Online Retail Management Degree Program Course Offerings

While it may be partially true that many people who work in retail have not even yet completed a high school diploma, let alone a bachelor's degree, if you want to work in advanced positions in the retail industry, you must pursue more formal training. A career in the retail industry means you must have knowledge in a variety of subjects, including product and brand management, retail operations, merchandising, and personnel management. Getting a Retail Management Degree qualifies you to participate in strategic planning, interact with vendors and designers, and manage a staff. To become a retail manager, or purchasing manager as they're known in the business, you must have a good working understanding of many areas within the retail industry, which is why pursuing a retail management degree is a smart move.

While you can go to a traditional school to obtain a Bachelor's Degree in Retail Management, there are now many online retail management degree programs, allowing you to get this highly sought-after professional knowledge in a much more convenient way. If you are already working within the retail industry to gain valuable experience, your hours are probably already erratic and less-than-conducive to a traditional college class schedule. Getting your online retail management degree allows you to continue to work within the industry while competing your courses on your schedule, whenever it's convenient for you.

With all of the facets of the industry you'll be expected to know upon completing your retail management degree, it should come as no surprise that a variety of courses are required to graduate with this type of program. You will first need to complete some general course requirements in areas such as Math, Science, Geography, and Humanities. These credits can many times be transferred from a prior program at another university or even community college (check with your specific program's requirements). But the core of a retail management degree is steeped in Business, Finance, and Marketing classes, as well as specific classes in retail. While no two programs are identical, the following is a list of core and specialized courses usually required for an online retail management degree:

Business Core Courses:

Accounting
Learn the basics of accounting, including how to compile, measure, and communicate economic information, specifically in a managerial position within a retail setting.

Introduction to Business
This course will introduce you to both US & global business markets and models, helping you understand how to manage and lead employees, work within human resources, produce goods and services, and price and promote products to consumers.

Management and Administration
Receive instruction related to introduction to management yesterday & today in both the US and global markets, managerial ethics & decision-making, planning tools & techniques, communication & information technology, managing change & innovation, and motivating employees.

Marketing Essentials
Learn about the marketing environment & how to manage marketing information, pricing strategies for retail & wholesaling, new product development, and advertising and public relations.

Specialized Retail Management Courses:

Brand Marketing
Learn how to take a specific brand and market it to the intended customer base through traditional and e-commerce methods, as well as make your brand appealing to a wide market through product development.

Consumer Behavior
Study the intricacies of consumer groups, learning why they do or do not buy certain products, what drives consumers towards a specific product, and how to measure and predict the behavior of consumers to make your products and services more appealing.

Introduction to Retail Supply
Here you will learn about critical legal thinking & constitutional law for business, traditional, alternative, & e-commerce dispute resolution, business & cyber crimes, and other aspects of business law.

Marketing and High Technology Products
Be introduced to understanding high technology and the culture in high-tech firms, understanding high-tech markets & customers, understanding product development and supply-chain management in high-tech markets, and understanding e-business, e-commerce, and the internet.

Principles of Finance
Learn about financial institutions and markets, interest rate fundamentals, risk & return, financial statements & analysis, capital budgeting techniques & capital structure, and financial planning & investing.

Sales & Event Promotion
Learn the financial specifics of retail sales, how to effectively promote products and services through specific events, and how to effectively plan and execute successful retail events to generate business and new customers.

While there are more courses available in various online retail management degree programs, the above list gives you a good idea about the general areas you will learn about in this field.

Sources:
AiOnline.edu
Capella.edu
Education-Portal.com
MustUniversity.com
Tutor2u.net
WorldWideLearn.com