Develop your understanding of fashion retail careers

On this three-week course from Bloomsbury Academic, you’ll examine the retail level of the fashion industry in three function areas: marketing, management, and merchandising.

Explore fashion retail marketing and its many careers

The more a business can integrate advertising, publicity, sales promotion, and personal selling, the more promotion will be effective.

You’ll delve into the marketing mix and marketing plans that are used by retailers. You’ll then look at career tracks that focus on marketing and promotion within retail, from marketing director and brand marketing manager to art director and copywriter.

Learn how to become a fashion retail merchandiser

Retail merchandisers, or buyers, have a tremendous impact on their fashion retailing businesses in terms of exclusivity, image, and pricing.

On this course, you’ll learn about the wide variety of positions available in the merchandising division of retailing operation, depending on a business’s size and channels of distribution.

Discover the vital role of management in fashion retail

Towards the end of the course, you’ll explore the career opportunities in retail management; the division in charge of organizing and controlling the affairs of the business as a whole or a particular department.

As you delve into each career path, you’ll examine the challenges of each role and the relevant qualifications needed to follow that path.

Syllabus

Week 1
Marketing for the retailer
- Course welcome
  In this activity, you will be introduced to the content that will be covered during this course. You will also get an overview of the topics covered during the first week of this course.
- Marketing: Plans and roles
  What do price, product, placement, promotion and people have to do with marketing? Next, we take a closer look at the marketing mix, the marketing plan and the role the marketing director has to play in all of these.
- Deep dive: Product marketing manager
  Next, we explore the importance of product placement and take a closer look at the career path of a retail marketing manager.
- Other roles in retail marketing
  What are the roles and responsibilities of a brand marketing manager or a digital marketing manager? What qualifications do you need to become a creative director copywriter or customer service operator? Let's find out!
- Week wrap up
  In this activity, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of the topics covered during the week. You will also be provided with a summary of the week's learning, and some insight on what to expect in the new week.
Week 2
Merchandising for the retailer
- Weekly welcome
  Moving into the second week of this course, this activity will give you an overview of the topics that will be covered during this week
- Merchandisers
  Do you know what is the roles and responsibilities of a general merchandising manager or divisional merchandising manager? We explore the career track of a merchandiser next.
- Buyers
  Are you someone who enjoys the thrill of the shopping hunt? Then you might be the perfect buyer! This activity will provide you with some more information on the career track of a fashion buyer.
- Other roles in merchandising
  In this next activity, we explore some of the other roles available in merchandising like assistant buyer, planner or distribution manager.
- Week wrap up
  In this activity, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of the topics covered during the week. You will also be provided with a summary of the week's learning, and some insight on what to expect in the new week.
Week 3
Management for the retailer
- Weekly welcome
  Moving into the final week of this course, this activity will give you an overview of the topics that will be covered during this week.
- Regional, operations, and retail store manager
  This week focuses on management careers in the retail sector of the fashion industry. In this first activity we explore a regional, operations and retail store manager.
- Managers in training, department, and customer service managers
  The next group of managers we take a closer look at is managers-in-training (MIT), department managers and customer service managers.
- Retail operation owner
  The retail entrepreneur, or store owner, is financially responsible for the company and oversees all aspects of the retail business. In this last activity we explore the career track of a retail operation owner.
- Course wrap up
  In this activity, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge of the topics covered during the week. You will also be provided with a summary of the week's learning, and some insight into other courses in this series.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now
Join - $89

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Develop a marketing strategy to construct and implement a marketing plan
Evaluate the interrelationship of product, price, placement, promotion, and people
Justify the pricing of the product and placing to ensure the success of the business
Identify a target market and clarify promotional goals to reach and penetrate the market

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone interested in a career in fashion, especially one within fashion retail.

Who will you learn with?

Astrid deRidder

I lead a team of content experts who work with educators to create, develop and deliver high quality and inspiring content that changes lives.

Who developed the course?

Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes.and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series. Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney. Within Bloomsbury’s Academic division, it publishes under Bloomsbury, as well as under a number of prestigious and historic imprint names.

Fairchild Books

With a history stretching back over more than 100 years, Fairchild Books is a world-leading publisher in the fields of fashion and interior design.

FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform and has been providing high quality online courses for learners around the world over the last ten years.

What's included?

This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.

Unlimited access to this course
Includes any articles, videos, peer reviews and quizzes
Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime

Join - $89

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Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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