Retail Course: Full Form, Admission 2024, Fees, Syllabus, Entrance Exam, Top Colleges, Career Scope

Retail is the selling of merchandise and services to consumers. As the last step in the supply chain, it involves making items accessible to the general public via a variety of distribution channels. Marketing, merchandising, inventory management, customer service and sales are just a few of the many tasks involved in retail. The retail sector is enormous and diverse including a wide range of goods and services including apparel, electronics, food, home goods, cars, cosmetics and more. 

BBA stands for Bachelor of Business Administration and a BBA in Retail designates a particular academic degree programme that places special emphasis on educating students for careers in the retail sector. In addition to a specialisation in retail management and related fields, it includes business education. The pass-outs of this programme can pursue their career in various retail-related roles, such as retail manager, store manager, merchandiser, buyer, sales manager, e-commerce manager, and more.

One of the global sectors with the highest growth is the retail sector. People are now switching to online shopping because of technology which has increased competition in this market. Some of the retail courses are:

The minimum criteria to pursue a retail course at a UG level is passing Class 12 from a recognised board. The candidates may have to appear for the entrance exams accepted by the college or university. At the PG level, candidates must have completed graduation from a recognised university with a minimum of 50% aggregate and they may be required to appear for an entrance exam. Most of the institutes accept candidates on the basis of entrance exam scores like CAT,  XAT,  CMAT,  MAT,  SNAP, etc.

Yes, Retail Management courses can be pursued online as well. There are a number of learning platforms that are offering these online courses. Interested candidates can see the table below to know these courses along with the course provider and fees.

CAT (Common Admission Test) is a competitive exam conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (Iims) for admission to various management programs. Here are the general steps to apply for CAT 2025:

• Visit the official website of CAT (iimcat. ac. in) and click on the "New Candidate Registration" link. 
• Fill out the registration form with basic details to register
• Then fill the CAT 2025 application form with your personal and academic details.
• You will also need to upload your photograph, signature, and other required documents.
• Pay the registration fee online through the available payment modes.

After successful registration, you will receive a confirmation email containing your registration details and application number.

You can download your admit card from the official website once it is released. The admit card contains important details such as exam date, time, and venue. Please note that the exact process and dates may vary slightly from year to year. It is advisable to regularly check the official CAT website for updates and notifications.

The ideal preparation time for the Xavier Aptitude Test exam is six to nine months with complete dedication. Some students take lesser time in completing the Xavier Aptitude Test preparation. However, students must make their own Xavier Aptitude Test exam preparation strategy according to their strengths and weaknesses.

XAT exam pattern:-

Exam Mode: Online Exam

Duration: 180 minutes

Sectional Time Limit:

• For Part 1: 170 minutes
• For Part 2: 10 minutes

XAT Syllabus: Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, General Knowledge, and Essay Writing. Question Paper Break Up

Part 1: Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, And Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation 

Part 2: GK

Sectional Breakup:

• Decision Making: 21 Questions 
• Verbal & Logical Ability: 26 Questions
• Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation: 28 Questions 
• General Knowledge: 20 Questions

Marking Scheme you will get 1 mark for every correct answer. 1/4th mark will be deducted for every incorrect answer. 0.10 marks will be deducted for more than 8 un-attempted questions No negative marking in the General Knowledge section.

Sectional Weightage:

• Decision Making: 21 marks
• Verbal & Logical Ability: 26 marks
• Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation: 28 marks
• General Knowledge: 20 marks 

Preparation Tips:

Know the exam pattern and the syllabus.

• Make a short note.
• Practice the Previous year's question paper.
• Attempt Mock tests.
• Revision is necessary

For more information, you may visit the Shiksha XAT exam page.

 (https://www.shiksha.com/mba/xat-exam). .

Yes, the difficulty level of CAT syllabus is very high as compared to other MBA entrance exams. However, if you prepare well and follow the CAT exam pattern well, you will be able to score well. Besides having an understanding of the CAT syllabus 2025, candidates also need to be well aware of the CAT exam pattern before they start preparing for the exam. The CAT exam pattern was revised in 2021 and the number of questions were reduced from 76 to 66. The structure of CAT 2023 and CAT 2024 was the same. The syllabus is still tougher than other exams.

The most important things to keep in mind are:

1. CAT exam mode is online
2. Each question carries three marks 
3. There is negative marking of minus one mark for wrong attempts

The section-wise distribution of questions and difficulty levels as per the latest CAT exam pattern are listed below:

• Quantitative Ability (QA) - 24 questions, difficulty level - moderate to high 
• Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) - 20 questions, difficulty level - moderate 
• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) - 22 questions, difficulty level - moderate. to high

The syllabus of Retail courses is designed by industry experts to teach the candidates detailed knowledge about the retail industry and its associated branches. Retail involves a range of activities including marketing, merchandising, inventory management, customer service and sales. Some of the main subjects taught in Retail courses are:

• Understanding Retailing
• Retail Marketing
• Retail Management Perspective
• Customer Service Management
• Buying Merchandising

For BBA, The syllabus slightly varies from university to university as a general syllabus as follow business statistics , financial management,corporate governance ,basic economics and applications customer relation management, e commerce ,IT,international trade business,quantitative technique , research methodology S&D management , store ,supply and chain management and many other subjects related for course 5 yrs integrate management course for master after 10+2 . all the best best of luck

Hi Shobha,

The retail industry has businesses such as departmental stores, shopping malls and brand outlets. Retail outlets are professionally managed and involve on-floor display, sales, inventory, storage and sales promotions of products. As per your query you want to be retail manager without doing MBA. So retail management can be pursued as a short term certificate or diploma course. Graduates from any subject stream can opt for retail management courses.

Hope it helps. Please feel free to revert. Click on the thumbs up if you found this useful. Wish You Luck!

Supply Chains Management is a part of Retail Management. Companies that have a huge network of goods and raw materials hire MBA graduates who specialise in Supply Chain Management. The course teaches the students to control and plan the inflow and outflow of products or raw materials to the consumers. Companies such as Snapdeal, Flipkart, Amazon, Reliance, etc. are few big giants who hire supply chain management graduates.

Also Read: Top MBA/PGDM in Supply Chain Management Colleges in India

The freshers in this field are offered an annual salary between the range of INR 2 Lacs and INR 4 lakh. As they climb up the professional ladder, their compensation may increase.

Retail Manager is responsible to look after Team Management, Inventory Management, Visual Merchandising, Financial Management, etc. By efficiently managing all areas of the operation and ensuring that clients have a great shopping experience, the retail manager plays a crucial part in determining the success of a retail organization.

Read More: Career as Retail Manager

Some of the communications skills required to enter the Retail industry are:

Good Communication Skills: The candidates should be able to speak clearly both to the team and to the customers. They must first comprehend the client's issues before assisting them with their wants, which calls for a lot of patience.

Patience: This training will require a lot of patience to comprehend the wants and demands of the consumers. People today, especially students, lack patience and want things done immediately.

Good Listening Skills: The candidates must also have good listening skills. They must pay attention to fresh perspectives and ideas from the team and the customers. They would be able to provide the pupils with some excellent new advice.

After studying retail courses, the graduates can find work in malls, shopping complexes, retail chains, etc. Some of the common job profiles in the retail industry are mentioned below along with their average annual salary.