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Unit 6: Market Specialist

also need to operate a computer terminal to process orders, know how to accept payments by Notes
cash, check, credit card or debit card, bag and wrap purchases, count and tally cash at a registers,
handle coupons and refunds, collect customer data and make deposits at a cash office. They
might also stock shelves and product displays, mark price tags and take inventory.

6.1.1 Education

If you’re willing to train your retail specialist extensively, you’ll draw a wider pool of applicants
and can pay a lower salary by specifying no educational background. However, requiring at
least a high school diploma ensures some basic skills that might be useful for business. If your
products or services are highly technical, then you might require a college degree, which will
cost more. If you want to minimize training, look for sales experience, preferably in a retail
environment similar to yours.

Notes Management background is also helpful if you want a specialist who can run the
retail side of your operation.

6.1.2 Considerations

Hiring full-time employees might involve less training, promote a sense of commitment and
attract workers with more skills. However, this also entails increased costs because you might
have to provide benefits such as insurance and paid time off to remain competitive with other
retail concerns. Part-time employees avoid the expense and paperwork of benefits, but may
involve more headaches as you try to staff positions with more numbers of people. A common
benefit for any type of employee is a discount on products and services. This encourages specialists
to become familiar with your offerings as consumers, and to promote its advantages from first-
hand experience.

Did u know? As of May 2010, mean wages for the profession ran $12.02 per hour or $25,000
per year, with lows of $7.75 per hour or $16,120 per year, and highs of $18.54 per hour or
$38,570 per year.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. For highly technical products or services are, then the retail specialist might require a
college degree.
2. A common benefit for any type of employee is a discount on products and services.
3. Hiring full-time employees might involves a lot of training.

4. Management graduates explain the features of your offering, and demonstrate its uses.

6.2 Retail Marketing

Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers.
Marketing might sometimes be interpreted as the art of selling products, but sales is only one
part of marketing. As the term “Marketing” may replace “Advertising” it is the overall strategy
and function of promoting a product or service to the customer.

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