Retail manager comes of age

A booming retail industry has given MBA specialisation one more option.

Most management graduates would either be MBAs in Marketing or Finance "� maybe in HR too. Now, however, it appears that graduates will soon make a beeline for institutes that offer an MBA in Retailing.

Although universities in India have not incorporated Retail Management as an option to specialise in the final year of their MBA programmes, autonomous institutions are already ready with courses on the subject.

Why not? The retail industry in India is poised for major growth. The industry demand for trained professionals is far more than the available supply. The gap is estimated to be as high as 40-50 per cent.

Retail stores, chains who earlier used to hire candidates with minimum qualification of even HSC passed have now started preferring candidates with proper degree in retail management.

The courses are generally promoted by Retailers' Association of India (RAI) and aim to equip students and retail professionals with the knowledge, skills and know-how applicable to the industry.

In fact, RAI has also started an online course for retail management in association with GurukulOnline Learning Solutions.

The fee structure for the whole course is different in the range of Rs 1-2 lakh per year, according to the nature of the course. SCMHRD, for instance, charges Rs 2.19 lakh per year which includes education fees, lodging and boarding.

"There is a huge demand for trained candidates in the retail industry. As per our estimates the demand-supply gap of candidates who qualify for this course is almost 50 per cent. We began with our retail management course (as an elective course) in 1993 with a small number of students, but now each batch of us consists of 220 students, which is well enough to explain the growing trend," says K S Subramanian, director of Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Research Development (SCMHRD).

"There is certainly an emerging trend in retail sector. The market is changing rapidly and thus the fundamentals are also changing. Today one will hardly opt for door-to-door salesmanship. Supply chain management is taking over the entire retail industry. Thus there is a need for well trained professionals with appropriate academic background, who can handle the critical task of retail sector in proper manner," he adds.

What does the course have to offer? In addition to the basic principles of management, the students of retail management undergo modules including CRM (customer relationship management) in retail, QT (quantitative techniques) in retail, Retail Management, Retail Case Studies and Retail Strategy. The Symbiosis curriculum also involves an internship of two months.

Meanwhile, the importance of this course has not been lost on businessmen too. For instance, Ajay Agarwal, former promoter of Seacom Software "� a company that had developed software solutions for the retail industry in the country "� sold his business to start his own school of retail management and will start offering the courses this academic year onwards.

Even though these courses are designed as per the specific requirements of the retail industry, experts say there should be more emphasis on practical training (internships) apart from classroom learning.

The user industry, on its part, is upbeat about getting qualified staff. "There is certainly a considerable gap between manpower needed and availability in the retail industry," said Ram Chandra Agarwal, managing director of Vishal Retail Limited.

"The retail industry normally prefers candidates who are MBAs to work as managers. Though currently, the retail industry is accepting less-qualified frontline staff, in near future the scenario will be different. The industry will certainly look for a salesperson having knowledge of customer care, supply chain management and other relevant factors. Thus, there is tremendous scope for retail management courses," he concludes.