Introduction to Retail Management
3 – 5 hours per week
Course Information
Course Length   : 6 weeks
Estimated Effort : 3 – 5 hrs per week
Course Overview
Introduction to Retail Management by IIMBx is a course designed to unravel the business model of a retail business across any sector. In this course, we will try defining and discussing various retail formats and their evolution with the help of various theories and practical scenarios.
The objective of the course is to introduce the basic concepts of retailing to the participants. The key takeaways from this course are- understanding how a retail business works; the core issues and challenges involved; the key terms and terminologies associated and an appreciation of Indian retail sector.
This course contains ideas, concepts, and real-life examples to make the learning process engaging and informative. To explore the nuances in this course, we will use a combination of videos, graded and ungraded assignments, discussion forums, and a proctored exam.
Professor Ashis Mishra
Marketing
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
Course Syllabus
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 modelsÂ
- What is the future in E-tailing? Consequences?
Upon successful completion of this course, learners should be able to:
- Define retail business and identify its working mechanisms
- Explain the retail business model for brick and mortar formats in detail
- Define the various constituents of retail strategy
- Develop and sustain a competitive advantage in retail sector
- Define the practical tools and techniques of retail strategy
This is a beginner-level course suitable for anyone willing to learn the basics of Retail Management.