1. (a) Implementation.

   1. (1) The provisions of this section shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.
   2. (2) School districts shall implement the employability skills student expectations listed in §127.15(d)(2) of this chapter (relating to Career and Technical Education Employability Skills, Adopted 2025) as an integral part of this course.
2. (b) General requirements. This course is recommended for students in Grades 10-12. Prerequisite: at least one credit in a course from the Business, Marketing, and Finance Career Cluster. Recommended prerequisite: Principles of Business, Marketing, and Finance. Students shall be awarded one credit for the successful completion of this course.

3. (c) Introduction.

   1. (1) Career and technical education instruction provides content aligned with challenging academic standards and relevant technical knowledge and skills for students to further their education and succeed in current professions.
   2. (2) The Business, Marketing, and Finance Career Cluster focuses on planning, managing, and performing marketing activities to reach organizational objectives.
   3. (3) Retail Management is designed as a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practices of retail management. The course explores the process of promoting greater sales and customer satisfaction by gaining a better understanding of the consumers of the goods and services provided by a company. The course provides an overview of the strategies involved in the retail process such as distributing finished products created by the business to consumers and determining what buyers want and require from the retail market.
   4. (4) Students are encouraged to participate in extended learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations and other organizations that foster leadership and career development in the profession such as student chapters of related professional associations.
   5. (5) Statements that contain the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.

4. (d) Knowledge and skills.

   1. (1) The student uses self-development techniques and interpersonal skills to accomplish retail management objectives. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) describe and demonstrate effective interpersonal and team-building skills involving situations with coworkers, managers, and customers;
      2. (B) create a self-development plan that includes improving leadership and interpersonal skills and that identifies opportunities to participate in leadership and career development activities; and
      3. (C) identify and describe employability skills needed to be successful in the retail marketing industry.

   2. (2) The student explores features of excellent customer service. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) discuss the importance of and demonstrate effective communication skills such as active listening, evaluating nonverbal signals, and use of appropriate grammar, vocabulary, and tone;
      2. (B) present written and oral communication, including email, traditional letter writing, face-to-face conversations, and phone conversation, in a clear, concise, and effective manner for a variety of purposes and audiences;
      3. (C) discuss how company policy impacts an employee's interactions with consumers and a consumer's interactions with the retail establishment; and
      4. (D) analyze how attitude impacts a consumer's experience with the retailer.

   3. (3) The student creates professional documents required for employment. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) develop a professional portfolio or resume;
      2. (B) write appropriate business correspondence such as a letter of intent and a thank you letter;
      3. (C) complete sample job applications accurately and effectively; and
      4. (D) explain protocol for identifying and asking for references.

   4. (4) The student analyzes non-store retailing modalities, including direct selling, telemarketing, online retailing, automatic vending, direct marketing, and e-tailing. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) investigate and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing and selling through online platforms such as mobile apps and software applications;
      2. (B) analyze and explain the disadvantages of non-store retailing such as security concerns, inability to interact with the customer, delay in customer receipt of the product, less ease of return for unwanted items, and the lack of social interaction between customers and retailers; and
      3. (C) analyze and explain the advantages of non-store retailing such as unlimited access for customers to view the inventory, the ability for customers to purchase 24 hours per day/7 days a week, lower overhead cost, and a larger inventory of items than is housed in a brick-and-mortar facility.

   5. (5) The student analyzes marketing research to make changes to business strategies or operations. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) synthesize and analyze data collected through surveys, interviews, group discussions, and internal records to create data reports;
      2. (B) explain how data reports are used to make decisions to improve a retailer's practices and improve overall operations;
      3. (C) analyze and evaluate the effective use of surveys to gather data needed by the retailer to make effective operational decisions;
      4. (D) disaggregate and analyze internal data such as sales data, shipping data, finance reports, inventory reports, and customer and personnel feedback collected by the retailer to make effective operational decisions;
      5. (E) disaggregate and analyze marketing data based on indicators such as age, gender, education, employment, income, family status, and ethnicity to identify and evaluate products based on the retailers' target market; and
      6. (F) identify and analyze how the product, price, promotion, and placement of the product impacts the retail market.

   6. (6) The student understands the role and responsibilities of a buyer in retail management and understands the purpose of analyzing the target market to interpret consumer needs and wants based on data. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) define and describe various merchandising categories such as staple, fashion, seasonal, and convenience;
      2. (B) describe merchandise plans and their components, including planned sales, planned stock, planned stocked reductions, and planned retail purchases;
      3. (C) analyze and discuss each stage of a product's life cycle, including introduction, growth, maturity, and decline, and explain how each stage relates to the target market; and
      4. (D) develop a budget based on financial goals.

   7. (7) The student applies inventory management strategies to effectively create and manage reliable tracking systems to schedule purchases, calculate turnover rate, and plan merchandise and marketing decisions. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) describe the process of purchasing inventory and executing a purchase order, transporting orders, and receiving orders;
      2. (B) explain inventory management practices, including ordering, storing, producing, and selling merchandise;
      3. (C) differentiate between perpetual and periodic inventory tracking methods and describe how point-of-sale software, universal product codes, radio frequency identification, stock shrinkage, and loss prevention impact a retailer's inventory management; and
      4. (D) analyze and describe how stock turnover rates impact inventory.

   8. (8) The student evaluates retailer pricing strategies based on factors such as competition, the economy, and supply and demand to maximize sales and profit. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) analyze how uncontrollable factors such as competition, the economy, and supply and demand impact pricing;
      2. (B) explain how controllable factors such as company goals, operating expenses, and product life cycles impact pricing;
      3. (C) differentiate between demand-based pricing, competition-based pricing, and cost-based pricing and explain how each pricing method is used to determine the base price for a product;
      4. (D) identify and describe how market share impacts pricing of products; and
      5. (E) create price points using keystone pricing, industry benchmarks, and industry surveys.

   9. (9) The student explores effective promotional activities, including advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling, that retail managers use to inform, persuade, and remind customers of products that will meet consumer needs. The student is expected to:

      1. (A) explain the six elements of effective communication, including source, message, channel, environment, context, and feedback;
      2. (B) demonstrate effective written, verbal, and nonverbal communication;
      3. (C) analyze and evaluate promotional communication techniques used to inform or motivate consumers to invest in products or services;
      4. (D) differentiate between techniques used for advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion; and
      5. (E) investigate and evaluate technology applications that promote items using online advertising, web presence, social media, email campaigns, and other modes of electronic promotions.

   10. (10) The student analyzes and applies personal selling elements needed in retail management to determine how to generate sales. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) explain sales generating techniques, including prospecting, solution development, buyer qualification, opportunity qualification and control, negotiation, and account management and follow-up;
       2. (B) describe how ethical behaviors of a sales associate impacts the retail market;
       3. (C) demonstrate effective selling techniques needed in the retail market;
       4. (D) analyze and describe best practices in product training for sales associates;
       5. (E) explain how determining the needs, presenting the product, handling objections, closing the sale, and following up with customers increases sales for the retailer; and
       6. (F) identify effective questions and questioning techniques sales associates use with consumers to gain a competitive advantage or increase sales and discuss the importance of strategically selecting questions and techniques based on the product or service and target market.

   11. (11) The student explores how to effectively use visual merchandising. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) analyze and describe how a retailer's storefront, store layout, store interior, centralized visual merchandising, and interior displays impact sales and a consumer's experience with the business; and
       2. (B) develop a visual merchandising plan using proper design elements such as mannequins, props, lighting, color, signage, and graphics.

   12. (12) The student understands the role of the retail manager for recruiting, hiring, training, supervising, and terminating employees as well as maintaining the everyday operation of a business to ensure that it functions efficiently and meets established goals. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) identify and describe effective methods of recruiting employees externally;
       2. (B) explain effective methods of recruiting employees internally;
       3. (C) describe how to recruit a diverse pool of talent for employment consideration;
       4. (D) explain the importance of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on the recruitment process;
       5. (E) explain the benefits of training employees to learn new skills and technologies and comply with new laws and regulations;
       6. (F) develop an employee appraisal program;
       7. (G) explain an effective employee performance evaluation system and the importance of including supervisors and managers, peers, customers or clients, and subordinates in the process; and
       8. (H) identify leadership and career development activities such as involvement with appropriate student and local management associations and create a personal development plan that includes participation in leadership and career development activities.

   13. (13) The student understands the importance of effective teams and how effective leaders implement group development strategies. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) explain the process of forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning;
       2. (B) analyze and discuss effective interpersonal and team-building skills involving situations with coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates;
       3. (C) investigate and analyze personal integrity and its effects on relationships in the workplace;
       4. (D) describe characteristics of successful working relationships such as teamwork, conflict resolution, self-control, and the ability to accept criticism;
       5. (E) discuss the importance of showing respect to all people and explain how showing respect to all people impacts the success of a business;
       6. (F) identify employer expectations and discuss how meeting employer expectations impacts the success of a business; and
       7. (G) explain and demonstrate productive work habits and attitudes.

   14. (14) The student explores the practice of risk management, including identifying, assessing, and reducing risk through proper planning. The student is expected to:

       1. (A) differentiate between natural, human, market, economic, and market risks;
       2. (B) differentiate between controllable and uncontrollable risks;
       3. (C) investigate and explain effective strategies for identifying, assessing, and reducing risks; and
       4. (D) analyze how financial losses from human, physical, and natural risk factors can be minimized through the use of insurance.

Source Note:The provisions of this §127.263 adopted to be effective August 1, 2025, 50 TexReg 3752.