Introduction to Retail Management

This course is an introduction to understanding retail business. In this course, we will try to unravel the business model of a retail business – essentially the brick and mortar segment.

We will define and discuss retail formats and deliberate the evolution of retail formats. We will use various theories and illustrations that explain the retail business as it is today.

Week 1: Understanding Basics of Retail Business

• What is Retailing?
• How does Retail business work?
• Retail verticals; Roles and responsibility, Organizational structure
• What is organized Retail?
• Why retail business is significant today?

Week 2: Understanding Retail formats and strategies

• Retail classification system and retail formats
• Traditional retail formats, mom and pop stores
• What is ideal for India? Consequences

Week 3: Retail Strategy Decisions: Merchandising, Pricing

• Retail strategy mix
• Merchandising basics.
• What is merchandising? implications
• Pricing basics, methods
• Retail pricing, consequences

Week 4: Retail strategy decisions.

• Retail distribution network
• Supply chain basics
• Warehousing, physical distribution, logistics, examples
• Basics of Retail Promotion.

Week 5: Retail scenario in emerging markets (India)

• What is emerging market? Why it is significant today? What is the retail scenario in emerging markets?
• Indian retail sector evolution in different sectors.
• Characteristics of Indian consumers
• Expert opinion on Indian retail sector – research reports analysis

Week 6: E-tailing

• Basics of E-tailing basics
• Various E-tailing business models 
• What is the future in E-tailing? Consequences?