Your cart is empty.
Keep shopping
How Retail Works: Buying, Planning & Store Management
What you'll learn
- Calculate and manage Open-to-Buy budgets to control stock investment and avoid overbuying
- Build a complete merchandise plan including sales forecasts, stock targets and intake schedules
- Measure retail performance using key KPIs: sell-through, GMROI, stock turn and forward cover
- Execute the end-to-end buying cycle from range planning and supplier negotiation to markdown
Explore related topics
Course content
15 sections • 15 lectures • 2h 40m total length
Requirements
- No prior retail experience required — this course starts from the very basics
- A basic understanding of spreadsheets (Excel or Google Sheets) is helpful but not essential
- An interest in retail, fashion buying, or merchandise planning is all you need to get started
Description
This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.
Want to understand how retail really works — from the shop floor to the buying office?
This course gives you a complete picture of modern retail across all its key functions. Whether you are new to the industry, moving into a head office role, or managing your own retail business, you will learn how buying, merchandising, planning, and store operations work together to drive profitability.
What you will learn:
How the retail ecosystem works and how each function contributes to business performance
Retail buying fundamentals — supplier relationships, range planning and purchase orders
Merchandise planning and allocation — how retailers match stock to demand
Visual merchandising — how store presentation drives sales and customer behaviour
Store design and layout strategy — how space is planned to maximise conversion
Inventory management and stock control — avoiding overstock and stockouts
Store operations and customer experience — what excellence looks like on the shop floor
Retail analytics and performance measurement — the KPIs that drive every decision
Course structure:
Module 1 — Introduction to the retail ecosystem
Module 2 — Retail buying fundamentals
Module 3 — Merchandise planning and allocation
Module 4 — Visual merchandising essentials
Module 5 — Store design and layout strategy
Module 6 — Inventory management and stock control
Module 7 — Store operations and customer experience
Module 8 — Retail analytics and performance measurement
Who this course is for:
This course is designed for anyone who wants to understand how retail works — including graduates entering the industry, store managers moving into head office roles, entrepreneurs launching a retail business, and professionals from other industries transitioning into retail.
By the end of this course, you will have a comprehensive understanding of every major retail function and the confidence to contribute at any level of a retail organisation.
Who this course is for:
- Aspiring retail buyers and merchandise planners who want to break into the industry with confidence
- Store managers, retail assistants and fashion graduates looking to move into a planning or buying role
- Small business owners and independent retailers who want to manage stock and budgets more effectively