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Retail Management...up close and personal

With Christmas over and the January sales in every High Street, most people have done more shopping, seen more shops and heard more retail success (and failure) stories in the press than at any other time of the year. So now is a good time to think about the sort of management careers that retailing can offer.

It is said that “nothing happens until somebody sells something” - whatever goods or services are created, they only have value if someone will pay money for them.  Matching up the goods and services with the people who will pay is the retailer’s job. Presenting the right goods in the right way in the right place at the right time and at the right price.  Sounds simple?  Not at all. Today’s customers in the developed world have far more things available to buy than at any other time in history.  They can buy face-to-face, by mail or on the internet, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Merchandise is as likely to come from China as a factory down the road.  Orders, payments and designs can cross continents in seconds. From a management viewpoint, the part the customer sees - shopping centres, department stores, the high street - is only the final stage of a complex and fast-moving global industry.

Even the idea of what a shop looks like and what it’s for is changing rapidly.  Fast food outlets are much more like shops than restaurants.  Some shops only exist in cyberspace - but financial service providers are rediscovering the importance of real banks with real staff as the more effective alternative to automated switchboards and call centres.  Premiership football clubs can make as much from replica kit sales, broadcast rights and corporate entertainment as they take at the turnstiles.  Major shopping complexes are becoming tourist attractions in their own right, and media celebrities advertise high street stores.

Amongst all these changes, one thing remains central.  Retailing is about people.  It’s about who your customers are and what they will want today, next week and next year.  It’s about creating an experience that is enjoyable, memorable and fulfils your customers needs, and not just their need for the goods you sell.  It’s true - people enjoy shopping.

The range of managerial skills and knowledge demanded by the modern retail industry is vast.  Store designers, web developers, buyers for every conceivable type of merchandise, retail psychologists, experts in transport and logistics, marketing, advertising, human resources and training, and, of course, sales operations managers.  All these come together in an amazing variety of combinations.

So what can retailing offer?  First of all, a fast-moving, modern industry where significant responsibility and reward often comes at an early age.  An industry where your abilities can have a real, measurable impact on business success.  Management positions that don’t leave you behind a desk but get you up close to the action.  The opportunity to use all your talents and interests, whether you’re into sport or fashion, computer games or cars, to enhance your career.

And what will the retail industry be looking for in you?  You’ll need to understand and like working with people.  You’ll need to be creative. You’ll need to be financially aware.  You’ll need to be able to see the big picture without losing sight of the important details.  You’ll need the enthusiasm and commitment to deliver your best, not only when things are going well but also when they’re not.  More importantly, you need to be able to generate that same level of enthusiasm and commitment in your staff.  You’ll need an understanding of and interest in every item of merchandise you deal with.  You’ll even need to be able to predict the future.

The best route in to retail management is a comprehensive qualification and plenty of experience.  A number of universities offer excellent specialist management degrees with close links to major employers in the retail industry.  Look for industry involvement, practical projects as well as theory, a teaching team with retail management experience themselves and preferably a sandwich degree with a year spent in industry.  Above all, look for people that you think you’ll enjoy learning with.  Retail is, after all, about people.