Retail management is a complex process that envelops a broad spectrum of activities, including a careful analysis of customer demand and behavior, different types of marketing, brand management, savvy financial management techniques, and the selling of merchandise to customers through brick-and-mortar or e-commerce stores.
Retail management is effective and profitable when it caters to customer needs, giving them the best bang for the buck. It involves a whole process of evaluating demand and ensuring supply in a way that helps businesses strike the right balance between customer satisfaction and growing profits.
Retail management covers both brick-and-mortar stores, as well as online platforms, although there are clear differences between the two modes.
Traditional stores sell merchandise in physical stores, which customers can visit during business hours only. Their advantage is that shoppers can physically inspect, touch, and evaluate products.
On e-commerce platforms, you can shop around the clock, but you miss out on the traditional shopping experience. This shapes the ways in which retail managers develop and manage their business models.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the trends, careers, placements and specialized MBA programs (MBA Specializations) in the retail industry and how you can land your dream job in retail management.
Trends in retail industry
Over the last couple of decades, the retail industry has faced multiple challenges. Labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and digital transformation have been driving retail managers out of their comfort zones to seek new and unconventional ways of doing business.
The industry took a hit with the advent of the pandemic, although it was able to rebound strongly.
According to Deloitte’s “2022 Retail Industry Outlook,” senior retail executives are optimistic about revenue growth in 2022.
Fifty-four percent of the respondents project growth of up to 5 percent, while 32 percent expect growth of 5 percent or more.
MBA in retail management scope
Retail managers have multiple roles in the industry. These range from managing budgets and financial records, managing stocks, and analyzing sales data to dealing with customer grievances, recruiting and managing staff, and liaising with head offices.
With e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon and Alibaba, retailers have to deal with technology, the brand, and last-mile delivery.
MBA in retail management syllabus, subjects
The core courses covered during the MBA programs including marketing, finance, operations, supply chain and strategy have a direct bearing on the skills and knowledge required in the retail industry.
This would imply that a general MBA is one of the most relevant and sought-after degrees for pursuing a career in retail management, though there are a handful of colleges that do offer a specialization in this sector.
Business schools that do offer MBA programs in retail management are ahead of the curve in terms of making these programs relevant and demand-driven. In practice, this means a greater emphasis on digital strategy, cybersecurity, business analytics, consumer psychology and brand management.
Although few and far between, the MBA programs in retail management are cutting-edge and innovative, so you get a degree that perfectly meets the challenges of today’s fast-evolving business world.
The MBA programs can also capitalize on the emerging opportunities to incorporate technology, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation into their curricula to further enhance their relevance to the current needs of both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce businesses.
Top Colleges for MBA in Retail Management
UCLA Anderson MBA
MBA students can opt for the retail career path. Students can choose from electives including advertising & marketing communications, business analytics, consumer behavior, brand management, new product development, business plan development, marketing strategy & planning, global supply chain management, price policies, digital marketing analytics among others.
Following are the functions that UCLA Anderson grads takeup in the retail industry: digital/e-commerce, strategy, marketing, corporate finance, supply chain and buying
Columbia Business School
The Retail and Luxury Goods club at Columbia Business School has over 300 members and 4000 alumni coming from retail background as well as other industries.
The club aims at connecting students with alumni and industry professionals and providing networking opportunities. Since inception, the club has successfully managed to match 800+ roles in the industry.
Virginia Darden School of Business
Darden offers an industry-focus elective in Retail and Luxury Goods. There’s a retail and luxury goods club students can be part of.
Students can get involved in a host of activities including career treks, alumni networking and conferences focusing on retail and luxury. Students are able to pursue jobs in supply chain management/operations, finance, marketing, strategy, merchandizing, procurement and sustainability.
The club helps students connect with alumni and potential recruiters assisting them with internship and job opportunities.
HEC Paris
HEC Paris has a Retail and Luxury club and provides opportunities to MBA students to gain industry insights from their network of alumni, professors and industry experts.
Students can take advantage of studying in the world’s fashion capital. There are company visits where students get a chance to take a peek into the inner working of some of the world’s topmost brands.
Other involvements include cultural events as well as gaining perspectives through discussions with company executives and getting inputs on challenges they face and the company’s future strategy.
York – Schulich School of Business
The MBA program offers a specialization in Global Retail Management. There is a good choice of electives to choose from.
Students can gain industry exposure through projects as well as industry guest speakers, international cases and applied examples. Around 10% of the most recent batch (2021) got placed in retail and consumer packaged goods industry.
Imperial College Business School
The FMCG, Luxury Goods and Retail Club aims at helping students gain industry insights, future trends, build a network through events, engagement through networking platform and information sessions, exchange between students and companies.
Students get updated on the various opportunities in the industry, industry events by partner business schools, and the latest trends and developments. Various events are organised by the club including hackathons, panels, spotlights and connecting with industry professionals.
Oxford – Said Business School
“Oxford Institute of Retail Management” is a research initiative at Said Business School focusing on national, European as well as international projects. MBA students can benefit from electives like artificial intelligence & advanced analytics in marketing, advertising & retail.
What if you can’t find a good MBA in retail management?
Despite the broad scope of responsibilities and required business skills, it may seem like the world’s top business schools have snubbed the retail industry as there are only a handful of MBA programs that offer specialization in retail.
However, even a general management program equips MBA grads with a broad range of transferrable skills and knowledge that can be applied to the retail sector.
For example, the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management MBA program does not provide any specialization in retail, yet 27% of the MBA class of 2021 got placed in the consumer packaged goods and retail industry.
You may also find programs that focus on a niche within the broader retail industry.
For example, you’ll find several programs on Luxury Brand Management, if that’s an area you want to get into.
MBA in Luxury Management colleges
London Business School’s Luxury Management program in collaboration with Walpole British Luxury, encompasses over 250 leading UK brands.
It is designed to pave the way for the advent of a new generation of leaders in the luxury goods sector, drawing on consulting and mentorship projects led by the likes of Bentley Motors and Diageo. MBA students with an interest in this sector can get a chance to be part of this great learning opportunity.
Some other schools include:
– NYU Stern MBA offers specialization in Luxury Marketing
– SDA Bocconi MBA offers concentration in Luxury Business Management
– ESSEC global MBA has a major in Luxury Brand Management
You may be interested in:
Masters Degree (MS) in Luxury Brand Management
Retail management jobs
The placements in this industry across some bschools is quite impressive. According to Bloomberg, among the schools covered in the survey, here are some of the business schools with the highest percentage of hires.
Yale was at 10% with 24 MBA grads taking up jobs in the retail sector, Kelley was at 9.1% with 10 hires, Florida Warrington had 7 hires at 15.6%, Texas – Dallas Jindal had 5 hires at 13.2%, SDA Bocconi had 8 hires at 11.3%, Georgia Tech – Scheller had 5 hires at 7.8%, Ohio – Fisher had 4 hires at 6.8% while EDHEC had 4 hires at 6.9%.
Syracuse Whitman with a small class size saw 3 students go into retail comprising 23.1% of the total hires, similarly ESMT Berlin had 4 hires at 22.2%.
The retail industry ranked seventh highest in the overall placements. The average percentage of hires across all schools involved in the survey was 2.1%.
Though this number appears miniscule, the job market in this industry is not all that bleak. The silver lining is that this field has lesser candidates applying for a job compared to other fiercely competitive fields like consulting and finance, so as a job applicant you’ll face lesser competition.
The retail industry is huge, and so is the demand for highly qualified retail professionals to join both brick-and-mortar and online retail companies, so you can be assured there is no dearth of good jobs in this sector.
Average salary after MBA in retail management
According to Bloomberg, among the schools surveyed, the highest median salary in retail industry was that of Northwestern Kellogg at $150,000, next was IMD at $144,000, then came Wharton at $140,000 followed by Harvard at $135,000.
Yale, Darden and Jindal had a tie with an average of $130,000.
Among the non-US bschools, EDHEC had an average of $108,229, ESMT Berlin was at $103,765, at IESE Business School, it was $97,482, ESADE was at $81,104, CEIBS was at $63,079, Queen’s Smith was at $79,507.
How to find MBA in retail management job
It is best practice to consider applying to a business school based in a geographical area that you’d be interested in working in after program completion.
This is a strategic decision because it provides opportunities to benefit from the school’s linkages with locally based businesses. Start building your network in the industry early on, reach out to alumni networks, and draw on the wealth of their experiences, opportunities, and feedback.
Another well-tested strategy is to seek internship opportunities during the course of your MBA program.
Whether a brick-and-mortar retail store chain or an e-commerce platform, you can significantly bolster the impact of academic learning by acquiring hands-on experience through internship. This also helps improve the odds of landing your plum job with the company after you obtain your MBA degree.
Check out internship opportunities online, study the requirements and development opportunities carefully, and pick one that meets your career aspirations best. See if you can benefit from university placements or search for relevant opportunities on your own, drawing on established links and networks.
Scour online social media and professional platforms to keep abreast of all emerging opportunities.
Key takeaways
Since the range of MBA programs offering retail specializations are relatively limited, it may appear that the retail industry is underserved by the world’s top business schools.
However, a general MBA program helps you pick up a wide range of skills to find your targeted job in retail.
This is evident from the fact that many programs without a retail specialization have a high placement record in retail and related fields.
In order to land your post-MBA job, you should be strategic and deliberate in your approach.
Seek internship opportunities, proactively build professional networks, and target the top business schools in locations where you plan to ultimately land your job.
Also read:
– Managing expectations and inventory top challenges for online retailers says Babson Professor
– Masters (MS / MBA) in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
– Specialized Masters Programs
References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, | Photo: Joshua Rawson-Harris (Unsplash)
