Indian retail industry is one of the fastest growing industry across the globe. India is the fifth largest and the most preferred retail destination in the world. India is among the highest in terms of per capita retail store availabilityacross the globe. The retail sector has been undergoing exponential growth with fast paced retail development taking place not just in metropolitan cities and big towns, but also in tier II and III cities in India. Healthy economic growth, changing demographic profile, increasing disposable income, urbanisation, changing consumer tastes and preferences are some of the factors driving growth in the organised retail market in India.
India is expected to become the world's third-largest consumer economy in terms of consumption by 2025. The reforms introduced by Govt. of India towards FDI policy and increasing participation from foreign and private players has given a boost to Indian retail industry. As per the report by IBEF, India’s price competitiveness attracts large retail players to use it as a sourcing base. Global retailers such as Walmart, GAP, Tesco and JC Penney are increasing their sourcing from India and are moving from third-party buying offices to establishing their own wholly owned/wholly managed sourcing and buying offices in India.
E-commerce or Online shopping is increasing in the country at a very fast pace. E-commerce is now creating the biggest revolution in the retail industry, and this trend would continue in the years to come. Retail companies have been leveraging on the digital retail channels (e-commerce), which would enable them to spend less money on physical infrastructure while reaching out to more customers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
With the outbreak of the global pandemic, people are observing a slowdown in physical retail, however, the point to note here is that the low demand in physical retail (which is just a temporary phase and shall pass very soon) has already been offset by Online demand for such products and services. Thus, there is a visible change in behaviour and buying patterns of the consumers towards E-Commerce / Online Shopping which will stay for long in India. However, if we see it from long-term point of view, retail industry is growing and expecting a multi-fold growth particularly in E-Commerce sector, supported by expanding incomes, aware and favourable demographics with tech savvy youth, entry of foreign players and Govt. ease out norms, and increasing urbanisation.
Profile available for everyone’s need and educational background
Seeing the scenario of Retail industry in India particularly E-commerce, there is a huge demand for retail professionals with technical knowledge in retail, with right attitude and skill-set. The misconceptions about retail job profiles of only getting sales profile has gone now. Today, the youth is aware about various fields and technical areas within retail industry and the exponentially growing career graph. This industry can absorb anyone with management education in retail and provide the right direction to grow within the industry. Aspirants having computers background (BCA, B.Tech)in graduation with post-graduation in Retail Management can make career in E-commerce technical areas, digital marketing, retail software handling and many more; people with commerce background in graduationwith Retail Management at PG level can enter as store manager, inventory manager, operations manager, business development manager, category manager and many others. Huge scope is also present for hospitality background people, they can easily be absorbed in luxury retail industry and can grow leaps and bounds. People with background in Fashion and Textile Designing with PG in Retail Management can get the profile of Merchandiser, Visual Merchandiser, Buying / Sourcing / Vendor Manager etc. There are numerous profiles such as retail strategy, E-Business Strategy, Visual Merchandising for online business, Sourcing and Merchandising for online business and many more for Retail Professionals in the retail industry. The need of the hour is to get the right knowledge of retail technicalitiessuch as retail strategy, visual merchandising,category management, store operations, retail supply chain and logistics management, retail analytics and e-commerce analytics etc.; and the right skill-set such as critical thinking and problem solving, analytical ability, decision making, team building, team handling, organisation skills, communication and inter personal skills, pleasing and groomed personality etc. Also, it has been observed among the students that they want to take the non-field job, then this is the right choice for all those students who want office job with no field job and also want their career to grow at a fast pace.
Must look at accreditations before selecting institute
There are a few institutes in India who are providing Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in Retail Management. According to Dr.Deepika Saxena, HOD (PGDM Retail Management) at
JIMS Rohini, Delhi, “Before selecting any institute for pursuing this course, you should consider the accreditations and approvals received for this programme.” So, AICTE is a must, NBA (National Board of Accreditation) ensures the quality of programme and AIU (Association of Indian Universities) gives equivalence to the MBA Degree. Any candidate looking for PGDM in Retail Management must check the kind of industry exposure institute is providing to the retail students, based on which learning and placement depends.
JIMS Rohini is one of the premier institutes in India which provides PGDM Retail Management since year 2010 and has become a preferred choice for recruiters for top retail companies such as Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, Reliance, Tommy Hilfiger, Airtel,Future Group’s Big Bazaar, Central etc., Landmark Group’s Max, Splash, Homecentre etc. and many more; and this institute is among the very few institutes in India to have NBA accreditation and AIU approval for its Retail Management Program; and also provides numerous kinds of industry exposure including on-job training at top retail companies. Accordingly, PGDM Retail Management is the most preferred choice among students as well recruiters
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on JIMS Rohini, Delhi
