What is Retail Management? All You Need to Know in 2024
These books on retail management will serve as expert guides for your business. They cover company culture, marketing, how to train retail management positions, and more.
Reading up on best practices with these retail management books can give you a competitive advantage.
If you want a successful retail business, you need to learn how to be a successful retail manager first. With the best retail management books in your library, you’ll have the perfect resources to navigate the modern business landscape.
Consumers have more choices than ever. As the internet brings millions of e-commerce shops in direct competition with brick-and-mortar stores, you need to get familiar with the best retail management practices to truly stand out. From your store operations to retail marketing, every part of the customer experience will impact where shoppers put their money in the end.
Spending some time reading the best books for retail management will help educate, inspire, and prepare you for the retail industry today. Get tips for retail from the experts with our recommendations below.
Types of Retail Management
Even if your official job title isn’t “retail store manager,” you may already be playing the part. Retail management is simply the process that goes into selling a product to a consumer, from the time a product is acquired to the time a purchase is made.
Your goal in managing retail is to improve both sales and customer satisfaction. In order to do so, you’ll need to pay close attention to a number of areas of your business that go into reaching these goals. For example, you must:
- Oversee your team and ensure each person is well-trained and has good customer service skills.
Keep an eye on inventory and determine how fast products are moving. - Select and market products and promotions.
- Do market research.
- Manage cash flow and expenses from retail sales and operations.
- Develop new retail strategies to build and improve long-term customer relationships.
Different Types of Retailers
There are several types of retailers that provide services and products for consumers. Some of them include department stores, which often offer a large number of products in one place. There are also ecommerce stores, which operate completely online, and supermarkets, which are focused on selling food and more necessary household goods. Each retailer will have retail managers and store managers with their own preferences on how to run the retail business.
Variations in Organizational Structures
The organizational structure of a retail business can vary based on the type of retailer. For example, think about department stores. They usually have multiple departments, and each department is broken down into a specific category, such as men’s clothing, athletic apparel, or children’s attire. Within these individual parts of a store, there may be a dedicated team, as having a centralized team would make inventory management difficult. On the other hand, a smaller grocery store might have a centralized team instead because it’s more straightforward when everyone works together. Taking a strategic approach based on size and the number of departments to manage can help your retail outlet stay organized.
Diverse Approaches to Inventory Management
With several possible approaches to inventory and store management in the retail industry, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your business. Some to consider include:
- Using inventory management software to manage large inventories, sales data, and other key performance indicators (KPIs) to help you reach your sales targets.
- Using technology-driven inventory management software designed to handle growing catalogs of digital products. In the digital world, these catalogs can be extensive and require monitoring.
- Trying just-in-time inventory options, which will track your inventory and note when items are low in order to get them shipped to the store quickly at any time.
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10 Best Books on Retail Management
Retail management often requires you to wear many hats. However, if you’re dedicated to improving your problem-solving and leadership skills through insightful reads, you’ll be on your way to gaining a competitive advantage in the retail sector. Here, we’ll guide you through some of the most useful retail management ebooks.
For Understanding Customer Needs
In the current age of retail, a strong focus on your target customer is the best way to gain a competitive advantage. We’ve selected two must-reads for learning about consumer behavior and what factors drive buyers toward a successful purchase.
“Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping”
The retail world is changing faster than ever, with the web bringing global customers to both large and small businesses. This classic retail management book by Paco Underhill is now up-to-date with plenty of case studies that illustrate how consumer culture is changing, as well as what actions you need to take to keep up.
“Why We Buy” is a useful and credible resource for retail managers who want to learn more about how to attract new customers with proven tips. The book will also help you convert browsers into shoppers by influencing their decision-making in the midst of their in-store and mobile shopping experiences.
“The Retail Revival: Reimagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism”
The move toward online retail is not the first time the industry has seen a major change. Doug Stephens’ book gives great insight into the many retail shifts that have occurred over the years, in an effort to help you develop a proactive retail management mindset.
When you read “The Retail Revival,” you’ll be better equipped to look for signs of changing buyer needs and thrive during what Stephens calls “seismic shifts” in the retail environment. Instead of being left behind, like many big-box retailers, you can use the tips you get to continue creating customer experiences that allow you to grow and become a success story.
For Developing Company Culture
Employee satisfaction impacts customer satisfaction more than you think. That said, learning how to align your whole team with your mission, values, and approach to customer relationship management will ensure your buyers expect and get great service with every interaction.
“Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose”
Zappos, an online shoe retailer, is a well-known leader in human resource management, and its approaches to culture and service helped the company achieve an acquisition by Amazon in 2009. This bestselling book by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, guides readers through how to create an employee-focused culture that has the potential for the same success.
By reading “Delivering Happiness,” you can learn how to spur a company-wide commitment to serving customer needs. It will also help you improve your team members’ skill sets and loyalty by enabling you to drive each person toward personal and professional growth.
“Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”
Understanding what motivates people can give you great insight into what you need to do to better your team’s performance—and, therefore, your sales. This New York Times bestseller by Daniel H. Pink tells you what motivates people to do their best and enjoy their work beyond a big paycheck.
The book is backed by decades of research from the author, who combines psychology with management. You’ll learn how to give your employees what they really want—autonomy, mastery, and purpose—so you can get measurable results. The techniques you learn can also spark ideas for motivating your customers to buy, making this book useful for various aspects of retail management.
For Marketing and Sales Tips
Before you can treat your customers well, you need to make them aware of your company in the first place. The following two books share excellent resources for marketing your on-sale items, new products, and overall brand.
“Marketing”
Don’t let the plain title fool you. “Marketing” by Dhruv Grewal and Michael Levy is the seventh edition of a textbook that has long been trusted by educators to provide an expansive view of consumer-facing marketing practices. It takes into account both fundamental marketing theories and new market research to help you add value to your retail company.
This book is a practical, visually engaging resource that will help you attract new leads and create lasting relationships. It will even help you develop your own marketing strategy, so you can put what you learn into action.
Fair warning: The hardcover version of this book is pricey. However, you can get a Kindle copy for less than half the price.
“Silent Selling: Best Practices and Effective Strategies in Visual Merchandising”
So once you have a customer in your store, what do you do to successfully guide them toward a purchase? It’s not only pricing your items right. Written by Judy Bell and Kate Ternus, this interactive, affordable textbook helps you finish the final leg of the retail management cycle: making a sale.
“Silent Selling” is a modern look at how you can design your store to influence consumer behavior, using everything from attractive lighting to in-store displays. The practical visual merchandising techniques you learn can quickly be applied to any brick-and-mortar store.
Get Expert Retail Management Tips
When you first open a retail store, it’s natural not to know everything right off the bat. Studying the best books on retail management and taking action on what you learn can help you continuously improve your skills, your sales, and customer retention. This will allow your retail operations to run more smoothly and enable your brand to grow.
If you’re looking for further reading or you want to start with a free resource first, download our “Chat for Local Retailers” ebook to sell more by increasing convenience. This resource includes a closer look at how retail is changing, so you can adjust and adapt.
