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Retail management plays a vital role in every retail business regardless of its size. With that in mind, a skilled and efficient general manager is among the greatest assets of any retail company. If you happen to own one, there’s nothing to stop you from being the owner and manager of the store.
One way to do that properly would be to invest in your education. Quality online courses are a great way to up your retail management skills and vision, especially if you’re on a busy schedule and don’t have time to attend regular classes. It can help you increase your company’s profits or land a better job.
Quick Look: Best Online Retail Management Courses
- Retail Fundamentals by edX- Get this course
- Channel Management and Retailing by Coursera - Get this course
- Fast Track Retail Buying and Merchandising by Udemy - Get this course
- Coaching Skills for Retail Managers by Udemy - Get this course
- E-commerce Profits: How to Start a Business Dropshipping by Udemy - Get this course
- Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants by Udemy - Get this course
- Self-Branding for Retail Managers by Udemy - Get this course
- Master the Shopper Experience to Build Your Retail Business by Udemy - Get this course
- Retail and Omnichannel Management by edX- Get this course
What Makes a Great Retail Management Course?
Not all online retail management courses are created equal. There are three key things to take into consideration in your search. First, you should consider the quality and reputation of the instructor. Next, make sure that the course covers the skills and topics that you want to learn. Finally, though this could be optional, you should take the price into consideration.
Quality of the Instructor
When you come across a potentially interesting course, you should first check the person behind it. Look up their online profile and see how they fare among their peers. Also, look for their professional experience in retail.
Finally, you should check what their former students have to say about them. If you have any trouble finding relevant info, you might be better off looking somewhere else.
Specific Skills Taught
Once you’ve established the reputation and quality of the teacher, you should see if the course actually covers what you want to learn. For example, if you’re looking to sharpen your retail coaching skills, a course on Dropshipping might not be the best fit. Likewise, if you want to learn self-branding, a course on the basics of retail would be a mismatch.
Price
Finally, you should compare the price of each course in your shortlist. This way you’ll make sure you’re not paying too much for the knowledge. Also, you may want to avoid really cheap courses that promise the world.
The Best Online Retail Management Courses
Keep reading for our favorite online retail management courses arranged under beginner, intermediate, and advanced categories for easier navigation.
Best Online Retail Management Courses for Beginners
Retail Fundamentals by edX
- Who's it for? Beginners
- Price: Free to audit, optional $99 certificate of completion
This course is for those who aspire to a career in retail management. It is offered by Dartmouth College and you can find it on edX. Retail Fundamentals is a self-paced 4-week course.
The course is completely free to audit. Optionally, you can pay $99 for a certificate of completion. It is divided into four main modules – demand forecasting, inventory management, assortment planning, and pricing decisions. The recommended pace for this course is one module a week.
The course is led by Santiago Gallino and Antonio Moreno-Garcia. Gallino is an assistant professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business while Moreno-Garcia is an associate professor of Operations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Channel Management and Retailing by Coursera
- Who's it for? Beginners
- Price: On sale
Channel Management and Retailing would be perfect for novice retail managers who need to learn what they can about channel management and the basics of retail business. The course is offered by IE Business School on Coursera. It is part of a series of courses named Marketing Mix Implementation Specialization.
This course takes around 8 hours to complete and is among Coursera’s most popular retail management courses. It has an average rating of 4.3 stars out of more than 350 ratings. Maria Teresa Aranzabal leads the course.
The curriculum consists of four main modules of 1 to 3 hours long. If you have an account on Coursera, you can start the course for free. After the 7-day trial expires, the subscription costs $49 per month.
Fast Track Retail Buying and Merchandising
- Price: On sale
With the Fast Track Retail Buying and Merchandising course, you’ll learn how successful retail companies pick the right products and how they plan the company’s selling and buying strategies. This course also covers retail and merchandising concepts, acronyms, and jargon.
The course was created by Tish Chungoora and is available on Udemy. The course has an average rating of 4.1 stars out of 261 ratings and more than 1,350 enrolled students. The full price of the course is $74.99.
The curriculum consists of 3.5 hours of online video lessons, 10 articles, and 7 downloadable resources. You will have assignments throughout the course and a certificate of completion when you’re done.
Best Intermediate Online Retail Courses
Coaching Skills for Retail Managers by Udemy
- Price: On Sale
If your employees aren’t as effective as you’d like them to be, you might want to explore Coaching Skills for Retail Managers. It is an intermediate-level Udemy course created by Jon Dario.
The course covers the fundamentals of retail staff coaching. You’ll learn how to help your employees perform and sell better. There are no specific requirements for this course, so retail managers of all skill levels can take it.
The course includes 90 minutes of online video lessons and one downloadable resource. The full price of the course is $19.99. There is also a certificate of completion, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee.
E-commerce Profits: How to Start a Business Dropshipping by Udemy
- Price: On Sale
If you’re planning to start your own online retail business with no inventory, you may not have to look any further than E-commerce Profits: How to Start a Business Dropshipping. Matt Bernstein of Skillshare, LLC is behind the course, which is among Udemy’s most popular courses on dropshipping.
With this course, you’ll learn how to manage your online dropshipping business. Some of the main skills and subjects covered include how to leverage your eCommerce store to boost sales, email marketing basics, how to get and keep customers, how to start selling internationally, and much more.
The syllabus consists of 12 hours of on-demand online video lessons, 23 minutes of audio lessons, and 4 articles. The full price is $49.99 and you get a certificate of completion upon finishing the course.
Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants by Udemy
- Price: On Sale
Asen Gyczew’s Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants delves into the inner workings of the retail world. It has an average rating of 4 stars out of 200 ratings and more than 3,000 enrolled students on Udemy.
The course is conducted from the perspective of management consultants and business analysts and covers such topics as retail business analysis, optimization of retail operations, the right time to switch to multichannel, expansion strategies, and more.
The curriculum contains 5.5 hours of online video lessons, 1 article, and 43 downloadable resources. The full price is $89.99 and students get a certificate of completion for passing this course.
Best Advanced Online Retail Management Courses
Self-Branding for Retail Managers by Udemy
- Price: On sale
Having a good retail manager is crucial for every successful retail business. In light of this, a retail manager who’s aiming to thrive in the field should learn how to brand his or herself. That’s how you can get store owners to dish out the long cash.
Self-Branding for Retail Managers by Jon Dario goes over how to understand and communicate the value of your leadership to the team. Dario also gives some valuable tips on how to improve your skills and effectiveness over time.
This Udemy course has an average rating of 4.3 stars. The curriculum includes 90 minutes of online video lessons and 1 downloadable resource. You will get a certificate of completion at the completion of this $24.99 course.
Master the Shopper Experience to Build Your Retail Business by Udemy
- Price: On sale
To master the art of selling, you must first put yourself in your customers’ shoes and see things from their perspective. With that in mind, this course breaks down the crucial aspects of a great shopping experience.
The Udemy course was created by Kevin Moore. It has an average rating of 4.4 stars and over 700 enrolled students. The full price of this brief course is $44.99. You’ll get lifetime access to the course material and a certificate of completion.
The course syllabus involves 3 hours of online video lessons and 4 downloadable resources. The main requirements include a passion for retail and a phone with a camera.
Retail and Omnichannel Management
- Who's it for? Advanced
- Price: $198
Retail and Omnichannel Management is geared toward retail managers who know what they’re doing but have yet to reach their full potential. Dartmouth College offers this course on edX. The instructors are Antonio Moreno-Garcia of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Santiago Gallino of Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
This is a professional certificate program that consists of two courses. The overall recommended duration of this program is 4 weeks. Each of the courses with its weekly assignments take around 3 to 4 hours to complete.
This program covers the four main components of omnichannel retail management: inventory decisions, pricing, assortment planning, and forecasting. The full price is $198.
Final Thoughts
All retail managers can benefit from a well-chosen online course. It’s our hope that this article gives you a good idea of where to start your search for your next online retail management course.
Interested in further sharpening your management skills? Check out Benzinga's guide to the best online business management courses, best entrepreneurial course and best project management courses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What factors should you consider when selecting a retail management course?
You want to look at the skills, price and instructor experience.
What are some excellent retail management courses?
Benzinga recommends Fast Track Retail Buying, E-Commerce Profits and Retail for Business Analysts.
See More: BEST RETAIL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
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