Students in this course will use analytical techniques for diagnosing the competitive position of retail focused strategy and to discover specific retail options. They will discover the strategic perspectives of retail management by examining essential concepts in the retailing industry, determining and calculating how retail businesses increase returns, and determining ways they create economic value for owners and stakeholders. Students will contrast how today’s managers assess and implement strategies and apply planning used by successful retailers. They will explore the retailer’s role in society providing insights as to how consumers behave as shoppers, what retailers do to create demand as well as their role in satisfying customer demands. In addition, students will discuss strategy from the perspective of planning for success as well as identifying challenges and problems that occur when retailers do not react to rapid changes in the marketplace to remain competitive and meet the ever-changing demands of the consumer.

Retail Operations involves managing the day-to-day functions of retail establishments like department stores, grocery stores and specialty shops. This course is concerned with the formulation and analysis of these operations and the policies that collectively determine how a retail oriented business positions itself to increase its returns and create economic value for its owners and stakeholders. Students will be introduced to analytical techniques for diagnosing the competitive position of retail focused strategy, and identifying and analyzing specific retail operation options (consisting of such things as the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, a department store or kiosk, or by post, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Students will cover the functions and applications of various retail operations theory and the needs of today’s managers in assessing and implementing retail operations used in the supporting functions in the workplace.

Students in this course will review retail merchandising operations Retail selling effort is the principal task of in-store sales personnel through the use of promotions designed by a manufacturer, such as unique displays, giveaways, or discount and premium offers. In this case, merchandising is the act of managing and arranging the merchandise on display in a store so as to promote its sale. Its importance in a competitive market to include the relationship between retail merchandising operations and corporate profitability will be examined. Students will discover the various retail merchandising operations including planning, organizing, staffing, directing, leading and controlling, as well as analyzing the competitive market and how the many different concepts of retail merchandising operations are needed for today’s managers to continue to increase profits for their shareholders. Students will discover how today’s competitive and global organizations utilize techniques and resources to succeed and remain profitable.