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Retail operation manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Timothy Edwards,

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical retail operation manager skills. We ranked the top skills for retail operation managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.1% of retail operation manager resumes contained pos as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a retail operation manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 retail operation manager skills for your resume and career

1. POS

POS is an abbreviation of "Point of Sale" which is the time and place where a customer completes a transaction. It can either be a physical shop that consists of POS terminals or a virtual shop. A POS system helps simplify the retail functions and track important sales data.

Here's how retail operation managers use pos:

Retail IT Lead - monitor and coordinate all IT projects impacting Retail Stores, including POS, AS400, RTR initiatives.
Maintained POS data base records and maintains equipment assets through accountability, maintenance/repairs, and disposal within Air Force guidelines.

2. Retail Operations

Retail operations are used to describe all the tasks that maintain the store functionality. These tasks include supply chain, people management, store layout, physical inventory, cash operations, promotions, master data management, and pricing.

Here's how retail operation managers use retail operations:

Oversee Retail Operations-wide efforts to increase effectiveness and/or efficiency enabling the organization to achieve its strategic goals.
Retail Operations Manager / Territory ManagerThrough progressive levels of responsibility manage all aspects of retail operations.

3. Payroll

Payroll is the sum of all the compensation that an organization has to pay to employees at a specified time. Payroll is managed by the finance or HR department while small business owners may handle it themselves. Payroll isn't fixed as it varies every month due to sick leaves, overtime, etc.

Here's how retail operation managers use payroll:

Managed scheduling and payroll for team; conducted performance evaluations, promotions and terminations when necessary.
Controlled store expenditures through management of payroll and operating costs.

4. Store Sales

Here's how retail operation managers use store sales:

Developed innovative and effective marketing programs; exceeding store sales quotas.
Develop strategies to improve customer service, drive store sales, and increase profitability by offering store made products.

5. Retail Store

Here's how retail operation managers use retail store:

Support 10 retail stores operational needs including banking, inventory, maintenance and corporate communication.
Launched retail store and online catalog operations for custom designed camouflaged products.

6. Loss Prevention

The steps taken by a business to prevent theft is called loss prevention. There are multiple methods for loss prevention for example usage of automated cash handling, secure physical location, product security staff buy-in, and attentive customer service.

Here's how retail operation managers use loss prevention:

Developed and implemented new loss prevention methods which resulted in reduction in shrinkage and improvement in over-all team performance.
Defined Loss Prevention standards to protect staff and inventory

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7. Inventory Control

Here's how retail operation managers use inventory control:

Created new inventory control procedures for cost allocation system to properly reflect over/under budget reports.
Performed daily financial functions of inventory control, purchase order creation and invoice payment authorization.

8. Operational Procedures

The operational procedure means the prescriptive documents that describe processes involving several partners. The involved techniques get utilized in defining the related work.

Here's how retail operation managers use operational procedures:

Established all operational procedures and worked closely with accountant and legal counsel from initial incorporation of business.
Trained employees in proper operational procedures and functions and explained company policies.

9. Store Management

Here's how retail operation managers use store management:

Trained 6 personnel in conducting proper inventory procedures, customer service, procurement of merchandise and store management objectives
Championed performance improvement initiative through development and implementation of corrective action plans for store management.

10. Performance Reviews

Performance reviews refer to the official evaluation of a worker's performance done by the manager. The evaluation then helps the superior identify the worker's strengths and weaknesses and offers valuable feedback to help him overcome his shortcomings. This assessment also helps a worker set a future goal for himself and identify ways to better his future performance. Performance Reviews may be done on a monthly or yearly basis, depending on the company.

Here's how retail operation managers use performance reviews:

Selected for promotion in recognition of consistently favorable performance reviews and improvements in efficiency.
Completed annual performance reviews/work assessments.

11. Customer Satisfaction

Here's how retail operation managers use customer satisfaction:

Worked closely with Underwriting Manager and Closing Manager to maximize funding volume while maintaining efficient operations and maintain customer satisfaction.
Created a culture of selling and customer engagement that resulted in a consistent improvement in customer satisfaction measurements.

12. Direct Reports

Here's how retail operation managers use direct reports:

Direct reports included Store Operations Coordinator, Store Operations Project Coordinator, and Communications coordinator.
Managed 12 direct reports in Account Management, Account Coordination/Administration and Customer Service/Warranty.

13. Cash Handling

Here's how retail operation managers use cash handling:

Manage store revenue, including cash handling, deposit reconciliation and preparation of bank deposits.
Tracked cash variances for all cash handling employees and issue discipline according to variance policy.

14. Food Service

The food service industry is a vast industry comprising of restaurants, caterers, cafeterias operating in institutions and any other business offering a meal not prepared at home. Foodservice operators require necessary utensils for preparing food for the consumers, foodservice distributors are the people who take care of this need for them.

Here's how retail operation managers use food service:

Design and implement new training process, succession planning process, food service, and coffee program and operations programs.
Initiated and performed daily food service and catering for 6 campus facilities, as well as President's home.

15. Oversight

Having oversight of someone means to monitor a process or a situation. If someone has oversight of something, they are responsible for the completion of the project. Oversight is usually given to experts as they monitor their juniors or newbies as they go through a project.

Here's how retail operation managers use oversight:

Manage the day-to-day oversight of funding requirements for vendors, retailers and wholesalers using company sponsored software.
Advanced to increasingly responsible positions, culminating in management role with full oversight of store operations.

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What skills help Retail Operation Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on retail operation manager resumes?

Dr. Timothy Edwards

Professor, Interim Director, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Writing and research skills. Analytical and critical thinking skills. Technical skills such as web design, graphic design, audio and video production skills. Employers are interested in potential employees knowledge, intelligence and skills.

What soft skills should all retail operation managers possess?

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Professor of International Business, San Francisco State University

-Languages beyond English (fluency in written and oral)

-Ability to work collegially in a diverse cultural setting

-Ability to identify good problems on which to work in a competent manner

-Ability/flexibility to interact/work productively with people who have serious constraints on their time owing to other work or personal commitments/issues

-Some of my answers to Q1 above would also apply here

What hard/technical skills are most important for retail operation managers?

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Professor of International Business, San Francisco State University

-Analytical skills (ability to gather data, clean it, analyze it, write-up results and present on what the meaning of the analysis suggests for action (the last one is most important--"what does it really mean?"

-Some experience and skills with coding in any language (at the moment, Python or C++ are preferred, though Ruby on Rails is also good)

-Deep spreadsheet skills (pivot tables and macros, as examples).

-Relational database skills, including programming (e.g., MySQL)

-Data mining

-AI/Machine Learning experience

What retail operation manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Steve Wages Ph.D.

Director, Cloverdale Center for Youth and Family, Faulkner University

I recommend they use this time to fill in the gaps, no pun intended, in their program of studies by expanding their knowledge base. All educational programs have gaps in the training, content areas which are not addressed adequately. For example, my counseling program was highly regarded, yet I had little to no content related to aging studies, parenting, or personal finances, etc. Further, the content of counseling programs is problem-centered or remedial, conceptually focused on tertiary prevention.

Consequently, graduates are not exposed to a large body of research and literature related to human development, individual wellness, and family strengths which would greatly inform and enhance their assessment and intervention strategies employed in counseling. I believe the more we can do to strengthen our understanding of healthy individual and family wellness, the better equipped we will be to address unhealthy relationships and family dynamics. Put another way, being well grounded in primary and secondary prevention will further equip the pastoral counselor's efforts at intervention. Again, use this time to acquire relevant knowledge and content that most counseling programs do not address extensively.

What type of skills will young retail operation managers need?

Dr. Barbara Davis

William J. Atkins Dean, Centenary College of Louisiana

Analysis - Graduates will need to analyze situations, identify the best choices, and seek solutions with the highest benefit to the organization.

Creativity - Graduates will need to possess critical and creative thinking skills.

Flexibility - Graduates must remain flexible to succeed in a highly changing environment.

What technical skills for a retail operation manager stand out to employers?

Kerem Cakirer Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington

The labor market is not so different than any market with demand and supply. The demand from employers will shift towards more technical (software, coding, computer language programming) and analytical (problem solving on your own) skills than social skills overall. Being capable of writing or/and understanding computer languages will be a must have skill in the very near future. Communication skills over online platforms or social media platforms will play a huge role when employers are making a hiring decision. The data supports that businesses are using more online platforms than ever. I am projecting that there won't be any business travels or on-site client meetings in the near future. Exceling in different types of software, and being able to learn a new one easily, will become more important than people skills in businesses. Employers will seek for candidates, who are capable of achieving tasks in a more off-site (outside the office) environment through a deadline, and who can utilize multiple different softwares at their hand to solve business problems. As far as how the hiring process would go, we might see employers using artificial intelligence to make hiring decisions over some online platform soon. Essentially, this means that the candidates will be assessed with a more quantitative measure than ever. An evaluation measure by the AI, which will take soft and digital skills more into account.My final words are: The pandemic is still a burden to the humankind but the world will prevail. This year could be the inception of a new era in terms of how businesses run.

Do you want to know more?

List of retail operation manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a retail operation manager resume and required skills for a retail operation manager to have include:

POS
Retail Operations
Payroll
Store Sales
Retail Store
Loss Prevention
Inventory Control
Operational Procedures
Store Management
Performance Reviews
Customer Satisfaction
Direct Reports
Cash Handling
Food Service
Oversight
Store Operations

KPI
Retail Sales
Pricing Strategy
Financial Reports
Business Development
Sales Floor
Process Improvement
Inventory Management
Product Development
Training Programs
Retail Locations
Product Knowledge
Customer Complaints
Sales Volume
HACCP
Sales Performance

Sales Associates
Store Locations
Trade Shows
Human Resources
Labor Costs
Training Materials
Staff Development
Increase Sales
Excellent Guest
Retail Outlets
Customer Issues
Retail Business
Vendor Relationships
Bank Deposits
Gift Shop
Cash Control

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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