Types of Degrees Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many retailing and retail operations graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	385
Basic Certificate	333
Associate Degree	162
Undergraduate Certificate	49
Graduate Certificate	1

What Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to retailing and retail operations and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Retailing and Retail Operations Majors

Retailing and Retail Operations majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Retailing and Retail Operations Majors

retailing and retail operations majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Abilities for Retailing and Retail Operations Majors

As you progress with your retailing and retail operations degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with retailing and retail operations:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Demonstrators and Product Promoters	6.5%	$28,960
Energy Brokers	9.7%	$54,550
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers	3.8%	$39,630
Sales and Related Workers	10.6%	$33,220

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in ?

This major is dominated by women with about 73% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of retailing and retail operations majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	17
Black or African American	20
Hispanic or Latino	27
White	276
International Students	27
Other Races/Ethnicities	18

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Retailing and Retail Operations. About 7.0% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Retailing and Retail Operations majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $33,260 to $45,080 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to

Some degrees associated with retailing and retail operations may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for retailing and retail operations careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	14.7%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	39.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	5.0%
Some College Courses	5.8%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	11.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	26.0%
Master’s Degree	0.2%

Online Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	25	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	24	3
Bachelor’s Degree	1	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Worth It?

The median salary for a retailing and retail operations grad is $40,480 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 1% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $11,600 after 20 years!

Majors Related to

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to retailing and retail operations.

Major	Number of Grads
General Sales, Distribution, and Marketing Operations	3,252
Professional Sales	1,039
Other General Merchandising, Sales, and Related Marketing Operations	187
Merchandising and Buying Operations	42

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Nick Nijhuis under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.