Introduction:
Retail Management was a previously optional subject of the BMS course and has recently been made compulsory for the students in the Fifth Semester (Sem V). This subject is an easy to understand, theory based subject with a thin textbook that looks inviting unlike the rest of the huge and annoying bulky books we are prescribed for the university exams.
Studying Retail management is a very different feeling as you really don’t feel like you are studying at all, its a series of how you think about the different market and shops you have visited throughout your life and realizing all the small small things that impacted your choices in shopping which you had not noticed up till now.
Attending a Retail Class is also like that it more of a discussion than a boring lecture because it happens so many times that you give an example that the professor can relate with or the professor talks about an experience you can relate with and starts a series of conversations relating to the observations made by different students in the class which are related to what you were talking about.
So what exactly is the subject Retail Management all about?
Retail is all around us and its hard to miss, we can absolutely not take this phenomenon for granted. Food, clothing, stationery, groceries, jewelry, electronics, gadgets, appliances anything you need you will have to buy it and in order to buy it you will need to go to a shop and this shop is what we call as a retail outlet.
We all are aware of how we ultimately end up buying a product, it starts from the manufacturer who manufactures it, goes to the whole seller, then the retailer and ultimately we go to this retailer and buy it.
In this process there are so many people involved who help in packaging, pricing and transportation of the product from the time its manufactured to the time you buy it. The very last link in the purchase cycle of a product is the retailer and retail management is the study of how best a retailer can function.
Retail Management refers to any and every store/ shop that sells something. So if you have a look at the mom and pop grocery store in your neighborhood popularly known as kirana wala, he needs to manage his shop, the fast food shop needs retail management, the clothing store needs management, the discount store that sells everything at one place at discounted rates needs management, the department store where you get almost all household necessities needs management, the big and slick apparel store that sells footwear and jewelry too needs management and the book store with a read-in facility needs management too!
So all of these and the hundreds of other store formats you can think up of form a part of retail management.
Why do I have to study Retail Management?
Retail Management is extremely important for a Management student today. With technology taking over the retail sector by storm gone are the days of mismanaged outlets selling things as per their own whims and fantasies. Today retail is either online and if its in the physical form then it’s very well managed and maintained. It needs to be so perfectly managed because of the high level of competition that exists in the market and the fact that the consumer cannot be fooled any more.
The consumer is the king in the actual sense today, there are so many varieties of products and all of them available at the convenience and affordable rates lower than their competitors, that shop owners have no say or supremacy. Huge department stores, with air conditioning, latest interior designs, alluring music, attractive sign boards and a lot of discount offers have opened up at every corner.
They provide the best of desi and international brands and with such a lot of options and discounts available that the customer is spoilt for choice. The staff is well dressed, well mannered and very professional ensuring that the customer will not want to go the local banya for any thing he/she needs.
With such advancement in the field of retail, studying its fine aspects s a must for someone who wishes to make a career in the field. It is a booming field with a lot of opportunities for anybody wishing to make a career and even if you do not wish to make a career subjects like these ensure that as an individual you are well informed of how the wide world of retail runs.
Is this Subject Boring?
NO ways, in fact retail is among the most engaging and interesting subjects that you can come across in your BMS curriculum. Like I said earlier that a class in Retail Management is much more than the few points on the white board and few PPT slides by your professor, it is a series of discussing and learning through examples that can be provided by judging real life situations we come in contact with.
Do I need to join a Coaching Class for Retail Management?
No, you do not need to join any sort of coaching classes for this subject, Retail Management is the kind of subject that can be learnt only by means of self study and observation. Attend your college lectures if you have a good professor and engage actively in the classroom participation that takes place. There is no better way of learning retail than reading your textbook and discussing in class.
Is the Subject Difficult?
Not at all, retail management as a subject is quite easy to understand and easier to write down in the paper. You can score great marks in this subject as it frees you of the complication of having to mug up definitions and learn theories. You need to keep your common sense flood gates open and your sensory organs of observation alert to find this subject as the easiest one you will come across.
What is the Syllabus for Retail Management?
Retail management is divided into 4 units which are as follows:
Unit 1: Introduction
Unit 2: Retailing strategy
Unit 3: Merchandise management
Unit 4: Store management
To know the detailed syllabus and reference books for the same please click HERE!
How Should I Study this Subject?
In order to score really good marks you should try the following:
1. Read through the whole Vipul Prakarshan textbook/ RPH text book whichever you are more comfortable with.
2. Go through the solved case studies and understand them well.
3. Make Notes in this order –
Long answer questions, Short notes, Distinguish between and Concepts. (follow this pattern as it ensures that most of the matter is covered in the long answer questions and you do nit make repeat notes for the concepts that repeat themselves in the short notes and concepts)
While you make notes, do not write elaborate answers in order to mug up. Write the important sub-headings and supply relevant diagrams for your understanding. These notes will come very handy during exam time and do make sure they are legible and clear.
Once all the questions from the chapters are covered, take up past year’s University papers and make notes for all the questions there that you missed out while making notes earlier.
This process should take 8-10 days to the max if done two hours a day rigorously.
Follow it up by learning from the important questions given at BMS.co.in/ your coaching classes/ college.
You can easily finish learning the entire subject within a span of 20 days and revise the subject really well so that during exam time this subject becomes one of your core contributor to the great grades you shall achieve.
If you are low on time then read the entire textbook, followed by learning answers from the questions given in the past university question papers and finally learn the important questions you have been given as mentioned above.
For your internal exams half an hour a day for a week is good enough to score really well.
The key is in writing great papers, with subjects like this everyone can write good papers you will stand apart when you write great papers. Completing your paper should not be an issue in this subject what will make a difference is the number of examples you quote and the way you structure your answers.
You absolutely cannot have a haphazard paper and a badly written answer because even a below average student will give out good answers in this subject. Work on your presentation skills and ensure you do good in minimum time that you are allotted.
What Notes can I refer?
1. BMS.co.in Notes for Retail Management
2. Managementparadise.com Notes for Retail Management
The Changing Face Of Retail Management:
Retail Management today has taken over a very different face. With technology becoming affordable of accessible to everyone retail management has an entirely new dimension of online retail booming the market.
The widespread availability of internet, the affordability of smartphones and a consumer who wishes to step out from the traditional mindset, the retail sector has everything going for it today.
Online shopping boom had started in the United States of america with sites like Amazon.com and Ebay taking over the retail segment owing to their convenience factor. You could shop from wherever you wanted at any given time and pay the cash on delivery. You could try your clothes at the convenience of your home and get it exchanged if you did not like it or it was defected.
You didn’t need to stand in lengthy exchange lines and argue with the shop owner just punch in the return receipt and vola your work was done. Today the same system has taken India by storm. Clothing, fashion, groceries, electronics, appliances, day to day goods you name it and there is an online retailer that specializes in it.
Initially we were restricted to websites but now with the mobile boom there are mobile apps for everything we need. These digitally advanced platforms make sure we sit in the comfort of our homes and with just the touch of a finger click away to our purchase in a span of minutes.
Management and marketing of the retail sector with this fast progressing segment is what has created the need for retail management all the more. Retail managers have a way more complicated and challenging tasks at their disposal as compared to he old physical store format.
The competition has risen way beyond what the industry could imagine of in the last decade and as a career option retail shows potential to be your next best step, the question remains do you wish to take it up?
Retail Therapy Anyone?
Retail therapy is the latest fad among youngsters today and it is quite a hit too! retail therapy refers to go on a shopping spree in order to ward away stress, depression, anxiety or just boredom. Dad’s credit card at hand and a bunch of crazy besties to support you raiding the mall has become a common exercise for teenagers and young adults alike.
The shop owners are not at all complaining to this sudden outburst of shopaholics who need shopping as an escape into a world where money can buy happiness! It’s strange and bizzare as a concept but stays with a lot of people and there are millions who vouch for its effectiveness across the globe!
Retail therapy like all weird obsessive fad’s has its origin with the spoilt rotten, million celebrities of Hollywood who are aped at everything they do by our own brand of tinsel ville back home.
The film fraternity and their page 3 lives are the source of the popularity of the retail therapy trend and many of college goers have taken to this quite seriously. BMS folks love their affordable hill road, linking road and fashion street shopping, we also galore the malls for the much needed branded additions to our wardrobe, and why not are we any less than the celebrities of our own college?
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