MSc Marketing

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2027, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £19,300
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £34,800

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about - student finance options for UK students.

Learn more about - fees and finance for international students.

Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

Retail strategy: Understanding strategy through the lens of retail change theories: cyclical, environmental and conflict. The positioning for profit framework (merchandise, communications, service, and trading format and store environment). The multichannel dimension.

Retail buying: Supplier selection and management; pricing and markdowns. Merchandising and range planning for both store and on-line formats.

Retail location: the strategic and tactical decisions associated with locational choice and network management.

Retail operations management: the 5Ss of retail operations (systems, standards, stock, space and staff). The definition and role of customer service; store layout principles; store design, flagship stores, visual merchandising; shrinkage and stock loss management.

Retail failure at a corporate (including attempted failed internationalisation strategies) and store level.

To provide an understanding of, and be able to apply critically, the principles and practice of strategy and tactics in the planning and management of retail businesses.

By the end of the course students should be able to meet the following learning outcomes.

Knowledge and understanding:

[A] Of the various strategies and tactics used by retail organisations, and the rationale for their use.

Intellectual skills:

[B] Be able to apply and synthesise knowledge of relevant academic theory and professional best practice.

Practical skills:

[C] Develop written solutions to retail scenarios through the assessment regime.

Transferable skills:

[D] Collect and interpret data.

[E] Develop and defend strategic and operational recommendations.

[F] Use and develop oral reasoning skills in lectures and seminars.

Formal Contact Methods

Minimum Contact hours: 20 

Delivery format: Lecture and Workshops 

The course is assessed in two ways:

1. Mid-term multiple-choice exam (20% of final mark)
2. A written group report on a case study (80% of final mark)

Written, verbally during class and via Blackboard.

Reading List

Core Textbook:

Levy, M., Weitz, B.A. and Grewal, D. (2019). Retailing Management (10th ed.), McGraw-Hill.

Further Readings:

Babin, B. J., Darden, W. R. and Griffin, M. (1994): “Work and/or Fun: Measuring Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Value,” Journal of Consumer Research, 20 (4): 644–56.
Blut, M., Beatty, S., Evanschitzky, H., Brock, C. (2014): “The Impact of Service Characteristics on the Switching Costs-Customer Loyalty Link,” Journal of Retailing, 90 (2), 275-290.
Böttger, T., Rudolph, T., Evanschitzky, H., Pfrang, T. (2017): “Customer Inspiration: Conceptualization, Scale Development, and Validation,” Journal of Marketing, 81 (6), 116-131.
Brock, C., Blut, M., Evanschitzky, H., Kenning, P. (2013): “Satisfaction with Complaint Handling: A Replication Study on its Determinants in a Business-to-Business Context,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 30 (3), 319-322.
Evanschitzky, H., Brock, C., Blut, M. (2011): “Will You Tolerate this? The Impact of Affective Commitment on Complaint Intention and Post-Recovery Behavior,” Journal of Service Re-search, 14 (4), 410-425.
Evanschitzky, H., Emrich, O., Sangtani, V., Ackfeld, A., Reynolds, K., Arnold, M. (2014): “Hedonic Shopping Motivations in Collectivistic and Individualistic Consumer Cultures,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 31 (3), 335-338.
Evanschitzky, H., Iyer, G.R., Pillai, K.G., Kenning, P., Schütte, R. (2015): “Consumer Trial, Continuous Use, and Economic Benefits of a Retail Service Innovation: The Case of the Personal Shopping Assistant,” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32 (3), 459-475.
Evanschitzky, H., Ramaseshan, B., Woisetschläger, D., Richelsen, V., Blut, M., Backhaus, C. (2012): “Consequences of Customer Loyalty to the Program and to the Company,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40 (5), 625-638.
Evanschitzky, H., Wangenheim, F., Wünderlich, N. (2012): “Perils of Managing the Service Profit Chain: The Role of Time Lags and Feedback Loops,” Journal of Retailing, 88 (3), 356-366.
Grewal, D., Levy, M., and Kumar, V. (2009): “Customer experience management in retailing: an organizing framework,” Journal of Retailing, 85 (1), 1-14.
Nagengast, L., Evanschitzky, H., Blut, M., Rudolph, T. (2014): “New Insights in the Moderating Effect of Switching Costs on the Satisfaction-Loyalty Link,” Journal of Retailing, 90 (3), 408-427.
Schumann, J., Wünderlich, N., Evanschitzky, H. (2014): “Spillover Effects of Service Failures in Coalition Loyalty Programs: The Buffering Effect of Perceived Program Benefits,” Journal of Retailing, 90 (1), 111-118.
Verhoef, P.C., Lemon, K.N., Parasuraman, A., Roggeveen, A, Tsiros, M, and Schlesinger, L.A. (2009): “Customer experience creation: Determinants, dynamics and management strategies,” Journal of Retailing, 85(1): 31- 41.
Verhoef, P.C., Kannan, P.K., and Inman, J.J., (2015): “From multi-channel retailing to Omni-channel retailing: Introduction to the Special Issue on Multi-Channel Retailing,” Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 174–181
Vogel, V., Evanschitzky, H., Ramaseshan, R. (2008): “Customer Equity Drivers and Future Sales” Journal of Marketing, 72 (6), 98-108.

Informal Contact Method

Office Hours

Online Learning Activities (discussions)