Is an MBA in Retail Management a good career choice?

An MBA in retail management is a 2-year post-graduate programme that helps students to develop the necessary skills like communication skills, retail sales techniques, etc., to deal with the retail process, and to apply for jobs in the retail sector. Read to learn more about the MBA in Retail Management and how it can be a beneficial choice for your career. 

What do you learn in an MBA in Retail Management programme?

An MBA programme teaches students about different aspects of management and how it can be used to bring people together to work towards a common objective. When this idea of management is infused with retail business, it becomes a specialised MBA programme in Retail Management. 

An MBA in Retail Management offers students insight into the fundamentals of retail management and helps them to develop adequate skills to tackle real-world problems. An MBA in Retail Management teaches all the details of the retail sector, from acquiring products from the manufacturer to putting them on the shelves of a retail store. 

Retail management involves different stages, ranging from product manufacturing, transportation of products, and logistics, to placing the final product in the store for the customer to purchase. In short, a retail manager ensures customers can buy their required products without interruptions, and the retail process goes on without hiccups.

An MBA in Retail management is a specialised course that allows individuals to become experts in the retail sector or better future professionals responsible for developing retail policies and techniques.

A specialised MBA programme in Retail Management teaches students different ways to streamline the retail market. It teaches them ways to incorporate knowledge from the IT world in the retail sector to refine the retail process. Some of the subjects included in the MBA in Retail Management syllabus are listed below – 

• Retail Planning
• Retail Sales Techniques
• Sales Promotions
• Logistics
• Business in Government and Society
• Corporate Communication
• Business Management
• Accounts and finance 
• IT in Retail 
• International Retail 

Also read: Important concepts to learn during an MBA in Retail Management

Why should you do an MBA in Retail Management?

The obvious answer to this question might be, if you have an interest in the retail sector and want to pursue a career in it, then you should opt for this programme. The programme would be beneficial for you if you want to switch your career to the retail sector.

An MBA in Retail Management teaches you the two most important skills required to survive in this competitive sector: communication skills and business management. When you pursue an MBA programme, these are the two basic yet most important skills that you should focus on as they will immensely help in your career building.

As the retail market is growing, there is a high demand for graduates specialised in this field. As there aren’t many skilled retail managers available, companies don’t mind paying high salaries to skilled retail managers. With the increasing scope in this sector, the future in this field is bright, and opportunities are growing fast. Thus, this programme would be a great choice for individuals to build a solid career.

Job roles after an MBA in Retail Management

The retail sector includes many industries allowing individuals to pursue different jobs after the programme. You can choose from various retail management jobs that are available:

Retail Manager

The job of a retail manager is to ensure that the daily operations in a store go on smoothly. They make sure everything works fine and develop strategies to maximise sales and minimise costs. 

Store Manager 

The role of a store manager includes developing techniques to increase customer traffic, expanding the store chain, and increasing the customer satisfaction rate.

Supply Chain Manager 

They are responsible for managing and strengthening a company’s product supply chain. They ensure products hit the market on time. They try to minimise logistical costs and make the supply chain more efficient and capable. 

Brand Manager 

A brand manager is responsible for developing strategies to build a brand in the market. Whenever a company launches a new brand, its success depends on the strategies of the brand manager, often called brand guardians or brand builders. 

Product Manager

A product manager is part of the core team of any company. He plays an important role in every stage of product development, from designing new products to launching them in the market. 

Merchandiser 

They are responsible for ensuring that products appear in the right store or website and hit the market at the right time and in adequate quantities. They maintain and plan the stock levels and coordinate with the supply chain manager. 

Marketing Executive 

They study the market and develop marketing strategies according to the needs of the customers. These strategies help the company better promote products, ideas, or services.

Warehouse manager 

They look after the storage and dispatch the goods. They play an important role in increasing the efficiency of the supply chain. They ensure that goods are received or dispatched to meet the company targets on time. 

Salary in the retail sector

The salary range of a retail store manager is between ₹ 2.2 Lakhs to ₹ 7.9  Lakhs, depending on their skills and years of experience.

Job profile	Average salary
Retail manager	₹ 5.0 LPA
Store manager	₹ 4.0 LPA
Supply chain manager	₹ 10.0 LPA
Brand manager	₹ 12.0 LPA
Product manager	₹ 16.3 LPA
Merchandiser	₹ 3.5 LPA
Marketing Executive	₹ 2.7 LPA
Warehouse Manager	₹ 4.8 LPA

Top recruiters in India

Many big companies run recruitment programmes to help you get a job easily. Here are some of the top recruiters in the retail sector 

• ITC Retail
• Amazon 
• TATA group of companies
• Reliance Foundation
• Aditya Birla Retail
• Trent Group 
• Avenue Supermarts Ltd
• Shoppers Stop
• Titan Company
• Future Retail Group 
• RPG Retail 

Retail skills that you acquire after an MBA in Retail Management

 

As discussed earlier, pursuing an MBA degree specialising in the field of retail management will help you hone your skills and teach you modern techniques that an individual requires to establish themselves in the retail world. 

• Business awareness – An MBA programme will always keep you alert and motivate you to stay updated with different modern business techniques. 
• Interpersonal skills – For selling products, you should be able to present yourself and the company in front of investors or customers, and for that, you need to have good communication skills, which can be developed after an MBA in Retail management.
• Selling skills – Selling skills is the most basic yet essential skill you will master after an MBA in Retail Management. It will teach you selling tactics that will help you to sell products and services.
• Numeracy – Anyone who wants to manage a business should know how to deal with numbers. When talking about the role of a retail manager, they should know how to play with numbers to benefit the company they are working for, and an MBA in Retail Management provides them with the necessary skills. 
• Cultural awareness – When you jump into the retail market, you get to know how different cultures influence the retail market. To grab the advantage, one needs to be culturally aware, and this skill can be learned when you are able to read and understand the market. It is an advanced skill that you will acquire after an MBA programme. 
• Time management skills – An MBA programme also helps you to develop time management skills along with communication skills. Timing your strategies is a crucial skill required for any kind of management, be it a small-sized store or a big business which can be mastered through this programme.
• Customer service  – The main task of a retail manager is to handle the customers and offer them excellent service. Good customer service skills are necessary for individuals to survive in this competitive space and can be learned through an MBA in Retail Management. 
• Multitasking – When working in the role of a retail manager, you need to manage multiple things simultaneously, like developing new retail policies while working on a presentation or implementing strategies to increase customer traffic while working on a company project. Multitasking can be developed through project-based training and teaching in an MBA programme.
• Team management – A retail manager is one of the core team members of any retail business, which means they have to coordinate with the rest of the team so that the company can function more efficiently. The feeling of teamwork can be incorporated through an MBA in Retail Management programme. Working in a team will help you become a better team leader, and thus, team management skills will play an important role in your professional career. 
• Resilience – When you are managing a business, there are always chances that you might incur some losses. Your strategies to recover your brand from those losses are what matters the most. Resilience is one of the essential skills to become a successful retail manager or entrepreneur. You can master this skill through an MBA programme. 

Skills developed during an MBA in Retail Management

• Business awareness

An MBA in Retail Management will help you develop proper Business awareness by teaching you advanced business techniques.

• Interpersonal skills 

An MBA in Retail Management also helps you develop and work on your interpersonal skills, which is vital for a job in the retail sector.

•  Selling skills 

An MBA in Retail Management will teach you various selling tactics, tips, and trade secrets to help you pursue a job in the retail sector.

• Customer service 

An MBA in Retail Management provides you with the skill of handling customers and teaches you various ways to provide exceptional customer service. 

• Multitasking 

A job role in the retail sector requires you to multitask in between the various job responsibilities, and an MBA in Retail Management teaches you how to multitask to manage different responsibilities.

• Team management 

An MBA in Retail Management teaches you how to manage a team since it is one of the essential responsibilities of a retail manager.

MBA in Retail Management – Scope and demand

The scope of retail management is huge and the career scope for a person with an MBA in Retail Management is endless. One can pursue different jobs in various fields in the retail sector as the job opportunities are never-ending. With the growing population, more and more retail outlets have been opening. It has increased the demand for skilled MBA graduates in the retail sector for the management and revenue generation of these stores. 

MBA in Retail Management graduates are in demand in both private and government sectors. Their roles can be front-end, like selling and marketing the product or connecting with the customers, or it could be back-end which includes CRM (Customer Relationship Management), retail analytics, product development, etc. We surely don’t know what the future will be like, but it is guaranteed that the retail sector will continue to evolve and grow to provide the best customer experience, be it online or offline. 

Check out: MBA Retail Management course details

An MBA in retail management helps you to stay relevant with today’s retail industry

 As the retail industry is undergoing several major changes, having an MBA degree in Retail Management will help you to stay updated and help you to overcome the challenges that might arise due to such major changes. An MBA in Retail Management can improve your employment portfolio drastically and help you stay relevant in the market. 

Launch your career in the retail industry with an MBA in Retail Management from Manipal University Jaipur

Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ) offers an excellent opportunity to develop the required skills to pursue a job in the retail sector with the MBA in Retail Management programme. The MBA programme in Retail management will help you gain future-ready knowledge and skills, which will help you grab better job opportunities and develop better earning potential and self-confidence. 

Here are some salient features of the course 

• After completing the programme, you are entitled to a UGC degree from a NAAC A+ certified university.
• Along with the degree, you can also access Coursera’s 50,000 certification programmes in multiple domains like business management, software development, data science, machine learning, etc., which are certified by top universities throughout the world.
• The curriculum of the course is designed to provide practical knowledge and information about real-world challenges to the students. 
• Along with lectures and projects, you also get insight into the industry with the help of webinars with industry experts that are organised regularly. 

Subjects offered in the course

• IT in Retail
• Rural Retailing
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Retail Customer Relationship Management 
• Operations Management 
• Entrepreneurship in Retail Busines
• Retail Marketing Environment

Course fee and duration 

MUJ’s online MBA programme specialising in Retail Management is a 2-year programme. The course fee is INR 1,50,000. If you are not comfortable making a one-time payment, you can opt for a flexible payment option that allows students to pay their fees in semester-wise instalments. They can also check their eligibility for scholarship programmes offered by MUJ or explore other no-cost EMI options. 

Conclusion

As the retail market continues to grow, the demand for qualified and experienced retail managers or experts is also growing. An MBA in retail management helps you develop the required skills to face the dynamic market and climb the corporate ladder quickly and easily. Due to the increasing population, the retail market will expand much faster, providing excellent job opportunities to individuals in the future.