One of the pillars of Indian economy is its retail marketing accounting for about 22 percent of its GDP. Retail market involves the process of procuring merchandise from retail stores by customers for their personal use. Retailing in India may be organized where the licensed retailers take up the trade activities which include supermarkets and retail chains or it may be unorganized; the local corner shops, convenience stores and pavement vendors are all unorganized retailers.
The retail marketing in India is one of the top five retail markets and is also one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world. India has topped A K Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) for three consecutive years.
Initially, the retailing industry in India comprised of small shops which has gradually been taken over by supermarkets and convenience stores. With market reforms being introduced by the Central Government, retailing is also open to companies like Nike and Apple among others.
Some of the retailing groups operating in India are Pantaloon Retail, Spencer’s Retail, Reliance Retail, Shoppers Stop, Birla More, Bharti Retail, Lifestyle Retail, Tata Trent and Future Group.
Career Scopes in Retail Marketing
The tremendous expansion of retail marketing has also invited big companies from various sectors like telecommunications, auto, oil, textile and many others to invest in retail marketing. This industry has various scopes ranging from branding to marketing. For those interested in retail marketing and having a degree from a retail management institution, this is the convenient time to tap their resources.
The retail industry offers job opportunities in inventory management, operations management, sales and marketing, supply chain management and public relations. Merchandizing, which means buying of goods on sale and selling the same to customers, is a good career option in retail marketing.
Software jobs is another prospect as retail industry now involves customer management software and point-of-sale terminal customization. People can work in various departments such as store management and inventory management departments and also be employed as retail advertisers and sales executive.
Initially, one can join the retail industry as a management trainee and work his / her way up. Store managers supervise the store procedures and also work of the employees. Department managers look after a full department while a group of retail stores are looked after by the retail managers.
Various Types of Job Profiles with Online Retail Companies
With technology taking over, retailing or e-commerce is also possible online. This has made shopping convenient and life easier for the public as shopping can be done from home, office or even while travelling.
People can work as online retail merchandising manager, e-commerce retail specialist, online store assistant or merchandising associate, outside account executive, sales specialist, customer support executive, online store co-coordinator, e-commerce project manager or manager and e-commerce team leader.
Facing a Retail Interview
As with any other interview, an applicant would have to prepare thoroughly before appearing for the interview for selection into the retail business. Candidates must be dressed formally and ladies should take care to put minimum make-up. One should look into the eye of the interviewer and be honest with the answers; excuses should be avoided.
The candidate will then have to face a barrage of questions from the members of the interview board. The most probable questions might be:
Reasons for applying to the particular store and how the applicant views the brand
- Any previous experience that the applicant might have had and questions relating to the previous employment and the management
- Reasons for leaving the previous job
- How would the applicant handle a tough situation and also to describe a tough situation with a customer which the applicant had converted into a sale
- Does the applicant feel that the customer is always right?
- The board members might like to know the expected salary
- The most important question: why the company should hire the applicant
The labor work force in India employed in retailing business, both organized and unorganized is about one-third of that of United States and Europe. Reforms in retail marketing leading into expansion and productivity on a scale on par with United States would result in the creation of 50 million jobs in India.
