Manage Your Store

Store business operations, including managing profit and loss, facility management, safety and security, loss prevention (also called shrink), and banking

Product management, including ordering, receiving, price changes, handling damaged products, and returns

Team Development, facilitating staff learning and development

Problem solving, handling unusual circumstances

Sales generation
A store manager must meet monthly, quarterly, or annual sales goals, depending on the company’s fiscal cycle. This involves setting individual sales goals (quotas), holding contests for employees, or offering sales promotions. The manager may also receive a monetary incentive (or “bonus”) tied to financial performance over a specific period. This incentive may be based on net sales, profitability, or both. Thus, the store manager may be forced to reduce payroll expenditures by decreasing employees’ hours, or otherwise reducing operating cost. A store manager should motivate his team to achieve the target set for the store by using some different activities. A store manager should set an example for his/her subordinates to follow.

Safety and security
The manager must post Material Safety Data Sheets for their employees for any hazardous materials used in the store. The store manager is the store’s primary key-holder and may be called to the store before, during, or after business hours in the event of an emergency. He is also responsible for the safety of all customers and employees on store premises.

Division of responsibility
A store manager may have several subordinates who have management-level responsibility. These employees may be called assistant managers, department managers, supervisors, key holders, shift leads, or leads. A store manager has over-all responsibility for all day to day activity of the store. Managing & controlling staff, and planning are essential points of the store manager.

Hiring, training and development
The store manager is responsible for hiring, training, and in some cases, development, of employees. The manager must ensure staffing levels are adequate to effectively operate the store, and ensure employees receive training necessary for their job responsibilities. Managers may be responsible for developing employees so the company can promote employees from within and develop future leaders, potentially for employment at other locations. The role of store managers with regards to the other employees varies from company to company and each respective company’s operating methods but in general a store manager will be required to deal with and try to solve any issues adversely affecting an employee’s work. This is done to prevent a drop in productivity and to make sure that the employee seeking help doesn’t end up being a casualty of the necessary role of firing long-term inefficient workers.