Careers in Retail Management

Management as a field of study is becoming more and more popular day by day. Like other branches of management, retail management is also a promising and bright career option today with the proliferation of supply chains, shopping complexes, malls and multiplexes not only in metros but in newly developing cities as well. Retail management involves the distribution process of the product from manufacturers to ultimate consumers via short and convenient channels, i.e. retailers. Thus to keep track of the marketing ethics involved in retail, it needs trained professionals to manage these outlets.

Course Details
Retail Management is a professional programme which prepares a graduate to enter into the field of Retailing. Various Degree and Diploma level programmes are there in retail management like MBA (Retail Management), Post Graduate Diploma Program in Retail Management (PGPRM) and Diploma in Retail Management (DRM). The eligibility for most of these courses is graduation in any subject. For MBA (RM) students have to crack all India entrance tests like CAT, XAT, MAT and many more. Rules and regulation varies form institutes to institutes for admission into Post-graduate level courses. As regards diploma courses, these are open to all graduates from any background.

Career Prospects
India is one of the top ten emerging retail markets all over the globe. There are approximately 4.3 million retail outlets spread over the nation, which require about 3.25 million retail personnel at present. With such a huge potential retail management offers limitless job opportunities in supply chains, exporting houses and departmental stores. Manufacturing companies also recruit retail managers to reach out to the customers directly. Banking, finance and insurance companies also need professional retail managers to bring their products directly to the customer. IT and IT enabled services companies particularly in the field of telecommunication also require large numbers of retail mangers considering the recent boom in this sector. Besides these education and health care industry also absorb a large number of retail managers.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
To cope with the increasing demand for retail managers in the economy several institutes offer retail management courses in India. Some prominent among them are Narsee Monjee Institute of Management and Higher Studies, Mumbai; Birla Institute of Management and Technology, Noida; Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI), Hyderabad; IMT Distance and Open Learning Institute, Ghaziabad; Indian School of Retail, Delhi; Institute for Integrated Learning in Management, Gurgaon; K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai; Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai; National Institute of Business Management, Chennai; Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning, Pune and National Institute of Retail Management (NIRM), Bangalore.

Remuneration
Retail Management graduates normally start with a salary of Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month in private sector. With some quality experiences in retailing one can easily reaches up to 6-figure pay packages. Retail graduates from reputed institutes even touch 7-figure mark with 5-7 years of experiences.