Bachelor's Degree in Retail Management

Retail sales, not the most exciting career on the surface. However, I may start out with "and will there be anything else today?" but it certainly does not end there. You might think that you can't specialize in retail sales in college but you'd be wrong. There are a growing number of certificate training programs, generally one year or less, being offered at a number of colleges and universities. Does that mean you need a Bachelor's degree to sell perfume? Of course not, but having started your career on the "ground-floor" you might want to advance to management and that might just require a degree in management.

The interim step would be a Retail Sales Certificate program or a specialization in retail sales in pursuit of your Associates or Bachelors in business. A sale is an art more than a science and as such better learned in a live environment. Management however, is a science more than an art and requires bookwork. This career is the beginning of so many others because it is fundamental. There must be sales people or there will be no sales. Start your career training from any of the schools listed below. Many offer Bachelor's degree programs in retail management.

There are 4.5 million retail salespeople working in the U.S. that is a big chunk of the work force.

In 2013, there was a total of 4.1 trillion dollars in retail sales. The National Retail Federation expects a 2.5% growth. Yes, the recession hit retailers hard and that will continue but consider that an increase is expected in spite of that fact. Like restaurants, retail stores will always be a basic part of the economy and that fact means that the industry will grow. The future however, offers tantalizing possibilities such as virtual sales, international retail sales and other things we have not seen yet.

Qualities of a Good Retail Manager

Working in the retail market is very challenging and as a manager you’re responsible for not on the profitability of the company but of the day-to-day operations. When you enroll in a school to earn your Bachelor’s Degree in Retail Management you are taking that first important step towards reaching your career goals.

People Skills: Manage a team of individual with the common goal to support good customer service.

Leadership: Learn how to become a natural leader and work with corporate management.

Communications: All good managers must have good communication skills. The ability to listen, give orders and feedback to employees is a quality you should always be working on.

Passion: Do you have the passion to work retail? Do you love working with others as part of a team and be willing to go that extra mile to make the store you manage succeed?

Customer Focused: As Sam Walton once said “The customer is always right”. This statement holds true even today. Successful retail stores are successful because they listen to their customers.

Adaptive: In the world of online orders the retail market has had to adjust in order to stay in business. As a store retail manager you need to possess the ability to adapt to all sorts of changes.