Retailing and Merchandising

Description:

This area of marketing offers the possibility of immediate employment and early marketing responsibilities. It includes both buying and selling activities in addition to planning and forecasting of sales in order to meet the challenge of marketing goods and services at the store, local and national levels. A major growth area in the retailing field is e-commerce or selling products via the Internet.

Career Opportunities:

Retailing careers are pursued following one of two separate career paths: merchandise management and store management. The key position in the merchandise management path is that of retail buyer. Buyers select the products that a store sells, survey consumer trends and evaluate past performance of products and suppliers. Store managers oversee the staff and services at the store level. Larger chain and department stores have formal training programs, some of which are among the best in the country. New recruits have the opportunity to exercise their ideas with profit and loss responsibility for a significant business unit. The retailing field offers a recent marketing graduate many opportunities for rapid advancement in either of these two paths.

Positions:

Entry Level
Management Trainee

Merchandise Management Track
Assistant Buyer
Buyer
Merchandise Planner
Divisional Merchandise Manager

Store Management Track
Assistant Department Manager
Department Manager
Store Manager

Requisite Personal Qualities:

People skills
Ability to work under severe time pressure
Financial skills
Leadership
Results-oriented individual

More Information:

Visit the Wall Street Journal web site at http://www.careerjournal.com to find up-to-date information about salaries and job titles for retailing careers.

Advertising
Logistics
Non-Profit Marketing
Product/Brand Management
Retailing/Merchandising
Marketing Research
Sales
Services Marketing
E-Commerce