Retail Operations and Store Management
Retail Operations and Store Management tests whether you can run a store’s daily routine and interpret basic performance measures. Questions cover opening and closing checks, cash and key control, staffing, safety, shrinkage, and KPIs such as footfall, conversion, average basket value, and stock turn.
Daily control
- Opening: safety check, lighting, tills, display readiness, stock replenishment, staff briefing.
- Closing: cash reconciliation, secure high-value stock, alarms, cleaning, next-day tasks.
- Staff scheduling must match footfall peaks, not just staff preference.
- Shrinkage is loss from theft, fraud, damage, or paperwork error; controls include receipts, CCTV, access limits, and cycle counts.
KPI rules
Conversion rate = transactions ÷ footfall × 100. Average basket value = sales ÷ transactions. Stock turn = cost of goods sold ÷ average inventory. These measure different things, so do not use one as a substitute for another.
Worked example
A store has 800 visitors in a day, 120 bills, and sales of ₹60,000. Conversion = 120 ÷ 800 × 100 = 15%. Average basket = ₹60,000 ÷ 120 = ₹500. If the conversion target is 18%, the store missed it by 3 percentage points; raising conversion to 18% at the same footfall would give about 144 bills.
Marks traps
Do not count staff or delivery people as footfall. Do not call a cash shortage “shrinkage” without checking whether it is a counting error. Do not schedule all staff at opening if evening footfall is higher.