1. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
In-State Tuition
$11,830
Enrollment
29,474
What is a Retail Product Manager?
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a retail product manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $39.58 an hour? That's $82,334 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 21,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Retail Product Manager Do
There are certain skills that many retail product managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, interpersonal skills and organizational skills.
How To Become a Retail Product Manager
If you're interested in becoming a retail product manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 68.4% of retail product managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 14.5% of retail product managers have master's degrees. Even though most retail product managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Retail Product Manager Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of store manager you might progress to a role such as marketing director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title regional marketing director.
Retail Product Manager
Regional Marketing Director
7 Years
Marketing Manager, Global Marketing
8 Years
Director Of Retail Sales
10 Years
Director Of Consumer Marketing
10 Years
Executive Vice President Marketing
11 Years
Senior Marketing Program Manager
9 Years
Show More
Average Salary for a Retail Product Manager
Retail Product Managers in America make an average salary of $82,334 per year or $40 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $139,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $48,000 per year.
Average Retail Product Manager Salary
$82,334 Yearly$39.58 hourly
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Retail Product Manager
There are several types of retail product manager, including:
Product Manager
Role:
Do you ever wonder how products sell in the marketplace? Or how come your favorite artist is on the television, advertising the item you could see on a shopping stall, but didn't think of buying until now? That's a product manager's job. Simply put, product managers handle the product's presence in the market to persuade a person, like you, to take those items home.
Needless to say, the product manager is a senior position. And for you to qualify, you should have extensive experience and skills under your belt to handle sales strategies and the team's performance. You'll be the team's "know-it-all" - meaning, you'll never run out of ideas and techniques to make the account successful. Basically, that's your objective - to help the business grow by achieving your client's highest satisfaction.
Being a product manager is actually not a smooth-sailing journey, because you will be accountable for whatever results your strategies might create. But the self-accomplishment it brings is priceless, especially when you know that you contribute so much to the company's goals. Everyone has their own starting point. It's just a matter of hard work and patience to get to the top of the game. And maybe, the business owner of the cereal you're eating every morning needs someone like you to lead that brand. We'll never know.
- Average Salary: $111,729
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Product Marketing Manager
Role:
Product marketing managers are responsible for developing effective marketing strategies and plans to communicate the features and benefits of new products to customers. You are to handle market research on current trending products, establish timescales for upcoming products, influence pricing and packaging, guide sales teams, develop messaging, and market positioning around products, and participate in presentations and events. Frequently, you are referred to as the 'voice of the customer' within the company, precisely researching consumer needs and experiences. You will work mainly in private sector companies, but you can be employed by any company that promotes and sells products.
You need to have a bachelor's degree in business administration or marketing for this job. As a product marketing manager, your job requires you to work with multiple teams, and you need to have collaborative skills. You should also have excellent product management skills. Your average salary per annum is $92,174.
- Average Salary: $112,220
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Product Development Manager
Role:
A Product Development Manager, also known as a PDM, is an expert, often in software engineering or UX design or both, tasked with designing, developing, and improving new products and services that can be sold to the public and other companies and organizations.
They must be able to do market and technological research, develop proposals, supervise the design and development projects and processes, cooperate and collaborate with specialists and employees working in other parts of the company, and often must present and explain the product to investors, higher management, and customers alike.
Generally, a person hoping to begin working as a Product Development Manager must have at least a Bachelor's in Industrial Design, Engineering, or a similar field of study, along with some experience in similar and related positions, and a good understanding and proficiency in prototype and design software and platforms, such as 3D printers and Autodesk.
Depending on the level of the positions, further education, experience, and specialties may be necessary.
- Average Salary: $113,437
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
States With The Most Retail Product Manager Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active retail product manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where retail product managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Average Salary: Job Openings:
Number Of Retail Product Manager Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 11,735 | $104,160 |
| 2 | Texas | 5,196 | $83,464 |
| 3 | New York | 4,479 | $79,879 |
| 4 | Florida | 4,283 | $68,635 |
| 5 | Illinois | 3,739 | $71,915 |
| 6 | Washington | 3,149 | $94,242 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 3,124 | $96,997 |
| 8 | Georgia | 2,936 | $65,177 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 2,807 | $79,186 |
| 10 | New Jersey | 2,682 | $82,794 |
| 11 | Ohio | 2,656 | $64,249 |
| 12 | Virginia | 2,539 | $70,523 |
| 13 | North Carolina | 2,512 | $70,183 |
| 14 | Michigan | 2,404 | $67,522 |
| 15 | Colorado | 1,960 | $57,542 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 1,740 | $57,049 |
| 17 | Indiana | 1,732 | $63,771 |
| 18 | Arizona | 1,709 | $79,706 |
| 19 | Maryland | 1,628 | $73,901 |
| 20 | Oregon | 1,522 | $90,242 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 1,499 | $59,915 |
| 22 | Tennessee | 1,362 | $58,606 |
| 23 | Missouri | 1,283 | $59,995 |
| 24 | Utah | 1,119 | $72,202 |
| 25 | Kentucky | 1,034 | $56,771 |
| 26 | Alabama | 922 | $64,083 |
| 27 | South Carolina | 890 | $62,526 |
| 28 | Iowa | 888 | $54,865 |
| 29 | Connecticut | 886 | $85,595 |
| 30 | Arkansas | 714 | $59,108 |
| 31 | Kansas | 709 | $52,887 |
| 32 | Louisiana | 639 | $66,774 |
| 33 | New Hampshire | 558 | $72,219 |
| 34 | Oklahoma | 522 | $64,692 |
| 35 | Nebraska | 519 | $53,875 |
| 36 | Nevada | 508 | $79,550 |
| 37 | Mississippi | 475 | $66,452 |
| 38 | New Mexico | 463 | $79,397 |
| 39 | Idaho | 433 | $76,719 |
| 40 | Rhode Island | 357 | $90,822 |
| 41 | Maine | 337 | $82,124 |
| 42 | Montana | 335 | $57,227 |
| 43 | Delaware | 293 | $80,958 |
| 44 | West Virginia | 273 | $69,614 |
| 45 | Vermont | 270 | $69,085 |
| 46 | North Dakota | 235 | $51,927 |
| 47 | South Dakota | 187 | $48,355 |
| 48 | Hawaii | 184 | $59,407 |
| 49 | Alaska | 170 | $61,919 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 162 | $57,824 |
Top Colleges for Retail Product Managers
2. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,555
Enrollment
30,360
3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
In-State Tuition
$14,760
Enrollment
31,451
4. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,992
Enrollment
33,495
5. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-State Tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
6. Ohio State University
Columbus, OH • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,726
Enrollment
45,769
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-State Tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
8. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
9. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
10. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
Top Skills For a Retail Product Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 25.4% of retail product managers listed digital marketing on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and interpersonal skills are important as well.
Retail Product Manager diversity
Retail Product Manager Gender Distribution
Female
50%
Male
50%
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among retail product managers, 50.4% of them are women, while 49.6% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among retail product managers is White, which makes up 74.6% of all retail product managers.
- The most common foreign language among retail product managers is Spanish at 36.4%.
Online Courses For Retail Product Manager That You May Like
Advertising Disclosure
1. Product Management (Part Time)
Balance business viability, technical feasibility, and customer desire to lead products and features toward long-term success. Learn from a seasoned expert. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...
2. Digital Marketing (Part Time)
Build confidence and capability to apply modern marketing strategies on the job. Drive growth with multichannel campaigns powered by data and customer insight. This course is offered in person and live online, in a remote classroom setting...
3. How to Build A Startup
The main idea in this course is learning how to rapidly develop and test ideas by gathering massive amounts of customer and marketplace feedback. Many startups fail by not validating their ideas early on with real-life customers. In order to mitigate that, students will learn how to get out of the building and search for the real pain points and unmet needs of customers. Only with these can the entrepreneur find a proper solution and establish a suitable business model...
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Best States For a Retail Product Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a retail product manager. The best states for people in this position are California, Massachusetts, Washington, and Rhode Island. Retail product managers make the most in California with an average salary of $104,160. Whereas in Massachusetts and Washington, they would average $96,997 and $94,242, respectively. While retail product managers would only make an average of $90,822 in Rhode Island, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. California
Total Retail Product Manager Jobs: 11,735
Highest 10% Earn:
$175,000
Location Quotient:
1.38
$104,160
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
Total Retail Product Manager Jobs: 3,149
Highest 10% Earn:
$160,000
Location Quotient:
1.48
$94,242
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
Total Retail Product Manager Jobs: 3,124
Highest 10% Earn:
$172,000
Location Quotient:
1.17
$96,997
Avg. Salary
How Do Retail Product Managers Rate Their Jobs?
Top Retail Product Manager Employers
Most Common Employers For Retail Product Manager
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Expedia Group | $113,024 | $54.34 | 2 |
| 2 | Citi | $112,966 | $54.31 | 2 |
| 3 | Levi Strauss & Co. | $112,578 | $54.12 | 6 |
| 4 | IBM | $105,528 | $50.73 | 2 |
| 5 | NCR | $84,843 | $40.79 | 3 |
| 6 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | $83,917 | $40.34 | 3 |
| 7 | Hy-Vee | $82,675 | $39.75 | 2 |
| 8 | Product Management Festival | $80,809 | $38.85 | 3 |
| 9 | Kohler Co. | $78,948 | $37.96 | 2 |
| 10 | Zions Ban | $78,249 | $37.62 | 7 |
Retail Product Manager Videos
Smart Inventory Management through Product Rationalization
Braintree manager Michael Boeke on the Future of Retail