Departmental Store Management Hierarchy

Management of a departmental store is an integral part of the overall working and function of a departmental store. Especially in the case of larger stores where there are several divisions and sections of store, effective management is the key to success and smooth working.

For management, a departmental store hires managers and administrators at different levels to ensure that all levels are well coordinated and well connected with one another. Departmental store management hierarchy is the division of responsibilities to employees at different levels. Let’s look at this hierarchical system in detail:

Store Director

The store director sits on the top of the hierarchical system of a departmental store and is responsible for its profits and losses. He/she has maximum administrative duties and supervises the activities of all the other staff of the store. Some management aspects which a store director is responsible for are finance management, marketing management, inventory management and store management.

A) Store Management

Managing the staff of the store and making sure that everything is working as per protocol can be collectively referred to as store management. Store management covers aspects such as store discipline, store security, product management, customer management and staff management. The hierarchy of this branch of departmental store management is given as follows:

1. Store Manager

The store manager not only manages and supervises the activities of the staff members but also sees to the fact that all customers are satisfied and are directed to whatever products they desire. The store managers keep check on proper product shelving and security of the store in general.

2. Section Manager

In case of bigger stores, a section or division manager may be needed to handle a certain section of the store such as the kids section, kitchen section, bathroom section of furnishing section etc.

3. Security Manager

a store must be kept secure from threat of theft or breaking in and for this a security manager is hired. He/she employs security personnel and keeps check on any type of fishy behavior on part of the customers.

B) Marketing Management

Every store needs maximum publicity and marketing so as to attract maximum number of customers and clients towards it and for this marketing management is required. The following are some of the Departmental Store job positions within marketing management.

  • Marketing head
  • Marketing manager
  • Promotions manager
  • Advertising manager
  • Regional manager

C) Merchandising Management

Merchandising management is that part of departmental store management which deals with inventory control, purchasing and proper allocation of products into sections. The following are some positions within this section

  • Merchandise manager
  • Warehouse manager
  • Inventory manager
  • Head purchaser
  • purchaser

D) Human Resources Management

Many of the bigger stores have HR departments that are responsible for recruitment, training and payment of salaries to employees.

  • HR manager
  • HR executive
  • Payroll manager
  • trainer

E) Finance and Accounting Management

The finance and accounting management is an important part of departmental store management and is related to handling of accounts, finances and financial statements. The following are some positions within this branch of management.

  • Finance manager
  • Accounting manager
  • Accountant