Certification in Retail Management
The National Professional Certification in Retail Management is an industry-driven and endorsed credential to help employers distinguish and recognize their existing and potential managers. Developed with support from the U.S. Department of Labor and American Express Foundation, this credential defines a new level of career advancement to motivate retail leaders to stay and grow in their jobs.
About the Certification
The retail management certification is based on competency statements developed with input from numerous retail companies and employees. Companies can use certification to:
- Identify qualified candidates and associates suitable for management positions
- Develop performance goals
- Build retention
- Encourage continued learning and career advancement
- Reduce the cost of recruiting and training employees
By earning the retail management certification, candidates can demonstrate that they have knowledge and skills in the primary disciplines of retail management. The certification is geared towards the new sales manager, assistant manager, anyone wanting to pursue a management career in retail and related industries and interested in long-term career and company growth.
Knowledge and Skill Areas
The certification captures the core of what Retail Managers need to know for a broad range of management and supervisory positions. The assessment to earn the certification measures and validates knowledge in:
- Selling & Service
- Merchandising
- Human Resources
- Operations
- Administrative & Financial Accountability
How to Earn
Candidates can earn the certification by passing an online, 100-question assessment. The assessment must be proctored. Candidates can schedule testing at public test centers across the U.S.A, or companies can set-up as a private test site, have proctors trained, and offer the assessment internally. The base price of the exam is $80 to $100, depending on the test site.
Training Resources to Help Prepare
The Candidate Handbook outlines the testing process provides sample questions, and gives detailed information about the five work areas covered on the test. Starting on page 18, you will find the competency breakdowns. Test questions are based on the 'Tasks' found under each 'Domain.'
Candidates can view an online demonstration of the exam to see the format and sample questions. The online demo does not provide automatic scoring, so you will need to write out your answers and check them against the answer key: 1)A, 2)B, 3)C, 4)D, 5)C, 6)B, 7)D, 8)A, 9)B, 10)A.
Training for this credential is available through NRF University wired, NRF Foundation's eLearning platform that provides online training for the retail industry.
The Retail Management Training Suite consists of six online courses: Introduction to Retail Management, Introduction to Selling and Service, Human Resources, Operations, Merchandising and Financial Reporting. Candidates can take any and of all of these courses to gain knowledge in these specific areas. The main objective of the curriculum is to provide the learner an overview of the retail industry, concepts and processes and an opportunity to understand the areas of accountability for a Retail Manager.
Each course takes about one to one and a half hours to complete, depending on the learner. The cost is $300 for the suite per learner for a one-year license. Individual courses can be purchased at a cost of $50 per learner for a one-year license. Read the detailed course outline.
