Viacom's MTV plans to develop a themed restaurant chain that will offer virtual reality technology and merchandise, in addition to food.
The preceding is a good example of how a career-minded retail professional must stay abreast of demographic trends and changing lifestyles and be ready to support high-risk decisions with facts. Retailing often is on the cutting edge of technology. Retail stores were the first to use videos on continuous loop in stores to stimulate customer awareness and interest in apparel products. Retailers are the first to sell in cyberspace and will be the first tousle virtual reality to let shoppers "try on" clothes or experience home furnishings or outdoor equipment, and so on.
- Manufacturers, hoping to differentiate their brands from private-label brands, are increasingly opening their own retail outlets. Dr. Martins, Levi Strauss, Nike, and other large manufacturers are now increasingly appearing on streets and in malls as retailers.
- There is an increasing trend toward environmentally friendly "eco-stores." Recycling as a concern and reality is reflected in the merchandising of consumer goods. Analysts predict other retailers will adopt these concepts.
Why haven't you heard about retailing before this? There are three principal reasons why math students don't have the opportunity to seriously consider retail careers upon graduation. First and foremost is that the subject of retailing is a science unto itself It is serious big business that incorporates healthy doses of psychology, human behavior, and intuition along with high tolerance for taking risks. The second obvious reason many students fail to consider retail is that retail puts no special premium on the attainment of college degree. Of course, if you entered the executive suite of our largest retailers, everyone you meet would have a college degree. So would most of the preeminent retail managers, sales managers, and buyers. The third reason students don't take a more serious look at retailing as they graduate haste do with a misperception of retailing in the hierarchy of American jobs.
Let's take a look at a typical college job fair. Math majors are going to be attracted to the large corporations, and the prestige and esteem of classic "management" positions if not the more traditional statistics or actuarial positions. The retailers may also be at this job fair, but since math major's haven t had any in-depth exposure to retail careers in their major, all they're apt to see is store management and sales associate jobs. They don't consider the potential there.
The plain and simple reality is that almost any of the retailers present at that job fair will offer careers with more latitude, more fiscal responsibility, more decision-making authority, and more downright opportunities to takeoff (or crash and burn). Retailers will offer even more than any of the narrowly defined, computer-terminal-in-a-cubicle positions that exist beyond the impressive facades of the corporate management positions. Retailing is about giving talented people an opportunity to chart their own course, within the retailer s overall concept, for as long as any particular concept remains profitable. Retailing listens to employees' reasoning, and if it finds it sound, will support their decisions to add product lines, expand selling space, branch out into new markets, or redefine their image.
"Merchandising" is a term used to describe all the buying and selling activities within a store or chain. Merchandise managers decide what to buy based on what will sell. These are immensely complicated decisions. For example, if you are a buyer for men's shirts for a large chain, you must, months in advance of the selling season, choose from among hundreds of fabric possibilities (all cotton, nylon, silk, and blends) weaves (oxford, cambric, poplin, broadcloth, point-on-point, twill), collar styles (button down, tab, many varieties of spread collars, and collarless), cuff styles (French, buttoned) and, of course, price points at which all these various shirt models will be sold. Budget for shirts alone in a large branch department store could be hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars a season. If you are thinking spreadsheets, you're right on target!
People who succeed and rise to the top in retail are people who have the best sense of what their market will buy-and learn how to make the complex decisions (such as the example above) that will satisfy their particular market. They develop this strong sensitivity by mixing with the market "on the floor." A good merchandiser stays in touch with his or her customers by working the floor, selling merchandise, hearing complaints and praise about the products, and watching and noting the gender, age, and buying considerations of the public.
Retailing touches upon investment strategies, the costs of carrying inventory, pricing strategies, risk management, and many other planning tools that are highly sophisticated and require superb quantitative skills-in addition to decision-making ability and good communication skills, leadership, previous retail exposure, and the ability to juggle an ever-changing workload in fast-paced environment. In retailing, what you can do and who you are counts more than degree attainment. The following ad for a major national retail chain store manager makes this point:
Retailing is a field where you can jump right in and start a career if you are people-oriented, service-oriented, and willing to take advantage of opportunities. Retail personnel are in the front lines of getting the product to the consumer. They are the final marketing intermediaries. Customer contact and customer service is the key to unlocking the consumers' interest in purchasing your product. Customer contact provides the answers to ordering and pricing mysteries. Customer service is an art and a science, made up of both analytical and communications skills. It is these distinctions that keep your customers coming back.
Definition of the Career Path for Buyer/Merchandising Trainee
Buyers are those individuals whose job it is to choose merchandise. Most buyers actually spend only a small percentage of their working year in the buying process. And yes, for some shoes or leather articles, buying might take place in Italy, but more than likely, most buying will occur at a buying exposition for small leather goods in a convention hall in Atlanta or Dallas. Buyer jobs are hard work, and they are also highly quantitative in their orientation.
As a trainee buyer, you'll work under the supervision of a senior buyer. You'll need to learn to anticipate your customers' shopping needs several seasons before the merchandise is in the store. You will find yourself considering a variety of issues. Will men switch to a two-button suit? Will misses-size women tolerate a shorter skirt length? How many of each size children's shoe to order? And so on. There are mountains of paperwork and sometimes daily reports of sales to analyze. And, if you haven't bought right, your mistakes stare back at you from store shelves!
You'll learn to negotiate with vendors on costs, delivery dates, and shared advertising budgets. You'll work with store staff on merchandise displays, and you gain experience, you will take on more responsibility in each of these areas. Before too long, you will be in charge while your senior buyer is away. Some organizations will require that your training include a stint in store management, so you may spend some time in a branch store. Promotion to buyer positions can take two to five years. Realize, however, that this movement to middle management is faster than in many other industries. Economic ordering models are critical for most retailers and absolutely essential for the biggest. The position listed below demonstrates an understanding that to get the best person for the job, they need someone with a math background.
