Module BUSI4R015: Retail Science

Department: Business School (Business)

BUSI4R015: Retail Science

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide students with a systematic way of understanding the role of data in management decision-making across the retail and distributive industries

Content

• Fundamentals of retail management
• Retail strategies – single-channel, multi-channel, omni-channel
• Location management and intelligent network planning
• Concepts in retail data analysis
• Data requirements for market segmentation – geodemographic, psychographic, behavioural
• Key metrics – Customer Lifetime Value, Marketing ROI, Scanner Data, EPOS, etc.
• Brand management metrics and brand commerce models
• Financial analytics in retail and distribution management

Learning Outcomes

• On completion of the module students should:
• have a critical appreciation of the use of data in the retail and distributive trades;
• be able to identify, collect, analyse and apply appropriate retail data forms and techniques;
• have an advanced understanding of when system dynamics and data analytics might add value to the retail decision-making process.

• On completion of the module students should:
• be able to scope data requirements from the description of a retail situation;
• be able to build models to inform strategic decisions;
• be able to understand customer behavioural data and conduct analysis on it;
• be able to apply retail science to the analysis of real-world business situations.

• Effective written communication
• Planning, organising and time management
• Problem solving and data analysis
• Making effective use of communication and information technology

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The learning outcomes will be met through a combination of lectures, workshops and groupwork (including group discussion of case examples, data analysis exercises and a retail entrepreneurship simulation), together with individual exercises and guided reading.
• During the course of the module, students complete a retail entrepreneurship simulation, scoping the data requirements for each stage in the process of setting up and managing a small business.
• The summative assessment of the module, by individual written assignment, is designed to test students’ understanding and critical appreciation of the key concepts associated with retail science techniques, and their ability to apply them to complex problem solving.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Team project, based on a retail entrepreneurship simulation.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University