Retail

How to Get Entry Level Retail Jobs

The people who occupy the positions of top level managers and executives in the retail industry are those who started off at the initial levels of customer service representatives or sales representatives. Many of them started off working part time during their college education, and after completing their degree, switched to full time work in the same industry. Even though all of these executives have different stories behind their success, there is some commonality that is shared by most of them: they started off at entry level retail jobs to earn a few bucks and ended up having a career out of it.

Many people who are interested in retail jobs wonder how these executives made their way up the ladder. What you should remember is that it requires utmost dedication on your part. When starting off as sales representatives, you must contribute the maximum in improving the image of your company in the eyes of customers. After all, the success of any retail business lies in the degree of satisfaction of its customers. The entire purpose of a retail business is to ensure that its customers get exactly what they want. Just offering good quality merchandise at affordable prices is not enough in retail. You must also complement it with customer service, which involves answering all their queries and helping them find what they are looking for in the store. If you wish to progress in this field, you must dedicate yourself solely to upholding high levels of customer service.

However, satisfying customers is not the only thing you need to do in order to be successful in retail jobs. In addition to this, you need to continuously apply the skills you acquire during your time in various departments and in various positions. Learning is a key aspect of advancement in this field. While you are busy honing your skills for customer service, there are several other skills you will acquire, such as being able to ring up sales in a short period of time, troubleshooting any problems faced by the customers, maintaining your calm and patience while the customer relates their problems and bombards you with questions and lastly having highly efficient communication skills to carry out all these functions.

While working in retail jobs, the people who are actually dedicated will soon be distinguished from those who have joined the business simply to earn a few extra bucks and to take advantage of the convenience and flexibility associated with them. If you are able to develop exceptional customer service skills, you are contributing directly towards increasing the profitability of the business and the employer is most likely to keep you for a long time.

Tips for Searching for Retail Jobs Online

If you have freshly graduated from college and are looking for a job, the retail sector is a worthwhile option. Finding retail jobs has become very convenient with the widespread use of the internet. However, before searching for these jobs online, there are several factors you should take into consideration that will help ensure that your search yields positive results.

When you are searching for retail jobs online, you must perform searches several times a day. This is primarily because the retail sector is growing at a very fast pace, as a result of which numerous job openings are made available on a daily basis. Even if you live in a very small city or town, you will still witness new jobs in the retail sector every day. Performing searches over and over again automatically means that you are improving your chances of getting hired in this sector. Another factor you must keep into consideration when performing the online job search is that you should use an application or a website that produces results from numerous job sites at the same time. The advantage of this is that you get to save a great deal of time, and you also get access to a significantly larger number of job sites.

Another factor to consider when searching for retail jobs online is to know which keywords to enter. For instance, regardless of whether you want to become a cashier, stocker or a customer services representative, you should search with the keyword “retail”. This will produce all the results that are available in the retail sector currently. If, on the other hand, you are absolutely sure of the position you wish to apply for, you should search with the name of that job title. For instance, for manager level jobs, you could search for “retail manager”. The above examples demonstrate that you need to know exactly when to be specific in your search and when to perform a general search.

Once you are done with the search for retail jobs, you must examine each job listing in detail. This ensures that you do not leave out any of the details when making a final decision about which ones to apply for. You must see if the job listing suits your capabilities and requirements. For instance, if a job requires you to work overnight and you cannot do so because of other responsibilities, you should immediately filter that listing from your search. Try to focus on the listings that meet the working hours you can fulfill and the qualifications and skills you possess.

Specialty Retail POS Systems : Graphical Management Dashboard

Specialty Retail POS Systems

Specialty retailers can be found in every community regardless of how big or how small that community is. By definition, a specialty retailer sells products that are more specialized and specific items. For example, cell phone outlets or video game stores are considered to be specialty retailers. Additionally, they have more specific needs and requirements where a POS system is concerned compared to other types of retail operations. A retail chain that specializes in a particular brand of clothing may also be defined as a specialty retailer.

As a result of this growing market, specialty retail POS systems have become more popular and even necessary. The type of POS system that you purchase will depend on the demands of your everyday business operations. Do you operate a single location or are there multiple ones? Is your retail business a “mom and pop” operation or are there a number of employees that you manage? These are just a couple of the questions you will need to answer when you start searching for a POS system that best facilitates the daily needs of your business.Home > Retail Industries > Specialty Retail

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Specialty Retail POS Software
The Radiant Retail Solution for Specialty Retailers

Specialty Retail POS Systems CounterPoint is customizable, allowing you to configure the software to fit the needs of your business. Our local support teams can tailor your solution how ever you see fit. Our portfolio of clients is diverse, including battery stores, apparel retailers, franchises, zoos and aquariums, universities, museums and coffee shops.The Radiant Retail Solution helps thousands of retailers of all sizes maximize their profit opportunity with a solution that is both innovative and time-tested.

CounterPoint includes a robust inventory management system, touchscreen point of sale (POS) ticket entry, built-in customer loyalty programs, automated purchasing and impressive reporting capabilities. Instant inventory updates let you know what’s in stock, on order, and in transit. Track your customers, control your purchasing, retain detailed sales history, or open an online store-CounterPoint includes everything you need to streamline your business and boost your bottom line. CounterPoint has all the features you need to efficiently and effectively operate your business at its fullest potential.

Features beneficial to Specialty Retailers:

* Three dimensional grid for inventory, ordering, and reporting in color/size/width
* Kits at point of sale for bundling items
* Graphical management dashboard
* Quick Reports-Create custom views of what you want to see, and how you want to view it. Add that View to a button in the POS for future reference
* Print admission tickets at the point of sale
* Manage sales, returns, orders, special orders, backorders, and layaways on the same ticket
* Track customers’ favorite colors, size, etc. with user-defined profile fields
* Suggest items, substitute items and link Items
* Robust Multi-store capabilities. Easily view and transfer items from store to store, while each store data is synchronized across multiple sites
* View your history from any point in time-6 months, 12 months, 2 years, or 20 years.
* Integrated credit. Radiant hardware builds in the credit card swipe directly on the terminal. Eliminating EOD transaction reconciliation and double-entry
* Open-database enables you to easily pull your information out of CounterPoint into other programs such as Microsoft Excel or Adobe Acrobat
* Wireless Inventory Scanning-With inventory management, handhelds are instrumental in streamlining receiving, counting, ordering, and audits
* Modern touchscreen interface allows you to train employees in 30 minutes
* Enhanced Security features

A specialty retail POS system can provide you with certain advantages that you normally don’t encounter with the traditional cash register and checkout operations such as:

o real-time visibility of the operation whether it is one location or multiple locations
o detailed information about your customers, inventory, and sales
o customer service applications

Additionally, if you have a larger business, the demands will be greater and a more advanced specialty retail POS system may be a wise choice. The key is to investigate the POS systems and the companies that sell them as thoroughly as possible in order to find the best quality at the best price. Naturally, if you have budget concerns or restraints you will have to really fine tune your search.

Here are some additional considerations to be aware of where installing a specialty retail POS system is concerned. Look for a system that:

o can enhance your customer service levels and can increase your sales using customer loyalty programs, promotional messaging, and suggestive selling
o optimize your inventory so that you have the right products available to your customers when they need them using critical merchandise allocation and planning applications
o reduce the training time of new employees so that they can deliver attentive and responsive customer service
o is easy to install, easy to learn, and easy to learn
o analyze and identify your customer purchasing trends as well as new opportunities in the market
o perform extensive searches for new items that will broaden your inventory

Another suggestion is to search for a specialty retail POS system company that has a physical location, not just a website. You want to be assured that they are available whenever you need them.

The Concept of Retail Marketing

In the growing market, retail marketing has become one of the major emerging trends in the entire economical cycle. It is the retail market only which provides the consumer a basic platform to encounter with goods and a shop keeper for the first time. Retail market consists of a fixed location like boutique, store, departmental store etc, here in these location consumers meets the shop keeper and purchase goods in return of certain value. Maintaining a certain profit margin, these shop keepers sell goods to their consumers. The basic motive of these shopkeepers is to satisfy the consumers and fulfill their needs and demands.

Retail marketing strategy has become one of the basic elements of marketing strategy which includes a lot of planning and proper execution of this planning. Now let us first focus on the basic nature of retail. Firstly in retail, a marketer needs to focus primarily on the needs and desires of the customers.

Retail marketing even focuses on satisfying the customers, maintaining a proper profit margin for the owner of the goods. Customer needs are the basic key factors of retail. Retail marketing consists of 5 basic pillars, first is saving the precious time of the customers. Second is setting the right prices of the goods, third is creating a proper connection with the emotions of the customers, fourth pillar is paying the right respect to the customers and lastly solving the problems of the customer is another pillar of retail.

Creating customer loyalty is the basic function of retail, as once you create customer loyalty towards your brand it will be easier for you to stay in the market for a longer period of time. Creating customer loyalty is not a very easy task, as it takes years for a brand to create customer loyalty.

You can only create customer loyalty if you have a retail marketing plan, some of such marketing plans are the sales promotional activities like loyalty cards, loyalty one, gifts, coupons, special discounts and reward program.

Reward program includes special gifts on purchase of bulk goods and loyalty cards are special privileged cards which are offered to customers in order to provide them huge discounts and free gifts. These sorts of special sales promotional activities not only increase the sales target but at the same time increase customer loyalty also.

With so many new sales promotional programs promoted by the retail marketing strategies, now it is possible to create a healthy relationship with the customers. Previously creating emotional bonding with the customers was not taken into consideration, and thus customers were only treated as customers who were just supposed to pay the price of the goods. Thus, this resulted in lower customer loyalty and it gave rise to huge number of product switching.

Previously customers used to shift to other brands very easily as there did not exist any brand loyalty. But now with the extensive features of retail marketing, it has become easier for the company not only to capture a huge market but at the same time create a strong bonding with the customers. Thus, this sort of marketing strategy did not only ignite the sales target and profits but at the same time increased the brand loyalty.

Danish Retail Chains: Are They Taking Advantage of Multi-channel Retail?

Looks like the Danish retail chains are not yet taking advantage of the multi-channel marketing. The advancement in technology has brought forth e-commerce into the picture and conducting business on the online platform has become interestingly very easy and convenient. Multi-channel retail offers a wide range of channels through which the products and services are made accessible to the public at large.

Multi-channel retail then refers to reaching out to the customers through cross channel integration in service, information and management in a systematized and consistent manner. The growth or success of the multi-channel retail totally depends in the hands of the consumer. Consumer of today is a more informed person and hence is capable of taking more informed decisions. Before making any big purchase, he is using a minimum of two to three channels while shopping. Another basic advantage that comes with multi-channel retail is that of the strategic competitive advantage that it has over the other retail outlets.

When the retail outlets can have these and many more other advantages like establishing consumer loyalty and brand images, it is an opportune moment for the Danish retail chains to go in for multi-channel retail. The main reason as to why multi-channel retail and e-commerce are recommended for Danish retail outlets is that they can benefit both from organizational perspective as well as customer related perspective.

As far as the retail outlet is concerned, they could garner more growth and revenue opportunities. There is an increased interaction with the customer and leads to a better customer loyalty through this interaction. Customers too have an advantage with multi-channel marketing as they can choose their channel according to their convenience.

Though there may be a few challenges when trying to switch over to the multi-channel retail system, the thought of going more open and accessible to the consumer at large is what makes the entire multi-channel marketing very appealing to the retail chains. Older the retail outlet, more challenges they are going to face for the transition and vice versa. Therefore, with multi-channel one requires to integrate the disparate systems and technologies that the change brings along with it.

Careers In The Retail Industry

Today, the retail industry is not just expanding, but it is now more organized compared to the early days. This change has compelled many students to take courses related to the retail industry such as retail merchandising and retail marketing. This rising trend is opening up new avenues for the educated and specialized staff of the fashion industry.

The retail industry is a very big business that has plenty of job opportunities. An experienced person in this field can demand a higher salary. So if you are interested in the retail industry, then you certainly have a bright future ahead of you.

Purchasing Power

There is a sudden increase in customer bargaining power and this is why the retail industry is growing at a phenomenal rate. Most retail companies have a buying team, which is generally responsible for launching a profitable product portfolio that will attract customers. Customers are smart enough to analyze the product price and quality. So as a part of the purchase team you have to bargain and get the best possible price from suppliers. If you are a graduate and you have negotiating skills and some basic floor experience then this is the best job for you.

Merchandising

This is a field of work where you have to work in coordination with the purchase team at the head office. Your task involves controlling the operation of the department, analyzing the past as well as current price trends and also maintaining stock records. As a merchandiser, you will forecast future trends with regards to customers’ purchase preferences and also try to figure out competitors’ moves. In order to pursue a career in this field, you should be well aware of the retail market and you should also possess sound numerical abilities with good communication skills.

Design

The main job of a designer is to apply the basics of the latest market trends. As a designer you should be able to display your ideas to the buying team so as to attract customers. You have to update yourself with the latest trends by visiting the foreign market, TV shows, design fairs, fashion shows and also closely monitor competitors. To get this job, you should have a degree in textile or fashion; in addition, you should also possess a creative mind.

Wholesale

In this field, the scope is much wider as it also includes the areas such as the merchandising, sales as well as import and export. So as a wholesaler, your function would be to link the manufacture and the retail circulation. To perform this task you must have a relevant degree in fashion with a commerce degree and some experience.

Technology and Production

Technologists are responsible to maintain quality as per the specifications, with all the legal requirements as agreed to with the buyers. This job is for a person who holds a technical degree in the retail field.

The retail field is not as boring and mundane as it once was. So if you have a creative mind, a bit of experience and retail education, you could have a lucrative and rewarding career.

Retail Property Market Surging in Houston

Houston is America’s 4th largest city. It is better known for its association with oil, but in recent years the city has diversified to become a leading educational, financial, medical and retail center. Today, the retail property market in Houston is generally strong all over the city – including downtown, the suburbs and surrounding area.

There are several reasons for the strong retail property market in Houston. The city has seen steady job growth as well as expansion of its port facilities and substantial investment in major highway projects. Commercial and residential construction has also been strong over the last few years. And Houston has no zoning laws, which generally makes it easier for developers to build in just the right place.

The average occupancy rate of Houston retail centers hovers around 85% – shopping centers built since 1990 tend to have a slightly higher rate than those built prior to that year. Newer shopping centers are generally better designed, offer better parking and are generally more appealing to both potential tenants and shoppers. Rental rates in the Houston retail property market average around $ 1.50 per square foot.

Planned communities, such as Sugar Land in the Southwest and the Woodlands to the north have been successful in both attracting new residents as well as new retail projects. And Houston has been innovative in renovating older buildings to be used for retail and office space.

It isn’t just the suburbs that are booming in Houston – the city has made major efforts in revitalizing its downtown area and attracting residents and visitors. An estimated 4,000 people live in the downtown area – a figure that’s expected to rise to around 10,000 by 2010. Around 70,000 students are enrolled at the various colleges and higher education facilities that are located in and around downtown.

Revitalization of downtown began in earnest in 1995, in an attempt to bring retail, residential and commercial developments to the somewhat run down area. Since that time, around $ 4 billion has been invested in the retail property market downtown. This includes public and private developments – and the successful reclamation of over 1000 acres of land. Improvements such as improved parking and street lighting have also helped to attract tenants and retailers.

Today, downtown Houston boasts around 2.5 million square feet of retail space, much of it concentrated in the historic district, centered on Main Street and Texas Avenue. Notable recent large developments offering retail space include the Reliant Energy Plaza and the Five Houston Center.

Several major new developments are planned for downtown, including Discovery Green and One Park Place – the city’s first high rise luxury apartments in downtown in over 40 years. But the most ambitious project at the moment for downtown is Houston Pavilions, a 350,000 square feet development, planned to open in late 2008 at a cost of around $ 170 million.

One of the most respected local developers of both retail and residential property in the Houston area is the Johnson Development Corporation. The company is responsible for over forty acclaimed residential projects – ranging from golf course communities to townhomes – and almost a dozen retail developments.

Johnson Development was founded in 1975 and the president, Larry Johnson has over 40 years experience in the real estate business. Apart from its successful projects in the Houston area, the company is also responsible for developments in several other states, including California, Georgia and Colorado.

Some of the biggest developments by Johnson Development include shopping malls such as Forest West Center, Jones Square and the South Loop Center. Currently, the company’s biggest retail development in Houston is the huge Steeplechase Mall, offering around 350,000 square feet of retail space.

Johnson Developments is also a top developer in Houston when it comes to residential projects. Their residential projects range in size from single family home communities of 40 acres to townhouse communities and huge golf course communities. One of their biggest developments to date is the prestigious golf course community at Atascocita, a development which covers more than 5,000 acres.

All indications are that the retail property market in Houston seems set to continue with its strong growth – a trend which local companies such as Johnson Development can feel justifiably proud of.

High growing retail franchise business in India attract potential investors

Global corporations engaged in retail sector continuous to employ franchising as an effective way to penetrate Indian market. In fact, India has occupied a nice place in international retail marketing. The country is ranked at third position just behind China and Brazil in terms of net retail sales. Indian market has potential, relaxed rules and regulations and low economic risk. For example, super markets giants operate in various industry sectors have identified India as best destination for investment. According to retail industry analyst, Online Retail franchise is the next level business opportunity which has high potential to prosper in future. After dominating physical market, both national and global players are targeting e-retailing domain to reach maximum population.
In 2016, approximate US $ 512 billion had invested till first half, one of the biggest private equity in retail sector since 2008. E-commerce platform is emerged as unmatched business opportunity for physical store owners, they get chance to sell products across the globe. In India E-commerce is supporting mass retail growth, for instance, in past few years there is number of e-commerce giants started operations to give power to slow retail industry. The industry is estimated to cross a whooping US $ 100 billion by 2020 which was US $ 30 billion in 2016. With emergence of e-commerce platform online retail market segment is expected to touch US $ 70 billion by 2020. Incorporation of various small and large enterprises in retail; transformed whole industry statistics. Companies like Pantaloon India, shopper’s stop, reliance retail and Bharti retail has contributing immensely for vast growth. In next five years, due to changing consumer buying behaviour we might see various national and international brands displaying phenomenal services. Thus Indian retail industry is on the way to become a separate market share in coming years.
India’s 121 billion populations are generating a route to online retail. Increasing participation of people on online shopping has encouraged entrepreneurs to leave physical store by developing their own online retail shop. It goes without saying that whole world is expecting drastic changes in forthcoming years due to continuous transformation in technology, industrialization and consumer choice. For instance, demand for international brands or products have generated a route for foreign brands to penetrate Indian market efficiently. Introduction of governmental reform in retail industry to attract foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been figured as good move to encourage companies. Apart from this, there are several relaxation were introduced by government in past years to groom retail market in India.

Retail Industry Consultant for Strategic Help You Need to Succeed

Now a days, the retail consumer has become more demanding in terms of buying options and value for money. With high expectations, retail consumers have more options to make purchases. On the other side, the retail sector is facing stiff challenges because of the emergence of new competitors in the globalized market. Increasing infrastructure, maintenance, and marketing costs add more complicity to retail management challenges. Outsourcing Retail Sector Consulting Services comes up as a viable solution for the retail sector.

Critical Challenges resolved by Retail Industry Consulting Firm:

Retail Consultants have to analyze the objectives, existing resources, business plans, existing capability and need to improve the performances according to current and future possible trends. The task is not simple; yet, the exposure to retail industry and experience of serving numbers of retail clients dealing different products help the experts to devise the perfect strategy for improvement. Understanding the demographics of retail buyers in emerging markets is the basic of exercise. Partnering with the right local players help the businesses to know their target clients. Dynamics of online buyers, loyalty programs, and customized promotions is ever changing in a global market. Understanding it is a complex task for the consultants because they need to structure a sustainable supply chain and marketing policy. Improving in-house talent, as well as vital partners, needs a strategic training that requires the involvement of experienced Business Management Training Experts. Experimenting with the new formats and expanding to new channels with innovative concepts is a continuous process, so, the Retail Consulting Firm needs to design long term program to help its clients meet out ever changing challenges.

Help You Can Expect From Retail Industry Consulting Firm:

Retail Management Consultant can’t deliver overnight results but over the time, you start experiencing the benefits. Sustainable innovation policies and advance methodologies improve the processes. Strategic execution brings down the cost besides adding new channels to market your product. Retail Sector Consulting Services assist the clients in addressing the strategic challenges besides enabling them to add new values to their business. Retail Consulting Firms have already helped thousands of industries to sell their products/services in new emerging markets while cashing the new opportunities earlier than others. The proven strategic methodologies, which are customized according to particular industry/trade, help you know your potential clients better and to communicate with them through various drives; it delivers the brand identity in return. Therefore, an involvement of retail industry consultant delivers multidimensional help that any business needs to counter down competitive challenges.

Retail Management Courses In India – The Best Institutes Offering Courses

Retail sector in the country is witnessing a big boom today. As the government prepares to open the sector for international investment, there are many local retail chains which have started organising itself and getting ready for the challenge.

One can now see a number of retail outlets and chains in the country. There are many more which are going to start in the coming future. All these retail outlets require efficient and skilled manpower for their operations. To asses this requirement and to fill the demand for manpower many institutes and colleges across India started courses in retail management.

Benefits and requirements of retail management courses in India

The course in retail management is specially designed to teach all the theories and practical cases which are happening in the retail sector today. Retail management courses in India are offered by various B schools in the country. Some of them offer MBA while most of them offer PGDM course.

There is fundamental difference between the two. MBA courses are offered by those institutes which are recognised by universities and colleges under state and central universities. On the other PGDM course is offered by the autonomous institutions of the country which are built by a special act of parliament.

The admission requirements and eligibility criteria of the courses are very different in the colleges. Most of the colleges which offer MBA or PGDM in retail management in India require a student to have a graduation degree from any reputed institution of the country. The student is also expected to take a national or international level test like GMAT, CAT or XAT. The selected students are then called for a round of group discussions or personal interview.

Those who do well in the GD and PI are then offered full time admissions in the university.
There are many different sub-specialisations within retail management which are taught by the various institutes. These are retail marketing, retail financing, and retail management and so on. There are many new retail chains which are being setup in the country. Hence the job requirements and placements are very high in these institutes for the courses. The students are given good package jobs in various retail firms and companies in India and around the world.

Some of the retail chains also have tie ups with the leading b schools of the country to provide to its man force the adequate training and knowledge about the retail marketing. Hence these employees are also offered part time or executive MBA in retail management. There are many institutes in the countries today which have started offering courses in retail and there are many new colleges which are starting the course to train students with core specialisation in the retail sector.