Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants from Udemy

What's inside

Learning objectives

Analyze retail business and find improvements especially low hanging fruits
Model the retail business in excel and draw conclusions out of this
Optimize retail operations – make them faster, cheaper and at higher quality

You will be able to build expansion strategy
You will know what to look for when you move to multichannel
You will learn how to analyze the behavior of customers in the stores

Analyze retail business and find improvements especially low hanging fruits
Model the retail business in excel and draw conclusions out of this
Optimize retail operations – make them faster, cheaper and at higher quality
You will be able to build expansion strategy
You will know what to look for when you move to multichannel
You will learn how to analyze the behavior of customers in the stores

Syllabus

I will show you here what you can get out of this course

A little bit about me and my experience

Here I will talk about the main topics that you have to master as a Business Analyst or Management Consultant specializing in retail

Here I will discuss what you can learn from the course, what will be the order in which I will show you the

Here I will show you what to do if a blurry image appears

Here I will show you how to find additional resources attached to the coruse like Excel files, presentations, links etc.

As a business analyst or consultant, you may be asked to model the whole business in Excel. I will show you in this section how to do it and you will get ready-made models. I will also show you how to model e-commerce.

I will start by showing the main challenges in Retail

I will show you in this lecture what KPI I the retail business model driven by. This will help you understand the modeling in Excel done in the next lectures

Here I will show you how to model the Retailer business in Excel.

Here I will show you a financial model for a retaier

In this lecture you will get insight into the business model of different e-commerce companies. E-commerce businesses group is very diversified so we will try to show the similarities and the differences between concepts.. You will learn here the definition of this business model, see some examples of companies using this business models. You will also understand what really matters in this sort of business, what KPIs you should look at and what values you can expect.

In this Lecture I will go through a business model of e-commerce and show you how you can model the behaviour of the customer, acquisition methods and margins in Excel. Attachted to this lecture you will find the file that I show in the video so dowload it and go through it. You can use it to model the e-commerce business you are analyzing

Let's discuss the Subscription Business Model.

In the second section I will discuss the basic type of analyzes that you can use to better understand the business that you work for. Here you will find the potential low hanging fruits

Issue tree is a simple yet powerful concept used in consulting for structuring discussion and picking the right topics to concentrate on. In this lecture I will show you the principles of using it as well as a practical example

In this lecture I will show you how the issue tree could look like for a retailer

I this lecture I will show you what kind of cohorts / segments you can use to analyze a retailer. Later on I will show you some analyses of a specific retail by chosen cohorts

Here I show the example of analyses of a specific retail by chosen cohorts

In Retail you have space that you divide among different product groups. For every group you should calculate the total margin using sales density, % Gross Margin and space allocated to specific group. You have to analyze their performance and decide how to split the space. In this lecture I will show you the general concept

Here I show an example of a product range analysis

We will continue with the example from previous lecture. In this example of single store when we look at the sales and inventory level it is clear that there is too much stock. Let’s see what we can do about it

Store Check comes in handy whenever you are talking about B2C physical products, services, and retail. This method gives you solid facts on which you can build your business.

Using the store-check you can learn a lot about specific business: who is coming to the restaurant, what they are ordering, how long they are staying, etc. You can also estimate whether the restaurant is profitable or not. I will show you step by step how to perform store check and how to interpret the data you have gathered from it

Storechecks are very useful also for checking specific locations. You can check whether specific district is good for specific type of cuisine or type of restaurant. I will show you here on some examples how it can be done

In section 4 I show you how to optimize processes in the store. I will use here real case of a company from home improvement / DIY sector. You will get also the model we used to calculate costs

Workshop was very important as I was getting a team that I did not know and that did not trust me. On top of that they did not know how to optimize processes. I will show you in this sections what were the goals of the workshop

In this section you will see what kind of goals were presented to the project team

The team had no previous experience in process optimization. In this section I will show you the techniques that we were using to optimize the processes

Here you will find a short introduction to Lean manufacturing.

Here you will find a short introduction to theory of constraints

Here you will find a short introduction to Queuing problem

Here you will find a short introduction to OEE

Here I will show you how in groups for chosen process the team has chosen the KPIs and cost drivers

In this lecture I will show you an example of 1 process that was optimized with the team. I used this to show them the proper way of defining the KPIs, cost drivers and optimizing the process using this data

In this lecture, I will show you an example of 1 process that was optimized with the team. I used this to show them the proper way of defining the KPIs, cost drivers and optimizing the process using this data

Finally, during the workshop, I show them the timeline of the project to get confirmation that the project is doable within this ambitions timeline

In section 4 I show you how to optimize processes in the store. I will use here real case of a company from home improvement / DIY sector. You will get also the model we used to calculate cost

In this lecture, I will show you some information on what we achieved during the process optimization and how the test store looked like

Here I will show you how we optimized the process of changing prices in the store and what savings we managed to generate

Here I will show you how we optimized the process of shelf replenishment in the store and what savings we managed to generate

Here I will show you how we optimized the process of advising customers in the store and what savings we managed to generate

Here I will show you how we optimized the process at cash till and info point in the store and what savings we managed to generate

Here I will show you what other potential improvements we suggested in order to sell new projects

In this lecture, I will show the estimation of cost

In this lecture, I will show the estimation of costs and savings achieved during the project

IKEA has been very successful in implementing low cost model in furniture. I will show you all main elements were they were very successful: “big box” model built outside the city center, design, consistent message, diversified revenue streams, operational excellence, business scale

Biedronka is a very good execution of low cost model in retail. Biedronka keeps it simple on the operational side and they went deep into product management. I will show you how they managed to become a leader in Poland

Showroom is a marketplace for independent fashion brands. They are present in Poland and Germany and were acquired by Burda

Zappos has decided to join Amazon not to be crushed but also to get access to strategic resources

Cinema City has used number of techniques to sell the unused space: lower price in the low season, group events, new needs, getting the heavy users to visit more

At some point you will start considering expansion. I will show you in this section how you can expand your retail business and how to decide what to do

Once your business model is right you will want to expand and grow. There are some options to do that and I will show them in this lecture

If you are present on specific market you want to know when you will reach a saturation market – the maximal number of shops that will not cause much cannibalization. I will show you how to approach this subject

We will now try to check in practice how to find saturation point for a retailer. In this lecture I will introduce the case that we will work with for the next few lectures. You will be asked to find the saturation for grocery store operating in Poland

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

Here I will show youhow to create a waterfall

Creating an expansion strategy requires you to do a number of things. I will show you in this lecture how to approach this subject

In this lecture, I will start the case study that we will be solving for the next few lectures. Imagine that you are a Spanish fashion retailer and you want to figure out which countries you should enter. Therefore, you prepare a ranking of countries that show attractiveness and the size of each and every market.

In this lecture, we solve the previously introduced case study.

As e-commerce has been a significant distribution channel traditional retailers were forced to transform into multichannel players (operating both in traditional stores, the offline world as well as online business). Here I will show you the main challenges and how to tackle them.

Let’s have a look at the main problems with multichannel.

Imagine that you have a chain of physical stores and an online store. What pricing would you use? How you would come up with the right pricing?

In this lecture, I show you the solution to the case you had to solve in the previous lecture

When you start building more stores you are bound to cause a lot of cannibalization. I will show you in this lecture how to approach this subject.

When you start building an online presence you are bound to cause a lot of cannibalization. I will show you in this lecture how to approach this subject.

Let’s have a look at an example of cannibalization

This section will start a series of sections devoted to specific type of business where are will show you detailed cases. In this section I will show you overview of the Retail Supply Chain, main challenges and series of cases that will show you how to get the full potential of the supply chain

Retail supply chain is not only long and involves many parties but also is fluctuating a lot. In this lecture I will show the typical flow that you may expect

There are number of challenges in the Supply Chain in Retail. I will discuss them briefly in this lecture

I will show you in short here what cases we will do in this section

Traffic lights

Read about what's good

what should give you pause

and possible dealbreakers

Provides practical case studies and Excel-based solutions, which are directly applicable to real-world retail business problems and performance improvement projects

Covers a wide range of retail sub-topics, from in-store optimization to multichannel strategies, which allows learners to develop a holistic understanding of the retail landscape

Includes downloadable Excel templates and analyses, which can be adapted and used by learners in their own consulting projects and business analysis tasks

Requires learners to have access to Microsoft Excel, which may pose a barrier to entry for some students without access to this software

Focuses heavily on Excel-based modeling and analysis, which may not be relevant for learners seeking to develop skills in other business intelligence tools

Reviews summary

Practical retail analysis and consulting

According to learners, this course provides a practical, case-study-based approach to analyzing and optimizing retail businesses. Students praise the instructor's extensive real-world experience and the inclusion of ready-made Excel models which are highlighted as particularly useful and directly applicable to business analyst and consulting work. Many found it valuable for identifying 'low-hanging fruits' and gaining a broader perspective on the retail business. While the content is considered strong and relevant, a few reviewers noted potential areas for improvement, such as the pace or aspects of the presentation style, but overall, the course is considered a highly valuable resource for professionals in retail, consulting, and finance.

Covers multiple facets of retail operations.

"The course gives a solid overview of different areas from modeling to optimization and expansion."

"It covers a wide range of topics relevant to analyzing a retail business comprehensively."

"I gained a much broader perspective on how different retail functions connect and impact profitability."

"Useful for understanding multichannel, expansion, and even in-store behavior analysis."

Effective learning through real-world scenarios.

"Learning through case studies made the concepts much easier to grasp and remember."

"The real-life examples, like the DIY store optimization, were very engaging and illustrative."

"Solving practical problems alongside the instructor using the Excel models was the best part."

"I found the case studies helped solidify my understanding of how to apply the methods."

Insights from extensive, real-world background.

"The instructor's 15 years of experience in retail and consulting shines through."

"You can tell the examples and case studies come from someone who has actually been in the trenches."

"His insights on finding 'low-hanging fruits' are practical and born from experience."

"The wealth of experience the instructor brings makes the content highly credible and valuable."

Highly valuable, ready-to-use templates provided.

"The Excel models provided are extremely useful; I can apply them directly to my work."

"I particularly appreciated the downloadable Excel files... they are great tools for real-world analysis."

"Getting the ready-made Excel models for business modeling and process optimization is a major plus."

"The emphasis on showing practical cases solved in Excel was exactly what I needed."

Older reviews noted some blurry sections.

"Some of the earlier videos had blurry screens, making it hard to follow the Excel work."

"The video quality was inconsistent, with a few sections being hard to see clearly."

"I noticed a note in the syllabus about addressing blurry images, which is helpful."

"It was frustrating when the screen wasn't sharp enough to read the numbers in Excel."

Some found the delivery challenging or fast-paced.

"While the content is great, the presentation style could be more engaging for some."

"Sometimes the pace felt a bit fast, especially when explaining complex Excel steps."

"I had to rewatch lectures occasionally due to the speed of delivery."

"A few lectures felt a bit dry compared to the more interactive case studies."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants with these activities:

Review Basic Financial Modeling Concepts

Show steps

Reinforce foundational financial modeling skills to better understand the Excel-based business models used in the course.

Browse courses on Financial Modeling

Show steps

Review key financial ratios and formulas.
Practice building simple financial models in Excel.
Familiarize yourself with common Excel functions used in financial analysis.

Read 'Retail Management' by Levy and Weitz

Show steps

Gain a comprehensive understanding of retail management principles to complement the course's practical cases.

View Retailing Management on Amazon

Show steps

Read chapters related to retail strategy and operations.
Take notes on key concepts and examples.
Relate the book's content to the course's case studies.

Analyze a Local Retailer's Business Model

Show steps

Apply the course's concepts by analyzing a real-world retailer's business model and identifying potential improvements.

Show steps

Choose a local retailer to analyze.
Gather data on the retailer's operations, financials, and customer base.
Build a business model in Excel based on the course's teachings.
Identify potential areas for optimization and growth.

Four other activities

Expand to see all activities and additional details

Show all seven activities

Follow Excel Optimization Tutorials

Show steps

Refine Excel skills by following tutorials focused on optimization techniques relevant to retail analysis.

Show steps

Search for Excel tutorials on topics like Solver and Scenario Manager.
Work through the tutorials, applying the techniques to retail-related data.
Document the new skills learned and how they can be applied in the course.

Write a Blog Post on Multichannel Retail Challenges

Show steps

Solidify understanding of multichannel retail by writing a blog post that explores the challenges and opportunities in this area.

Show steps

Research current trends and challenges in multichannel retail.
Outline the key points to be covered in the blog post.
Write a compelling and informative blog post.
Edit and proofread the blog post before publishing.

Develop a Retail Expansion Strategy

Show steps

Practice building an expansion strategy for a retail business, incorporating market analysis and financial projections.

Show steps

Select a retail business and target market.
Conduct market research to assess the target market's potential.
Develop a detailed expansion plan, including financial projections.
Present the expansion strategy in a professional report.

Read 'The Retail Revolution' by Nelson and Shaw

Show steps

Understand the historical context and impact of major retailers to better inform strategic decision-making.

View Alter Ego: A Novel on Amazon

Show steps

Read the book and take notes on key themes.
Reflect on how the book's insights relate to the course material.
Discuss the book's themes with peers in an online forum.

Career center

Learners who complete Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Retail Operations Manager

A Retail Operations Manager ensures the smooth and efficient functioning of retail stores. This role involves optimizing processes, managing inventory, and enhancing customer experience. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course helps to analyze retailer operations and expansion strategies. By mastering the techniques taught in this course, aspiring Operations Managers gain insights on optimizing processes to improve speed and quality. The course also provides a framework for understanding multichannel strategies, which are essential for managing modern retail operations. The real-world case studies offer practical scenarios to enhance decision-making skills.

See salaries and explore the career path for Retail Operations Manager

Area Manager

An Area Manager oversees the operations of multiple retail stores within a specific geographic area. Key responsibilities include driving sales, managing staff, and ensuring compliance with company policies. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course helps to analyze retailer operations and find improvements. By optimizing in-store processes and expanding the business into new categories and markets, the Area Manager can work to improve the performance of their designated stores. The course's focus on e-commerce and multichannel also provides relevant knowledge for managing retail operations.

See salaries and explore the career path for Area Manager

Management Consultant

The Management Consultant works with organizations to improve their performance and efficiency. The consultant analyzes problems and creates plans for improvement, often working in a variety of industries. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course helps you break into the retail sector. The course teaches how to analyze retailers, build business models in Excel, and identify areas for optimization. You can also learn many growth hacks used by retailers. This course provides practical experience and case studies relevant to consulting projects in retail, allowing the Management Consultant to apply the knowledge gained to real-world scenarios.

See salaries and explore the career path for Management Consultant

Business Analyst

A Business Analyst identifies areas of improvement for a company and develops solutions to solve problems. The Business Analyst often works across different departments to gather data and create reports. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course allows you to conduct retail analysis to uncover areas of improvement. This course provides a good basis for learning how to model a retail business in Excel that shows key performance indicators and their impact on profit. Through practical cases and examples, the aspiring Business Analyst can enhance their problem-solving skills and contribute to strategic decision-making in a retail environment.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Analyst

Category Manager

A Category Manager is responsible for the performance of a specific category of products within a retail setting. They analyze sales data, consumer trends, and market conditions to make informed decisions about product selection, pricing, and promotion. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course provides an excellent background for grasping these concepts. By understanding how to analyze retail data, build business models, and optimize operations, the Category Manager can develop strategies to maximize category profitability and drive sales growth. The course's focus on expansions into new categories provides knowledge relevant to this role.

See salaries and explore the career path for Category Manager

Inventory Manager

The Inventory Manager oversees the flow of goods from suppliers to customers, ensuring that the right products are available at the right time and place. The Inventory Manager optimizes inventory levels, reduces stockouts, and minimizes holding costs. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course helps to build expertise in optimizing operations. By learning how to analyze retail data, build business models, and identify areas for improvement, the Inventory Manager can enhance inventory management practices. The course also provides insights into multichannel, which can be applied to inventory planning.

See salaries and explore the career path for Inventory Manager

E-commerce Manager

The E-commerce Manager oversees the online sales and marketing efforts of a retail business. They are responsible for driving traffic to the website, converting visitors into customers, and maximizing online revenue. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course helps to learn about e-commerce business models. By modelling a retail business in Excel, the E-commerce Manager can analyze key performance indicators and optimize online operations. The course's focus on multichannel enables the E-commerce Manager to develop effective strategies for integrating online and offline channels.

See salaries and explore the career path for E-commerce Manager

Retail Planner

The Retail Planner forecasts future sales and develops plans to meet customer demand. This involves analyzing historical sales data, market trends, and promotional activities. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course enables you to analyze retail operations. By modelling a retail business in Excel, the Retail Planner can assess the impact of different factors on sales. The course's coverage of expansion strategies also provides knowledge for developing long-term plans for growth and expansion.

See salaries and explore the career path for Retail Planner

Market Research Analyst

The Market Research Analyst studies market conditions to examine potential sales of a product or service. They analyze consumer behavior, competitor strategies, and market trends. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course helps you to analyze retailer and find low-hanging fruits. With the information provided in this course, the Market Research Analyst may be able to find ways to analyze target markets for product expansion into new categories and markets. By building up their knowledge of the retail business, the Market Research Analyst can make more informed decisions.

See salaries and explore the career path for Market Research Analyst

Supply Chain Analyst

The Supply Chain Analyst examines and improves an organization's supply chain operations. This involves analyzing data, streamlining processes, and identifying inefficiencies. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course may be useful for supply chain optimization. By learning to analyze retailer operations, modelling the business in Excel and optimizing processes, the Supply Chain Analyst can improve supply chain performance. The course's coverage of expansion and multichannel strategies also provides insights into supply chain management in a dynamic retail environment.

See salaries and explore the career path for Supply Chain Analyst

Marketing Manager

As a Marketing Manager, one would be responsible for developing and executing marketing campaigns to promote a retail business and its products or services. This involves market segmentations, advertising, and promotional activities. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course may be useful for market segmentation. By identifying market segments, the Marketing Manager may be able to better target their audience with carefully crafted campaigns. The course also provides a background on how to behave in multichannel environments, when you have also e-commerce operations.

See salaries and explore the career path for Marketing Manager

Financial Analyst

A Financial Analyst provides guidance to businesses and individuals in making investment decisions. Financial analysts assess the performance of stocks, bonds, and other types of investments. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course may be useful to analyze retailers. The Financial Analyst may be able to use the course content to build the business model of the retailer in Excel. By optimizing their knowledge about KPIs, the Financial Analyst may make better investment decisions. The course also provides coverage of in-store engagements.

See salaries and explore the career path for Financial Analyst

Pricing Analyst

A Pricing Analyst determines optimal pricing strategies for products or services to maximize revenue and profitability. The role involves analyzing cost data, market trends, and competitor pricing. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course may be useful for learning how to analyze retail pricing strategies and build financial models. By gaining exposure to optimizing retail operations, the Pricing Analyst can develop pricing models that align with business goals. The course also provides a good background on how to behave in multichannel surroundings, when you have also e-commerce operations.

See salaries and explore the career path for Pricing Analyst

Data Scientist

A Data Scientist analyzes large amounts of data to discover trends and insights that help organizations make better decisions. The Data Scientist uses statistical methods, machine learning algorithms, and data visualization tools to extract meaningful information. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course may be useful for learning how to analyze in-store engagement with new tools. By analyzing low hanging fruits, the Data Scientist may assist in improvements that can be made to the business. The course also provides some amount of useful information about multichannel business models.

See salaries and explore the career path for Data Scientist

Real Estate Analyst

The Real Estate Analyst assesses properties and provides advice on real estate investments. This could involve evaluating the financial feasibility of a new retail location. The Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants course may be useful for understanding how expansion into new markets work. Since this course teaches about how to expand in retail, the Real Estate Analyst may gain some peripheral knowledge about how to select and manage new locations. This course may also provide some insight into e-commerce operations.

See salaries and explore the career path for Real Estate Analyst

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants.

Retailing Management

Save

Comprehensive guide to retail management, covering various aspects from strategy to operations. It provides a strong foundation for understanding the complexities of the retail industry. It is particularly useful for gaining a broader perspective on retail business models and optimization techniques discussed in the course. This book is commonly used as a textbook in retail management programs.

Alter Ego

Save

Examines the impact of large retailers like Wal-Mart on the retail landscape and the broader economy. It provides valuable insights into the strategies and tactics used by successful retailers to gain a competitive advantage. This book is more valuable as additional reading than it is as a current reference. It adds more depth to the course by providing a historical perspective on the evolution of retail.

Alter Ego: A Novel

Paperback

Retail for Business Analysts and Management Consultants

What's inside

Learning objectives

Syllabus

Traffic lights

Save this course

Reviews summary

Practical retail analysis and consulting

Activities

Career center

Reading list

Share

Similar courses