Retail Management BSc Program Course: Retail Management -- 10 ECTS Credits Professor: Dr. James Reardon, Wells Fargo Professor, Monfort College of Business, UNC Contact: james.reardon@unco.edu Website: http://www.mcb.unco.edu/faculty/ourpeople.cfm/highlight/james.reardon\ Class Schedule 17-19 July (Wed-Fri) 9:00-13:00 23-26 July (Tues-Fri) 9:00-13:00 23-31 July (Mon-Wed) 9:00-13:00 1-2 August (Thurs-Fri) 9:00-13:00 5-6 August (Mon-Tues) 9:00-13:00 Final Exam 13 August Aim of the course In today s tough job environment more people are choosing to become entrepreneurs. One of the more popular ways to do this is to start up a retail store either physical or on-line. The main objective of this course is to enable students to develop a full retail plan that they can use to begin a new business venture. In the process, students will learn not only how to plan a retailer, but how to deal with retailers from a businessto-business relationship Main issues In this exceptionally competitive environment, the majority of retailers are still small to medium sized businesses many operated by entrepreneurs with little training or education for the task. To survive, operators continually need managers who are familiar with retail operations to survive and become profitable. Students will develop a retail plan that is competitive in the environment that they choose (Aarhus or another geographic location). Specifically, the course will enable students to develop a retail plan that will include: An intial proposal of retail type and geographic area A complete analysis of the target audience demographics, psychographics, and benefits Store location analysis it may be anywhere in the world. Store layout and design internal and external Develop an assortment and merchandise mix (fill the store with products). The development of a promotional plan to communicate your benefits to the consumer Inclusion of a human resource plan for staffing the right people at the right time A pricing and financial section including the development of pro forma statements Last year the students created very good plans to develop eating and drinking establishments in Aarhus. Teaching methodology Students will work both individually and in groups to create a written retail plan. The instructor will lecture/discuss first the theory of each part and then a practical application to show how create a plan that can be successful.
Prerequisites Students are not required to have prerequisites for this course. The skill set necessary to conduct a retail plan ranges across the spectrum of business and other disciplines. Student will depend on each other s skills in areas to learn from their peers as well as from the instructor. The main prerequisite for this course is to have an interest in Entrepreneurship and/or Retailing. Learning outcome By the conclusion of this module, participants should be able to: Describe how the consumers decision process affects retailers Develop a retail strategy that appeals to a specific target market, which includes Location, layout/design, merchandising, pricing, and promotions Develop a six-month merchandise plan Understand how changes in operational variables (e.g., price, COGS, demand, expenses) affect profit Describe how technology in retailing affects all channel members Course Assessment The grade for the course consists of two parts: Coursework counting 40 % o Interim project parts -- 4-7 interim project parts that will total 10% of the course grade. These will be due during the course discussions. The instructor will then offer detailed comments for the improvement and integration of these parts into a final project. Each student will be individually responsible for 1-2 of the parts. The parts consist of: 1. Target Audience 2. Store Location 3. Store Layout and Design 4. Merchandise Plan 5. Promotional Plan 6. HRM Plan 7. Pricing and Financial plan The final written project will consist of 20% of the course grade. o Project Reviews will consist of 5% of the course grade o Google+ Homework will consist of 5% of the course grade 3-hour written exam counting 60 % o The final exam will cover the learning goals of the course and consist of the other 60% of the course grade Literature Reading of the assigned chapters from the text is required before attending class. Participants are required to have access to the text. Additional readings will be available online at the beginning of class. Previous project examples will be available to students to review. Text: Retailing Management, Levy and Weitz, 7 th ed., McGraw Hill-Irwin; Students are welcome to utilize the 5th, 6th, or 8th edition of the same text
Main Topics: Text Readings Due July 17 (Wed) Introduction to the Retailing and Retail Types Ch 1-3 Project: Form Groups Google+ Send me e-mail and accept invitation 18 (Thurs) Responding to and Targeting Consumers Ch 4 Project: E-mail me basic retail type before class 19 (Friday) Developing a Retail Strategy Ch 5 Project: Final Groups and Assignments 23 (Tues) Location, Location, Location Ch 7-8 Google+ - Post Best and Worst Location Project: Interim Part Presentations: Target and Retail Strategy 24 (Wed) Store Layout and Design Ch 18 Google+ Vote on Best/Worst Location 25 (Thurs) Merchandising and Assortment Planning Ch 12-13 Google+ Post Best/Worst Exterior 26 (Fri) Project: Interim Part Presentations: Location/Layout and Design Google+ Post Best/Worst Visual Merchandising Google+ Vote on Best/Worst Exterior 29 (Mon) Pricing Mechanics/Pricing Promotions Ch 15/Lecture Project: Interim Part Presentations: Merchandising Google+ Post Most Unique Pricing Scheme Google+ Vote on Best/Worst Visual Merchandising 30 (Tues) Margin Accelerators/Strategic Profit Model Ch 6/Lecture Google+ Vote on Most Unique Pricing Scheme 31 (Wed) Human Resource Management Ch 9 & 17 August 1 (Thurs) Promotions and Advertising in Retailing Ch 16 Google+ Post Most/Least Professional Employees 2 (Fri) Project: Interim Part Presentations: Pricing/HRM/Ad-Promo Google+ Post Best/Worst Promotion or Ad Google+ Vote on Most/Least Professional Employees 5 (Mon) In-Class Projects Google+ Vote on Best/Worst Promotion or Ad 6 (Tues) Final Presentations of Projects 12 Monday Final project due via e-mail
Assignments Google + For this Class you will need a Google + account. You may use and existing Gmail account to create this or you may create another for this class. However, please make sure and login each day during the course. BEFORE class begins, please send an e-mail from your Gmail account to ReardonClass@gmail.com with the subject RetailMgmt. There does not have to be any message in the body of the e-mail. You will be invited to a circle and community you will need to join to complete the assignments. If you do not know how to use Google+ - do not worry, we shall figure it out together. Google +: 1. Each student will post on the class community an image AND description for the following: a. Best and Worst Location Post 2 seperate images and descriptions of the best and worst locations of retail stores and indicate WHY they are the best or worst. You may post links (such as google maps) in addition. b. Best and Worst Exterior Design Post 2 seperate images and descriptions of the best and worst exterior designs of retail stores and indicate why. Remember that the exterior design should fit the image and postion of the store so ugly, by itself, doesn t mean that its the worst. c. Best/Worst Visual Merchandising find the best and worst visual merchandising IN STORE. Ideally, this is both a function of layout as well as presentation. Tell us why. d. Most unique pricing scheme you may link or image this. Tell us how you expect the consumer would react to this scheme and what effect it has on margins. e. Best/Worst Promotion or Advertisment it may be any type of promotion or advertisement (special event, print, video, web). However, it should not be signage. Each post is due by 23:59 on the day indicated in the schedule. It may be done before class, but I suggest to wait until after so that you have a better understanding of the criteria for best/worst. 2. You also must vote by +1 someone else s post for each category that you believe was the best example with description for each category. You should have 2 votes for each assignment except the pricing scheme (one for best and one for worst). Your post was obviously the best, but you need to vote on who is second best (in other words, you may not vote for yourself). You must +1 your vote by the end of the break time in class. However, voting DURING class is HIGHLY DISCOURAGED. Project Part Reviews: Each student shall write a comprehensive, critical review of an interim presentation of another group. The review should include comments related to what is done well, but mostly focus on what could be improved and WHY it is deficient. Reviews will be evaluated on: 1. Identifying items for improvement along with critical analysis of why they need improvement. 2. Recommendations on how the above can be improved and why the recommendations make sense
Learning Outcome: Qualifications and Competences By the conclusion of this module, participants should be able to: Describe how the consumers decision process affects retailers Develop a rudimentary retail strategy that appeals to a specific target market, which includes Location, layout/design, merchandising, pricing, and promotions Develop a six-month merchandise plan Understand how changes in operational variables (e.g., price, COGS, demand, expenses) affect profit Describe how technology in retailing affects all channel members Project: At a minimum, students will develop a comprehensive retail plan. This will include the following assignments: Propose Retail Type Maximum 1 page description of the type of retailer that will be proposed. Use Chapters 1-5 to describe the type of retail format and sub-industry. Target Market and Retail Strategy As per class discussion, this part of the project will first identify a target market (Chapter 4) and then specify an overall strategy (Chapter 5) that will properly target that market. Location Analysis: Students will choose and justify an actual location for their retailer. Material from Chapters 7 and 8 will be used in the justification. Store Layout: Students will complete a drawing of the layout of their proposed store with a justification for why merchandise is located in specific areas. In addition it is necessary to include are common (public spaces) and administrative/work spaces. Chapter 18 is relevant to this assignment. Merchandise Mix: Students will complete a merchandise assortment plan for their proposed retailer. Chapter 12 and 13 show how to form such a plan. Financial Plan: A complete strategic profit model using pro forma estimates of an income and balance sheet HRM Plan: Number, skill level, pay rates, and scheduling of employees. May include an HRM manual. IMC/Promotional Plan: The theme, logic and roughs of an IMC plan for your new store. Should include copy, creative, and media elements. Final Project: Students will integrate the above parts into a single, coherent retail plan. Students may also include promotional/advertising plans and a financial plan to improve their grade above average.
Evaluation of Goal Achievement: By the end of the module, students must be able to fulfill the above stated goals. Grade 12: Grade 12 is denoted to 100% target fulfillment related to the learning outcome Grade 02: Grade 02 is denoted to the minimum acceptable performance related to the learning outcome. Literature: Reading of the assigned chapters from the text is required before attending class. Participants are required to have access to the text. Additional readings will be available online at the beginning of class. Text: Retailing Management, Levy and Weitz, 6 th ed., McGraw Hill-Irwin; Exam Form: Individual graded coursework 40% Three hour exam 60% Open book, online exam One final grade Retake. Retake exam counts for 100%. Exam Evaluation: Professor