Online Undergraduate Certificate in Retail Management

Students will define the basics of retail management functions, principles and techniques found in today's marketplace. Students will also explore ideal characteristics and responsibilities of an effective department or store manager ranging from legal and safety scenarios to understanding the role and importance of logistics to various retail establishments. Embedded in this study of retail organization fundamentals is a focus on the individual, as a contributor, their roles and responsibilities in the retail environment. While, the organizational structure of a retail store may vary by the size and type of the business, most tasks involved with operating a retail business are similar. Some exceptions that are studied include the reality that small or independent retail stores may combine many sectors together under one division, while larger stores create various divisions for each particular function along with many layers of management. A small specialty shop may have all of its employees under one category called Store Operations. A large department store may have a robust staff consisting of a manager, assistant manager and sales associates for its Sporting Goods department, Home and Garden, Bed and Bath, and each additional department. Students will have the opportunity to explore these variations.

Students will receive an introduction to customer relations principles including the concepts and practices for delighting customers in ways that lead to effective customer satisfaction. Students will be introduced to the basics of customer relations functions, describe ideal characteristics of good customer relations, and apply them to individuals in both small and large retail organizations. Customer relations is the front line interface between an organization and its constituents. How customers are greeted and treated can influence decisions to do business with a particular retail enterprise. Effective customer relations strategies include effective listening, oral and written communication, analytical and problem solving skills and teamwork based on the organization's commitment to meet customer needs while making customers feel welcome and valued. Customer service in this class is focused on applications and recognition of professional skills and culture required in a retail environment to provide outstanding customer service. Also included will be a discussion of impact that poor customer relations can have on company reputation, retail success and sustainability of customer loyalty. Methods and approaches to addressing problems will be applied including management of conflicts when they occur.

Retail inventory management is a strategic factor in retail environment success. In this course students review Retail inventory management processes and methods used to keep track of stock. These methods control ordering, shipping, receiving, tracking inventory, retail turn-over, and storage. Retail inventory management is a significant factor in managing a business’ profits at a steady margin as well as reducing theft and loss of inventory. Many retail businesses lose money every year because they do not have a successful inventory management system in place. Students will review the following functions for a retail business: Tracking and managing the inventory for the business to keep up with store markdowns; Evaluating how well groups of products perform in sales; Provides analysis for comparison shopping with competitors; Collecting data on the sales and inventory of individual stores using SKU; and Methods to accurately review inventory. Students will distinguish between large and small retail organizations, and variations in inventory management based upon the nature of the inventory (perishable, seasonal, fashion, etc) An analysis of skills, tools, and resources required for effective inventory management will be reviewed, as well as strategies for keeping inventory current and ways to identify and mitigate inventory management challenges and risks in order to support retail organization profitability.

This course enables students to identify, define, and explain risk situations and to develop management concepts, techniques and processes and understand from a company perspective the impact of safety and compliance policies. To understand risk management students will examine risk management origins and trends from an insurance perspective in retail and develop skills in interpreting the impact that unresolved risk management issues can have on compliance, safety and the bottom line. Risk management is about insurance and developing policies to mitigate risk. This strategic focus and its application are covered in this class.

During this course, students will develop a basic vocabulary and application of finance functions and principles. Students will describe the importance of knowing retail based calculations such as retail pricing, markup, and gross profit. They will relate the concepts of retail math (initial margin, markdown, shrinkage, gross profit dollars and percents) to finance and to the overall business success of the retail enterprise. They will define and apply ending inventory, retail cost, cost compliment, net profit, net sales, controllable expense, and non-controllable expense. Students will examine how retail finance can be applied to products and services in a wide variety of situations and how to review a project and evaluate the financial situation.

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.