It is safe to say that we all buy things. Considering that we live in the digital age, sometimes we purchase from real brick and mortar shops and sometimes we make our purchases online. Retail is no longer the sole domain of the face-to-face experience.

Generally, a retailer is a business or someone who sells goods in small quantities for consumption. As reported by the NSO in August this year, Retail represents the livelihood of over seven per cent of the total full-time workforce as at March 2017.

Further interesting data emerges from a study commissioned by the MCA in July 2016 indicating that more than three-quarters of consumers across all age cohorts in Malta and Gozo are using the internet more than ever in their purchasing journey.  

Clearly, the Retail sector is facing a formidable challenge from the virtual world which it must address sooner than later. To top it all, customers have come to expect a generally pleasant shopping experience that includes choice, value, sales person knowledge, proper ambient temperature, pleasant background music and timely service.

Notwithstanding this state of affairs, we can easily observe that retail outlets continue to open with different offerings.

In addition to these trends, Retail has its inherent challenges. Shoplifting eats painfully into profits; the need to shift stock, competition drives prices down and shaves margins, overheads like rent and utilities, dead stock and so on. Only those who invest in Retail can testify to the illusion that Retail is a safe deal simply involving purchasing and reselling.

So how profitable is a retail business these days, seeing that consumers can easily bypass the retailer? And what is a profitable business anyway? Business is about investing money in the belief that it will produce a healthy margin after expenses are covered. It is very difficult if not plainly presumptuous to assume an average retail margin as this varies across different sectors and on several elements that need to be factored into the equation such as allocation for shoplifting, employee wages, marketing, overheads, returns and others before a line is drawn under the net profit figure. There are then the long hours involved in administrative back-office work, dealing with suppliers to choose stock and so on.

Retail, however, does have its own local success stories to tell and there must be a few common factors among them. The fact that Retail continues to thrive, at least taking the number of workers it employs as a pointer, may indicate that there is room for both purchasing channels to happily co-exist i.e. brick & mortar and online shopping. Success stories comprise retail outlets for mundane everyday needs such as convenience stores up to luxury goods or at least items generally perceived as expensive.

What response can Retail unleash against the 24/7 fury of online. Oh so much. The battle between showrooming and webrooming started long ago. 

To begin with, Retailers can also go on-line and nothing stops them from having a virtual presence. This of course does not do much for the price differential that lures customers to fill their cart from foreign sites. The struggle is a bit like Roman gladiators where each had different weapons to fight with.

One big advantage that physical retail has over online is the opportunity to interact directly in a face-to-face situation with the customer. Then there is the opportunity to display goods in a much better and visually more attractive way than what we see online. Retail skills are essential to achieve maximum advantage in what is essentially a problem solving opportunity for the visiting customer in a shop. These skills include courtesy, hospitality, respect, listening well, sales assistant's product knowledge and other such soft skills that customers expect.

Shop owners can also use technology to assist them in for instance identifying degrees of revenue streams, creating and capping promotional offers and running checks against inventory to spot and minimize chronic pilferage. Retail demands organization and technology is there for it.

For the small retailer where customer choice is indeed an issue, specialization and focusing on high-end genuine products which offer good value for the discerning customer may generate return customers who are willing to shop locally for reliable products rather than buy online simply for the sake of price.

Should young people choose a career in Retail? In my opinion, the answer is a qualified why not! If one thinks that opening a shop will itself bring in customers then this spells ruin. On the other hand, entering this industry armed with at least a clear business plan and strategy, the appropriate retail skills, a complementary web presence and a commitment to capitalize on evolving technology that includes the internet will help to achieve business success. In the end, sales and return business are highly dependent on a strong and unique physical customer experience that only the retailer can offer every time a customer is in a shop.

MCAST has recognized this retailing opportunity and this year has started to offer an Advanced Diploma programme in Fashion and Retail pegged at MQF Level 4. The programme provides students with an understanding of textile fibres, garment design, manufacturing and quality control. Additionally, the programme prepares students with the business skills necessary to run a retail business such as bookkeeping, marketing, customer service, IT and entrepreneurship. Above all, however, the programme includes a period of apprenticeship during which students get direct hand-on experience in the Fashion and Retail industry. At the end of the programme, MCAST students are given the opportunity to display their learning in a final Fashion Design Project.  

Knowledge and education is the key to the future. In Benjamin Franklin's own words, "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."

Mr Padovani is Deputy Director Programme Management at MCAST Technical College