Enjoying shopping is not enough to qualify for a career in retail. The tasks for graduates in the retail industry are demanding and varied - and are rarely carried out in the stores themselves.
Of course, there have to be people such as branch or district managers who manage the branches of a retail company - but compared to the many other jobs, the number of sales employees with university degrees is small. Most academics work in the headquarters, from where they direct the company's fortunes: buyers decide which goods are on the shelves and are responsible for negotiations with suppliers, often from abroad. IT experts optimize commodity systems and supply chains, i.e. the entire logistics. Marketing experts promote the products and make the company better known overall. Visual merchandisers develop presentation concepts, architects develop the interior design of stores. The list of tasks in a trading company could be continued - and it already shows that there are opportunities for students from a wide range of disciplines. We will introduce three beginners on the next few pages.
There is a well-known saying that trade is change - and that is currently more true than ever: online and stationary retail are growing ever closer together, and additional sales channels are on the rise. For customers and the companies themselves, the topic of sustainability, from energy saving in stores to ecological and fair production conditions for goods, is playing an increasingly important role. And in view of the declining population, retailers must prepare well for the future so that sales do not collapse. “The good thing about retail is that, in contrast to many other industries, it is relatively less subject to economic fluctuations, so good people are always needed,” says Wilfried Malcher, education expert and managing director of the German Trade Association, who estimates the proportion of academics in the industry to be six to six estimated at seven percent. But he is convinced: “Due to the challenges, more and more positions will be filled by university graduates in the future.”
Portrait 1
OPTIMIZE SUPPLY CHAINS
Niclas Liepold works as an operations manager in a logistics center of a drugstore.
Easter and Christmas are particularly busy. But nice weather or the World Cup also ensure that Niclas Liepold never gets bored. "Our business is heavily dependent on the purchasing behavior of customers - so every day brings something different." The Wustermark regional warehouse of Logistik dienstezentrum GmbH, whose operations manager is Niclas Liepold, supplies 193 Rossmann drugstores. Since the beginning of the year, its approximately 160 employees have been responsible for ensuring that the goods arrive at the branches reliably and at the right time. The 29-year-old manager's job is to keep the processes running and optimize them. And there is a lot to do: When the computer in the sales point reports that inventory has been sold, the goods are ordered in the logistics center. This in turn requests the products from the manufacturers and agrees delivery dates by which the goods are brought into the warehouse. There the order picker puts together the orders for the branches and the delivery routes are coordinated. »At the beginning of my work for Rossmann, I worked in a sales outlet for two weeks to get to know how to order and deliver goods. That helped me to optimize the processes,” explains Niclas Liepold. Now he understands why it can be a problem if the goods are delivered an hour later than agreed or why it can make sense to deliver more or fewer products in one delivery. In order to further improve the supply chain from the manufacturer to the customer, he is in close contact with the sales and district managers of the drugstores in his region.
Before he started at the headquarters in Burgwedel near Hanover, Niclas Liepold had no contact with the retail industry: After graduating from high school, he trained as a businessman for logistics and forwarding services. Because he wanted to take on more responsibility, he trained to become a state-recognized business economist at the German Foreign Trade and Transport Academy in Bremen. He completed his bachelor's degree at Oxford Brooks University before applying to Rossmann in logistics. After a year and a half as assistant to the logistics manager, he took on the construction of a new logistics center - "a task that I enjoy again and again every day."
Portrait 2
HIGH IDENTIFICATION WITH THE EMPLOYER
As a training manager, Sönke Schiretz looks after the trainees of an outdoor outfitter.
Young people can be trained in 15 different professions at Globetrotter Equipment at the headquarters: the opportunities for young people range from specialist warehouse clerk to IT clerk to office management clerk. Salespeople and retail clerks are added to the branches. But Sönke Schiretz only deals with them once a year, when the trainees from the sales outlets come to the headquarters for a week to get to know the company there. For the rest of the year he is responsible for the trainees in the Hamburg administration – from recruitment to graduation.
“We predominantly employ socially disadvantaged young people,” explains the training manager. »For this purpose, we cooperate with the vocational training center and other providers, among other things. We offer the students a longer internship and then decide together whether training makes sense.«
He looks at which parts of the outdoor outfitter have suitable training positions available and supports the young people, for example in the form of regular trainee meetings, in feedback discussions or by organizing tutoring offers.
To this end, he is in close contact with the training officers in the individual areas. Once a year, the trainees go on an apprenticeship with Sönke Schiretz, for example to go hiking in Norway, and test the products that are sold in the branches together. His studies in social pedagogy, further training as an adventure educator and work in youth welfare after completing his bachelor's degree have prepared the 34-year-old well for his current role. “What I like about my job is that everyone here identifies so strongly with their employer – that’s not always the case in other industries.”
Portrait 3
SUCCESS IS DIRECTLY VISIBLE
Klaus-Peter Münstermann recently took over his first branch as managing director.
Klaus-Peter Münstermann came into contact with the retail industry for the first time during an internship at Galeria Kaufhof. Working in the head office aroused his interest in the diverse development opportunities, so he specialized in commercial topics during his further business studies and, after graduating with a degree in business administration, applied as a trainee at his former internship company. “This is the best way to quickly take on management responsibility,” the 28-year-old is convinced. He spent around six months at a time getting to know a wide variety of tasks in a branch: “It started with a sales internship in Düsseldorf, during which I worked a lot on the floor, but also got to know tasks in the background, such as receiving goods or staffing. « He then moved to Regensburg, where he worked alongside a managing director who was responsible for human resources and organization. This is responsible for all decisions relating to personnel. The next six months took Klaus-Peter Münstermann to Munich. Here he learned everything important about the strategic and operational tasks of a branch manager.
After the trainee program, the business graduate worked as an assistant to the management in Düsseldorf for eight months until he was offered the opportunity to manage his own branch in Coburg. “As this is a smaller location, I have both the human resources tasks and the operational tasks of a managing director,” says Klaus-Peter Münstermann, who now leads a team of 65 employees, including salespeople, department heads and administration employees . On the one hand, the young managing director will work on strategic goals in the future in order to further develop the branch: “This could be, for example, the decision to use space differently or to acquire new brands,” he explains. On the other hand, he will be out and about in the store a lot, for example to discuss with his employees what promotions are planned by the headquarters or how his own promotions, such as a shopping Sunday, can be implemented.
The graduate chose retail “because I like working with people, you get quick feedback on your work and success is immediately visible.” What fascinates him about the department store is the many different product groups: “Despite the diversity, we have to address customers with a common signature. I particularly enjoy this challenge.«
Article image (C) Sabine honestly
Related articles:
Enjoying shopping is not enough to qualify for a career in retail. The tasks for graduates in the retail industry are demanding and varied - and are rarely carried out in the stores themselves. Of course, there have to be people such as branch or district managers who manage the branches of a trading company
