What Does a Retail Manager Do?
Retail jobs are among the largest employers of people in the US. The vast number of workers who are employed in the retail industry account for the high number of retail management jobs that are held in this country. As of 2006, 2.2 million people were employed in retail management. "Retail stores", broadly defined, can include all of the following:
- Grocery stores
- Clothing stores
- Furniture stores
- Automobile dealerships
- Hardware stores
- Building material suppliers
- Variety stores
A retail manager will answer customers' calls, take care of complaints, order merchandise for the store, take care of vendors, and supervise the truck deliveries for merchandise. In other words, retail managers wear many hats. They must also be ready to work on holidays as these are busy times for retail outlets. Retail jobs for managers will also entail overseeing all the departments within the store.
When a sale is coming up, a retail manager may coordinate with the departments within his or her store to get signs made and hung letting people know when the sale is in progress. These are all very important aspects to being a store manager. These managers must show that they can handle all the responsibilities associated with such a position.
The policies and guidelines handed down from the corporate level must be put into action. The person responsible for handling this is the retail manager. One of the aspects of the manager's responsibilities is making sure that the inventory and sales are up to standards. If not, the retail manager must find out what's wrong and report to corporate what measures are being taken to correct the problem or problems.
What Education Is Required to Become a Retail Manager?
The education required of a retail manager can vary depending upon the type of position for which one is applying. A manager with a bachelor's degree or associate's degree in business or management or sales has a better chance of landing a job at some companies. Knowledge of computers, cash registers, sales, and contracts is among of the attributes that will allow you to find the best retail manager positions.
A retail job search for a management position may require that you have previous experience in sales. Many times, a manager will have started as a salesperson and learned all they could about every aspect of the company until they were ready to manage the business. From sales to customer service to the procedures and expectations of the company for which he or she works, a retail manager must know a lot about everything the company does.
Some corporations have training programs for their retail managers. They may take required courses and receive a certification before they are allowed to move into the management positions. Often managers will work as assistant managers for a period of time under a seasoned manager before being assigned such a position. To assure that the position is being filled by someone who knows all aspects of the company's requirements, there may be training for the following areas:
- Budgeting
- Marketing
- Management
- Finance
- Purchasing
- Human resources
What Are the Earnings of a Retail Manager?
The supervisors of retail stores are normally salaried employees. The median earnings are typically around $33,960 per year. The average was between $26,490 and $44,570. The high end was more than $59,710 per year, and the low end was less than $21,420. The salaries were higher for those who were in the business of selling building supplies. Grocery stores were second in terms of salaries, and clothing stores came in third. General merchandise stores paid the lowest when it came to retail managers.
The different levels of compensation vary by the types of merchandise in which stores specialize. Some managers, however, receive commissions in addition to their salaries, and depending on the number of sales, some managers may receive bonuses that are as much as their salaries.
