what is RETAIL and MERCHANDISING management? what kind of job one can look forward to?

Answer 1

I assume you mean Retail Merchandising.
As a retailer, merchandising includes several facets.
It includes product assortment in all categories in a very detailed way. Price points as well as assortment in color, sizes, and styles are applicable.
It also includes profitable pricing based on cost but other variables may apply.
The best example I can give on "variables" might be in women's hats.
In some cases, hats may be bought by the case, sight unseen, priced by the case. Suppose a case contained 100 assorted hats, at a cost of $500.00. This calculates to a cost of $5 per hat. When the case is opened it probably makes sense that some may be worth more than others in a store's market.
Merchandising comes into play in pricing each hat. As some may produce a higher price, others may be worth far less. As long as the total retail of all hats maintains the desired markup based on the case cost, this is acceptable.
This may be a bit simplified but it can apply to any merchandise.

As to the kind of jobs, education will play a large part. In may cases a college grad can enter major stores as a buyer assistant and advance to buyer and higher depending on ability. This can be a Divisional Merchandise Manager, meaning that this position has control over all the buyers in a particular division. Divisions may be Women's Wear, Men's Wear, Hardware, etc. It is a responsibility to control inventory, markup, department expenses, budgets, etc.

Hope this answers your question.