Careers in Retail

What you'll learn to do: Recognize career opportunities available in the retail businesses

What opportunities do you believe you would be best suited for in retail?  Review the roadmap below to decide where you would be a best fit based on your strengths. If you're not sure yet, you will have a bit more insight by the time you finish the chapter.

For another interesting perspective use the links below to help explore different directions in your career path. You can browse careers in retail and also spend some time looking at future job opportunities!

Key Roles in a Retail Business

There are a myriad of roles within the retail environment. Before we take a deep dive into the career opportunities, let's explore why one would choose a career in retail. What are some of the reasons you are interested in retail? If you haven't considered it why might you consider it? As you watch the video below can you relate to what is said?



The retail industry offers diverse and unique career paths where you could work for some of the world’s most recognizable brands.  Many of the main goals of retail— be it sales and profitability, product innovation, or customer relationships—intersect with other career fields like marketing, finance, technology, loss prevention, merchandising and management. Whether in stores or corporate headquarters many of key roles in retail include internal coordination, planning and logistics, store operations, human resources / training, finance and administration, buying, marketing, logistics, and information technology.

Positions in the retail industry can largely depend on what the company or store is selling. All positions must have some knowledge or familiarity with the products they sell and the needs of customers. At the forefront of the retail team are entry-level positions that tend to have the most face to face time with customers and tend to make up the bulk of the workforce of a company. Positions at this level could be a cashier, stocker, front end or sales associate. Entry level positions do not require a worker to supervise other workers at the same entry level positions.

The next level up would be intermediate management that supervises entry level and other staff. With diverse roles and departments in the retail industry there is a need for distinct types of management to direct and accommodate different areas and departments:

• Human resource management
• Operations management or production management
• Strategic management
• Marketing management
• Financial management
• Information technology management (responsible for the management information systems)

Management in general is the act of engaging with an organization’s human talent and using the physical resources at a manager’s disposal to accomplish desired goals and objectives efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading, directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.

One of the most important duties for a manager is effectively using an organization’s resources. This duty involves deploying and manipulating human resources (or human capital), as well as efficiently allocating the organization’s financial, technological, and natural resources. Since organizations can be viewed as systems, management can also be defined as human action, such as product design, that enables the system to produce useful outcomes.

Basic Functions

• Merchandise Manager
• Assistant Store Manager
• Customer Service Manager
• District Sales Manager
• Food or Product department Manager
• Sales Manager
• Store or warehouse Manager

For an extensive list of manger types and titles check out these articles on Retail Job Titles and Descriptions and Types of Jobs in Retail

Why Working Retail Is Tough

It is important to understand the key challenges retailers face as well as how today's retailer is working to overcome these challenges.

 Inventory Levels and Assortment

Adequate inventory levels are essential for today's retailer. Having too little or too much can have a dramatic affect on the retailer's reputation as well as the consumer's perception. Today's retailers must ensure the right amount of product is available at the right times and in the right places. Mark & Spencer's sales losses in 2012 are a key example of how low inventory levels can affect the reputation of a retailer. First quarter clothing sales were down 6.8% compared to the prior year. There were several reasons but, one was that they didn't order enough inventory for popular items which caused many customers to leave their store without purchasing what they wanted. While having too little inventory is a significant issue, you can also have too much inventory that leads to unprofitable markdowns.

A lack of the right type of inventory also affects customer perception which could, in turn, affect sales.  For example, a customer wouldn't expect to see Christmas trees in August in their favorite retailer. It would signal to the consumer that the retailer doesn't understand the trends or the season. Therefore, the consumer might be influenced to shop elsewhere. Also consider the other potential impacts of inadequate inventory levels as well as not having the right type of assortment for the customer.

Mobile Experience and Engagement

In 2013 mobile was almost 25% ($60 billion) of e-commerce revenue. For any retailer that has online operations this is a significant part of the business. Consumers use their mobile phones for everything from shopping for different prices for products and even shipping costs. More and more are doing this inside of the store as well as outside of the store. In fact, 90% of consumers use smart phones while shopping in the store. So how can retailers push the envelope here to engage the consumer even more? By 2021 mobile revenue is expected to be $420 billion in the United States. An example of a company capitalizing on this trend is Walgreens. More than 60% of the retailer's online traffic is from smartphone devices. Their mobile app includes services such as prescription transfers and Quick Print. In addition, they are partnering with a service called MDLive to provide customers with medical doctors 24/7 via smartphone cameras.

Digital Disruption

Technology is continuously changing the way consumers shop.  There are five stages consumers go through whenever purchasing a product.  These are:

1. Need recognition
2. Information search
3. Evaluating alternatives
4. Decision to purchase
5. Post-purchase evaluation.

You have probably experienced this yourself in your own consumption experiences. First there is a recognized need for an item. Then you look for products that fulfill your need. Social media sites such as Facebook, and Instagram have revolutionized how fast and to what extent consumers can receive information about a product which, in turn, helps fulfill the information search stage. Consumers can rate products and share with their friend base on these sites allowing for more information search as well as evaluation of alternatives. They are also able to communicate directly with the company via these social platforms creating an opportunity for them to offer post-purchase evaluation. According to a Deloitte report consumers who utilize social media are four times more likely to make a purchase than those who don't. In addition, 29% are more inclined to make a purchase the same day.

Lastly, it is important to note that there are generational differences in how technology is utilized and received by today's consumer. For example, 47% of millennials are influenced by social media as opposed to 19% of other age groups. Retailers use this information to adapt their marketing strategies based on the target demographics of the products they are selling.

The Socially Conscious Consumer

Consumers have tremendous power to drive trends of which products are available and how those goods are produced. More and more consumers are questioning the political and environmental impact of their purchases which has lead to the rise of the socially conscious consumer. For evidence of this phenomenon, one need look no further than the recent explosion of organic products on the market. Over the last 15 years, organic products have gone from being a little-known niche market to one of the fastest growing, increasingly mainstream sectors in American Agriculture. According to a 2016 press release issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the number of certified organic operations in the United States has increased by almost 300% since the agency began keeping records in 2002 with most years seeing double-digit growth in the organics sector. Significantly, growth in demand for organic products continued throughout the economic recession, suggesting that more and more shoppers are convinced that the health and environmental benefits associated with organic products outweigh the higher cost.

Similar growth has been observed in demand for “eco-friendly” or “green” products, particularly among millennials. Citing a 2015 Nielsen study, Michael Hozik of the Georgetown Environmental Law Review states, “Just over the span of one year, millennials willing to pay more for products and services from companies committed to positive environmental and social change increased from 55% in 2014 to 72% in 2015.” In response to increased demand, the number of applications for eco-friendly labels doubled between 2006 and 2007 and the selection of eco-friendly products made available by retailers increased by 73% from 2009 to 2010. Household names like Walmart, Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, Sony, and many more have created ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pledged to increase the sustainability of their supply chains. Big name brands are increasingly recognizing the necessity of wooing the growing number of eco-conscious shoppers while also recognizing this trend may cut into their profit margins.

Summary

Above are a few key challenges in detail. However, as I stated before there are numerous others as well. Watch the video below to gain an understanding of a few other challenges that have a significant impact on today's retailer. Consider how these are impacting you now as a consumer and an industry professional. What else do you believe could be some other notable challenges in the future and what actions do you believe today's retailer could take to work through these challenges and stay more competitive in today's environment as well as that of the future?

Retail Management Requirements

Middle-Management Roles and Functions

As discussed earlier in this module many retail manager positions fall into the Middle-Management level. Middle-level managers can include general managers, branch managers, and department managers. They are accountable to the top-level management for their department’s function, and they devote more time to organizational and Middle managers’ roles may include several tasks depending on their department. Some of their functions are as follows:

• Designing and implementing effective group work and information systems
• Defining and monitoring group-level performance indicators
• Diagnosing and resolving problems within and among work groups
• Designing and implementing reward systems
• Supporting cooperative behavior
• Reporting performance statistics up the chain of command and, when applicable, recommending strategic changes

Because middle managers work with both top-level managers and first-level managers, middle managers tend to have excellent interpersonal skills relating to communication, motivation, and mentoring. Leadership skills are also important in delegating tasks to first-level managers.

Middle management may be reduced in organizations as a result of reorganization. Such changes include downsizing, ‘delayering’ (reducing the number of management levels), and outsourcing. The changes may occur in an effort to reduce costs (as middle management is commonly paid more than junior staff) or to make the organization flatter, which empowers employees, leaving the organization more innovative and flexible.

Front Line Management

At the front line, managers are often highly skilled and even functional specialists. A front line manager is best positioned when they focus on controlling and directing specific employees (think in terms of supervisors, team leaders, line managers, and project managers).

Skill Sets

A front line manager needs to have two distinctive skill sets: the interpersonal skills to manage people as well as the technical expertise to be among the front lines actively executing functional tasks. As a result, frontline managers are often highly valuable team members with the versatility to contribute in various ways.

Core skill sets for frontline managers can change depending on what function they are overseeing. However, on the interpersonal side they should be effective at:

• Communicating
• Observing and actively listening
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Prioritizing
• Aligning resources
• Organizing processes and tasks

Responsibilities

Responsibilities of a frontline manager will therefore come in two flavors. The first is the expertise required to do whatever it is they are managing. If we are talking about an accounting manager, they must be able to balance the books and understand enough of everyone’s specific function to fill the gaps. If it is a frontline manager on an automobile manufacturing facility, the manager should be aware of how to run most of the machines and how to assess the productivity of different positions (ideally from experience).

On the managerial side, frontline managers are often tasked with hiring, assessing performance, providing feedback, delegating functional tasks, identifying gaps, maximizing efficiency, scheduling, and aligning teams. As the primary point of contact for most employees, frontline managers must be careful listeners capable of understanding employee needs, removing blockers, and optimizing performance.

Functional Management

Besides the heads of a firm’s product and/or geographic units, the company’s top management team typically consists of several functional heads (such as the chief financial officer, the chief operating officer, and the chief strategy officer). A functional manager is a person who has management authority over an organizational unit—such as a department—within a business, company, or other organization. Functional managers have ongoing responsibilities and are not usually directly affiliated with project teams, other than ensuring that goals and objectives are aligned with the organization’s overall strategy and vision.

General Management

General management focuses on the entire business as a whole. General management duties and responsibilities include formulating policies, managing daily operations, and planning the use of materials and human resources. However, general managers are too diverse and broad in scope to be classified in any one functional area of management or administration such as personnel, purchasing, or administrative services.

General managers include owners and managers who head small-business establishments with duties that are primarily managerial. Most commonly, the term general manager refers to any executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company’s income statement. This means that a general manager usually oversees most or all of the firm’s marketing and sales functions, as well as the day-to-day operations of the business. Frequently, the general manager is responsible for effective planning, delegating, coordinating, staffing, organizing, and decision making to attain profitable results for an organization.

While both general and functional management involve similar skills (interpersonal skills, communication, multitasking, etc.), the critical difference is that a functional manager often “zooms in” to one particular aspect of a broader operational paradigm. The general manager must be more of a jack-of-all-trades, understanding enough about various different gears in the machine to ensure it is running properly.

Skills of a Retail Manager

Licenses and Attributions