Career Paths You Can Take With an Interest in Retail

Your career can take you to a number of different places, so its key that you choose wisely. While one can lead you to the job of your dreams, the other is likely to be burdensome if you don’t carefully choose something that you love. You may be someone who has an interest in retail and enjoys the idea of buying and selling items to customers. If this happens to be the case, there are numerous career paths that you should think about taking. On that note, you’ll find a few career paths that you can take with an interest in retail in the below article.

Retail Field Management

For those who enjoy overseeing and managing people in a retail setting, it may be a great idea to go into retail field management. This is an opportunity for you to oversee stores in the retail sectors and see how they happen to be doing. The good thing is that it’s a role that you can work your way up to from entry level because otherwise, you need at least a few years of managerial experience. Some key skills you need for this role include an ability to coach, strong leadership skills, being able to manage others as well as being able to organize people and your time. By having these core skills, you’re more likely to see success in this role. Additionally, you could make anywhere between $42,000-$60,000 every year which is a decent income.

Start a Retail Business

If you want to choose a career with a strong focus on retail, why not think about starting up a retail business? This is perfect if you have a flair for entrepreneurship and know exactly what type of items you want to sell and to whom. In order to start a retail business, you first need to determine whether you’re going to launch your own retail business or buy someone else’s by buying a franchise. Some things that you’re going to need to run your business include efficient online credit card processing, the right venue, as well as an effective layout of your store. It may be good to get experience working in retail before starting your business so that you aren’t a complete novice.

Visual Merchandising

In addition to the mentioned, another potential route that you can take is that of visual merchandising. In case you’re unfamiliar with this career path, they’re essentially the people who make a store look great, so if you happen to be a visual and creative person, this could be a perfect role for you. The ultimate goal of a visual merchandiser is to customize the look and feel of a store in order to attract customers and increase sales. To pursue such a career and find success, you’re going to need an understanding of the brand and an ability to build sales displays. As with most retail roles, you can work your way up with the rights skills and knowledge.

Supply Chain Management

If you happen to enjoy the back end of retail, then you should be exploring the possibilities of becoming a supply chain manager. In case you’re wondering what exactly it is that they do, you essentially coordinate all aspects of the supply chain. Some of them include:

• The plan and strategy
• Source of raw materials or products
• Productivity and efficiency during manufacturing
• Delivery and logistics
• Return system

Beyond the logistics and purchasing inventory, you’re going to be managing different elements of the supply chain cycle as well as making recommendations to help improve productivity, quality, and efficiency of operations. Some skills you’re going to need to pursue this career path include those in cost-accounting, e-business, project management, and e-procurement systems. In terms of education, bachelors or masters, as well as up to 5-7 years’ experience, is important.

Fashion Retail Buyer

For those who have a serious interest in fashion, becoming a fashion retail buyer may work for you. You would essentially be deciding which products that stores should sell, which can be a creative role and also require an eye for good products. To become a fashion retail buyer, you need analytical, math, decision-making and negotiating skills. Although not necessary, a bachelor’s degree can be an added bonus if you want to work in a large company.

Making the decision to pursue a career in retail is ideal if you enjoy the hustle and bustle of this sector. It is imperative that you commit yourself to something that you feel is worthwhile when choosing career paths. Hopefully, you’ve found this article useful in helping you navigate your career options in this regard.