Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management

Types of Degrees Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many consumer merch&ising/retailing management graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	16

What Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to consumer merchandising/retailing management were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Majors

Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Majors

When studying consumer merchandising/retailing management, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Majors

A major in consumer merchandising/retailing management will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Major?

People with a consumer merchandising/retailing management degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Farm and Home Management Advisors	7.7%	$49,840
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	3.8%	$39,630
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	23.2%	$63,120
Marketing Managers	10.1%	$134,290
Sales Managers	7.5%	$124,220

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management?

This major is dominated by women with about 69% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of consumer merchandising/retailing management majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	6
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management, too. About 12.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management

Some careers associated with consumer merchandising/retailing management require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to consumer merchandising/retailing management have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.0%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	11.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.9%
Some College Courses	2.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	30.4%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	2.1%
Master’s Degree	19.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	2.8%
Doctoral Degree	1.4%

Online Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	2	1
Bachelor’s Degree	2	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	6	1
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Consumer Merchandising/Retailing Management

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to consumer merchandising/retailing management.

Major	Number of Grads
Business Family & Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences	429
Family & Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Communication	0

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.