retail career

Personal SWOT
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
My strengths include, communication, independent, punctuality and adaptability.
My weaknesses are experience, maths and problem solving.
I am able to go into further education and employment.
The threats are not getting the grade to get into further education.

Career plan
In my career plan I am hoping to be able to get into university in Nottingham and study buying in retail or be able
to get a job as a trainee/junior buyer and work my way up in a professional well known company. From this career
I hope to gain happiness and money.
In order to achieve this career plan I would have to get a good in this fashion business course and be able to
successfully get into university or a junior/trainee buyer job role.

Different jobs within the industry
Jobs
Within
retail
Retail buyer
Store managers
Merchandiser
Stylist
Garment tech
Product
promoter
Logistics
coordinator
Sales associate

Buyer
A retail buyers job is to choose a range a products for a retail store. They must consider all purchasing decisions
such as, customer demand, price, quality, market trends, financial budget and more. A buyer must keep up with
trends and keep up with existing customers demands and if they are still competitive. You must also be able to be
in a pressured environment and understand how big of a responsibility they have.
-Participating in promotional activities.
-Writing reports and forecasting sales levels.
-Presenting new ranges to senior retail managers.
-Liaising with shop personnel to ensure supply meets demand.
-Getting feedback from customers.
-Training and mentoring junior staff.
The salary for a retail buyer can vary depending on who you work for however roughly salary is:
-Junior/trainee buyers: £18,000-£25,000
-Experienced buyers: £25,000-£45,000
-Senior buyers: £45,000-£70,000+

Buyer
• Retail buyers will be expected to work Monday-Friday 9-5 however buyers may have to stay later and work
weekends to meet deadlines. Also buyers are expected to travel a lot for fashion events.
• Most buyers are based in the organisation's head office. The majority of these are in London or the South East,
although opportunities may exist in other parts of the UK.
• There are generally the same number of men and women working in retail buying, although there may be a
gender bias in some product areas.
• Travel to attend trade shows may be required occasionally, as well as visits to suppliers in the UK and overseas.
A degree in retail or business will open many doors for you especially if graduated with a 2:2 or above
-Entrepreneurial spirit and a willingness to take risks
-Commercial awareness
-Leadership attributes
-Creative flair
-Confident presentation style

Retail manager
Retail mangers are in charge of the store. They will maximise profits whilst also minimising cost.
-Analysing and interpreting trends to facilitate planning.
-Using information technology to record sales figures, analyse data and forward plan.
-Dealing with staffing issues such as interviewing potential staff, conducting appraisals and performance reviews.
-Providing or organising training and development.
-Ensuring standards for quality, customer service and health and safety are met.
-Resolving health and safety, legal and security issues.
-Responding to customer complaints and comments.
-Organising special promotions, displays and events.
-Attending and chairing meetings.
-Updating colleagues on business performance, new initiatives and other pertinent issues.
Salary for a retail manager is:
-£17,000-£23,000
-With experience £20,000-£30,000
-With more experience £35,000-£60,000+

Retail manager
• Managing and motivating a team to increase sales and ensure efficiency
• Managing stock levels and making key decisions about stock control
• Analysing sales figures and forecasting future sales
• Analysing and interpreting trends to facilitate planning
• Using information technology to record sales figures, analyse data and forward plan
• Dealing with staffing issues such as interviewing potential staff, conducting appraisals and performance reviews
You'll ensure promotions are run accurately and to the company's standards and make sure that staff are all
working towards the target for the day.

Designer
• High street fashion - this is where the majority of designers work and where garments are mass manufactured
(often in Europe or East Asia). Buying patterns, seasonal trends and celebrity catwalk influences play a key role
in this design process. It is a commercial area and heavily media led
• Ready-to-wear - also known as prêt-à-porter. Established designers create ready-to-wear collections, produced in
relatively small numbers
• Haute couture - requires large amounts of time spent on the production of one-off garments for the catwalk,
which are often not practical to wear. Designs are usually created to endorse the brand and create a 'look’.
• Starting salary £16,000-£17,000
• Junior salary £25,000
• Director level £42,000-£85,000+

Designer
• Liaising closely with sales, buying and production teams on an ongoing basis to ensure the item suits the
customer, market and price points
• Understanding design from a technical perspective, i.e. producing patterns and technical specifications for
designs
• Sourcing, selecting and buying fabrics, trims, fastenings and embellishments
• Adapting existing designs for mass production
• Developing a pattern that is cut and sewn into sample garments and supervising the creation of these, including
fitting, detailing and adaptations
• Overseeing production

Visual merchandiser
Visual merchandising designers who work in a head office collaborate closely with other
departments to create annual visual strategies and promotional events in order to entertain, excite
and maintain the interest of the target markets.
-Conducting research on current and future trends in design and lifestyle, and associated target
market features.
-Meeting with business, sales managers and retail managers to discuss sales strategies.
-Identifying and sourcing props, fabrics, hardware and lighting.
-Maintaining a budget and negotiating with suppliers of visual materials.
-Starting salary £12,000-£18,000
-Experience £20,000-£27,000
-Senior £30,000
-International £45,000-£60,000

Visual merchandiser
• In terms of gender balance, around 80% of visual merchandising roles are occupied by females, but this can
differ depending on the product or brand.
• Many large retailers have head office-based roles in major cities in the UK, with field teams visiting stores in
geographical regions, or store-based visual merchandising teams.
• Some employers may require the role to be multifunctional, with responsibility for store layout design or buying,
and sometimes on a lower level, selling.
• The job can be very physical with lots of lifting and carrying, climbing of ladders and use of power tools.
Subsequently, good levels of stamina and manual dexterity are useful.
• If based within a head office or field team it may be a requirement to visit stores in the field, which means time
spent away from home