Retail Management Colleges

There are many prestigious colleges in India who offer retail management course. The names of the institutes are;

Indian Retail School
SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai
Indian Institute of Jewelry
Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL), Pune
Indian Institute of Retail, New Delhi
Pearl Academy of Fashion
Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai
Welingkar Institute of Management, Mumbai
Birla Institute of Management Technology, New Delhi
RPG Institute of Retail Management
K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research, Mumbai
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
Mudra Institute of Communications
Institute of Technology and Management
The Retail Academy, Ahmedabad

In Indian context, the opportunities for retail jobs are many, because of the fact that many indian as well as international companies have started their retail chains in India. International companies like, Nike, Adidas, Sony, Macdonald's, Dominos, Sharp, Pizza Hut, Levis, Kodak, Benetton have started their chains in India. Even retail behemoths like Wal-Mart and Starbucks are planning their Indian foray. Apart from these renowned multinational companies several Indian organizations like, Pantaloons, Titan, Barista, Café Coffee Day, Food World, Reliance India, RPG Group, Titan, Crossword, Raymonds, Westside, Bata, Trent and Nilgiris are few of the big names who have already started their operations. All these organizations are in constant need of retail management professionals for the posts of buyer trainee, customer service representative, department managers, merchandising assistant, assistant store managers, and management trainees.

Retail Management

Retail management is one of the most highlighted specializations in the field of business management. An upcoming area of specialization but has already become a sought after management course. Retail management is a relatively new concept. The basic of retail management course comprises of retailing business especially in the field of departmental and shopping mall retailing. The way Indian retail market has grown up in last few years with the advent of hundreds of malls, multiplexes, merchandising, it has also opened bright new opportunities to the professionals in retailing. In retail sector, supply is still less than demands so that provides added incentives for retail professionals. Retail business requires professional for store sales and handling and managing all forms of commodities shipments. Retail people are also expected to satisfy their customers because retail is basically people centric sector. Retail industry is expected to grow by almost 30-40 percent in India and that sort of growth will definitely need many professionals.

Retail management course includes plethora of information on various aspects of retailing. The subjects under retail management are, supply chain management, marketing and business communication, sales promotion, organizational behavior, merchandise management, inventory management, finance management, psychology of retail shoppers, electronic retailing, business ethics, brand management, accounting in retail, public relationship skills, customer relationship, management and quantitative methods in retailing etc. students completing retail management course can find job opportunities in multiplexes, garment industry, music stores, shopping malls, publishing industry to name a few.

IIMs

Indian Institute of Management also known as IIM is the most renowned and prestigious business school in India. It’s a dream for every MBA aspirant to get into IIMs. There are total six IIMs in India;

IIM Ahmedabad
IIM Bangalore
IIM Calcutta
IIM Indore
IIM Kozhikode
IIM Lucknow

Apart from these IIMs, the indian government has also decided to open few more new IIMs in various parts of India. The new IIMs would be located in the places like;

Jammu and Kashmir
Tamil Nadu
Jharkhand
Haryana
Uttarakhand
Chhattisgarh and
Shillong in Meghalaya.

The concept of IIM was established in 1961 when IIM Ahmedabad began its tryst with quality education as an autonomous body. IIMs are a collaboration of central and state governments. The success of IIM-A gave way to five other IIMs. After IIM-A, IIM-Kolkata got off the blocks in 1961, , IIM Banglore in 1971, IIM Lucknow in 1981, IIM Indore almost 10 years back and IIM Kozhikode is also a relatively new one. IIMs are known for their world class teaching facilities, most knowledgeable faculties and quality education. IIMs are even compared to best business schools in the world.

Getting admission into IIM is not an easy deal. One has to perform exceptionally well in the entrance examination (CAT) for making to IIMs. Apart from scoring exceptionally well, candidates are also required to excel in further rounds of group discussion and personal interviews. Having relevant work experience also works in the favor of the eligible candidates. But once admission is secured, students are assured of receiving best of the management education and consequently great placement offers

Management Books-2

One of the other famous books is ‘First, Break all the rules’ written by Gallup's Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. This book focuses on new era’s rules which are quite often against the conventional wisdom. But in order to get success managers should not hesitate in altering those rules. A great study from moral and ethical point of view this book gives us a glance of in depth and in built attributes of great managers.

‘One-Minute Manager’ is a book written by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard. One of the bestsellers, it is an evergreen book. Focusing on most common, universal and timeless management lessons, one minute manager is a hugely recommended book. It uses simple words and is quite brief which makes to much easier for readers to grasp its essence.

‘Communicate with Confidence!’ is another recommended book for potential managers and management students. The book is al about effective communication at work, at home and in any situation.

Apart from these books, there is ‘Now discover your strengths’. A classic written by Marcus that makes the readers understand their own strengths and weaknesses better. A self improvement technique book which is very helpful for business managers to identify the areas that they need to improve.

Few other famous books are Competitive Strategy, Competitive Advantage and Competitive Advantage of Nations written by one of the foremost management gurus, Michael Porter. Tom Peters also wrote a book named ‘In Search Of Excellence’ which was a massive hit. Edward De Bono gave a complete new dimension to management thinking process through his books like ‘Lateral Thinking’.

Management Books

There are large numbers of management related books that are available in the market today. So many of these books are written by world famous authors. In fact, many of these books are a must read for management students. One of the most famous management thinker, philosopher and writer Peter Kotler has written several path breaking books on management. He focused primarily on marketing management, human resource and advertising etc. students all across the world has read one or the other book of Peter Kotler. All of the Peter Kotler’s book use extremely relevant present day examples and that make it really easy for the students to understand the realistic world of business management. He uses examples from all over the world. That makes it very easy to relate to the subject matter.

Apart from classical books of management, there are many other famous books which define and try to explain other aspects of the management as well. These books define Management in simple and lucid language that most of the students are comfortable with. There is this book titled ‘Business: The Ultimate Resource’. A detailed business resource book, this book is very helpful in understanding the nuances of management application in all types of business sectors.

Customer relationship management (CRM) – Softwares

There are many customer relationship management (CRM) softwares available worldwide. These applications strive to provide best-in-class functionality for sales, operations, marketing, and service. These CRM softwares enable organizations to focus on strategies by sustaining customer-facing business progressions across several communication channels. This way companies can aim for customer-driven growth and they also manage to differentiate their products and services in the market by providing a greater customer experience. CRM applications help organizations in delighting their customers, in growing business and empowering their teams.

Major CRM softwares are as follows-

Sales Force Automation
Contact management
Contact management software stores, leads of an enterprise, tracks and manages contacts.

Lead management
Enterprise Lead management software is instrumental in managing, tracking and forecasting sales leads. This application is also important in understanding and improving the conversion rates.

Web based CRM or eCRM or Self Service CRM
Primarily for enabling organizations in handling web based customer interaction, call logs, web site analytics, automation of email and campaign management.

Self service CRM (eCRM) software Survey Management Software
Survey Software automates an enterprise's Electronic Surveys, Questionnaires, and Polls.

Apart from these major CRM applications, other important applications are;
Call Center Software,
Customer Service,
Partner Relationship Management,
Help Desk Software and
Contract Management Software which enables an enterprise to create, track and manage partnerships, contracts, agreements.

Customer relationship management (CRM) – 3

Today, shopping is no more considered as a daily chore. In fact now a day’s consumers are willing to an enjoyable experience while shopping. In the process of selling and buying they are the active participants. Consumers prefer to return back with cheerful experiences. Often conducted Studies emphasize how crucial satisfies customers are to survival of the business. In general, one satisfied customer brings five new customers merely through word of mouth publicity whereas one discontented customer manages to take away nine existing and potential customers. Customers like to share their shopping experiences, about business’s pre-sales and after sales services and that play a very important part in creating a perception in the minds of other potential customers

Analysts have identified People, process and technology as the three major components of customer relation initiatives. Focusing on these three elements help organizations to identify consumers’ needs and behaviour. This further leads to enhanced rapport between companies and customers. Its cutthroat competition amongst organizations and all of them are vying for the major chunk of customers’ attention. How consumers perceive companies is very critical in deciding their purchasing behaviour. A positive perception about a particular company literally makes a big difference to the business’ money flow. These factors make it very imperative for the companies to dutifully execute and implement CRM strategies. Companies with better execution of CRM initiatives definitely hold a competitive advantage.