subject to say. This is an option that you should adopt only if you have an interest in retail management and an inclination towards advertising. There is no doubt that it is a highly respected career.
Is this the right career for me?
As mentioned above, retail management is the right or better career for those who are interested in commodities, sales markets, market signals, diversity of business, advertising and companies and marketing research. This profession provides extensive opportunities for discovering new companies in the market. You can start as an Assistant Retail Manager or Store Manager. To be successful in this field, you must be dynamic and team leader.
How much will it cost in its studies?
The annual fees of a course in retail management can be 1 to 3 lakhs depending on the choice of college or institute. If you do this course from Tier-1 B-schools like IIM etc. then the fee will be maximum in the range mentioned above. If you choose an international university that offers you the opportunity to study abroad, then its fees may be even higher.
Grants / scholarships
The best option for availing education loan is State Bank of India, which offers loans up to 7.5 lakh. Other banks also provide this facility, but before taking a loan, please know about their interest rate.
Many colleges also give scholarships to good students. Although it is less prevalent in India, foreign institutes offer full scholarship to students scoring well in CAT or GMAT. However, here too, you will have to make additional expenses like living and eating on your own. Foreign institutes offer scholarships only on the basis of GMAT and CAT score.
Job prospects
There is a lot of employment opportunities in this field for graduate students. You can start your career with a sales executive or you can also become a direct sales manager or marketing manager. You can even start your own business by taking the franchise of a big retail brand.
Salary
Depending on the volume of work, you can get a monthly salary from 15000 to 25000 rupees as a sales executive or floor manager. Your responsibility here is to manage customers on the floor and help them in shopping. You can also become a Business Development Manager by going to the corporate level.
Demand and supply
Due to the growing business of supermarkets and hypermarkets, the demand for floor personal and retail manager is always very high. Sometimes marketers hire freshmen students for a part-time job from a startup retail chain college to handle the customers. Sometimes they also select 12th pass students. The educational qualification for this is minimum 10 + 2. Business Research, Market Research and Pricing Strategist etc. are very much needed for the students who complete MBA in Retail Management. Although their supply in India is fine, but the demand of retail professionals is always there.
Market watch
Companies like Reliance, Big Bazaar, Vishal Mega Mart and New Star Bazaar earn millions of rupees per day due to the huge amount of products and goods they sell. Apart from these companies, cloth cell companies like Westside and Pantaloons, shoemakers such as Regal, Metro and Bata use various strategies to market their products and launch their products in the market with innovative new creatives to sell their brands. We do.
In this context, the cells in summer, winter and spring are very important. The fluctuations in the shares of these brands depends entirely on the monthly and annual sales.
International focus
The concept of supermarkets and hypermarkets has been developed in India on the basis of foreign brands like Super Mart, a company like Wal-Mart uses advanced supply chain strategy to market its products.
To the satisfaction of Indians, brands such as Ray-Yan, Bose, Gucci and Mango selling fashion products have entered the Indian market long before with quality products.
In this environment, the job opportunities for retail management students are very encouraging.
Positives / Negatives
Positives
- There are many foreign retail chains from countries like Germany, USA and UK which are opening stores in India every year. As a result, they have created many opportunities for job seekers.
Retail systems in general are very attractive and exciting. People working in this industry get an opportunity to interact with different types of people.
Negatives
- Some retail shops hire people who are graduates. They do not demand an MBA degree or any specific qualification in retail management. Sometimes it can cause problems in people’s careers.
- Some brands that do not perform well in the market, sometimes lay off their employees, which is a wrist factor associated with the retail industry.
Different roles, different names
Employees hired by retail companies are commonly known as floor managers, floor officers, lobby managers, etc. At the corporate level, they are called sales managers or marketing managers.
The growth and expansion of the retail industry has experienced high demand for malls, supermarkets, movie theaters and hypermarkets for the general public. Although everyone has different products. But they all have the same functionality and style to attract customers.
The top 10 retail companies in India are-
- Shoppers-Top,
- Westside,
- Pentaloons,
- Life-style,
Rpg retail,
- crossword,
- Wills Life Style,
- globus,
- Piramals and
- Abney Retail Holdings.
Hiring tips
To get a job in a retail company, pay attention to the following:
- Create a résumé that reflects your art of talking to customers and excellent communication abilities.
- Refer the awards received in school or college in the resume.
- Apply in at least 5 to 7 companies so that you can make better choices.