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Now, a common admission test for those interested in pursuing a career in the booming retail sector. In order to ensure that only those cut out for the rigours of the retail trade take up jobs in this field, Retailers Association of India (RAI) intends to conduct its own variant of CAT from January 2008 onwards to assess a candidate’s aptitude for retail management.

RAI is the principal lobbying forum for domestic retailers and its members include all the biggies, including Pantaloon Retail (India), Reliance Retail, Shoppers’ Stop and RPG Retail. The three-hour test will focus on verbal skills, quantitative skills and analytical reasoning, with 35% weightage assigned to the first two categories, and 30% to the last.

Candidates who clear this test would be admitted in nine business schools nationwide, where they would pursue a 18-month course in retail management. The course, split into four semesters, would be interspersed with an internship at a RAI member firm, he added.

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With the city on verge of a retail boom and big brands like Reliance trying to capitalise on the surge, a new breed of professionals will be trained in retail.

For the first time in Kolkata, the NSHM Knowledge Campus is launching a course in retail management. The 18 month course will start from July and there will be 60 seats. The students will be selected on basis of CAT and MAT scores, followed by group discussion and interview.

The Post Graduate Programme in Retail management is a course intended to provide quality and skilled manpower in retail industry, said Krishnendu Sarkar, head of learning services of NSHM. It is an initiative to organise retail education in the country. The Retailers Association of India, a body of all major retailers like Shopper’s Stop, Pantaloons, RPG, Reliance and many others are key partners in the initiative. The association is keen to provide internship, placements and even a visiting faculty for the course.

The retail education is a nationwide initiative by RAI, through which it is trying to create manpower mostly for the back-end and managerial operations. The RAI has already tied-up with eight other colleges across the country and has played a key role in designing the curriculum.

The 18-month curriculum will be split in four trimesters and a two month summer internship program.
The course includes sections like trends in global retail, logistics and supply chain management, visual merchandising and training in specific retail divisions like food, grocery, lifestyle etc.

At present, about 1.8 million people are employed in the organised retail sector and the number will grow by another 2 million in next two years. From 2008, RAI will have a common test for all nine institutions.