Trace how the sector became what it is today: its origins, stalwarts, catastrophes and triumphs.
Industry Essentials 5.0
Certificate in Industry Essentials 5.0: Retail
IERTTM · Retail
How the sector works, what governs it, where its risks sit and how procurement and supply chain create value within it. Free to every member, with a certificate of completion.
Procurement & Supply Chain
Retail
20 Modules
Self paced study
60 Hours
Guided learning time
Free Course
Verifiable digital credential
About the IERTTM Certification
A grounded understanding of Retail: how the sector operates, how Industry 5.0 is changing it and why supply chain and procurement capability decides whether that change succeeds.
Skills You’ll Build
Explain how the sector actually operates: where the money flows, who the players are and what the rulebook demands.
Describe Industry 5.0 and its three values of human-centricity, resilience and sustainability, and where they have genuinely landed in this sector.
Recognize why supply chain and procurement capability decides whether the sector’s transformation succeeds.
Assess your own organization against the three Industry 5.0 values and its sector risk profile.
See where the SCPMI professional community and its case studies close the sector-depth gap.
Core topics
- Retail Fundamentals and Terminology
- Planning and Demand Management in the Retail Sector
- Sourcing, Supplier Selection and Contract Basics
- Supplier Performance, Risk and Continuity
- Cost, Value and Commercial Decision-Making
- Data, Digital Tools and Professional Judgment
Who this certification is for
For procurement and supply chain professionals working in or moving into retail, from those early in their careers who want a structured grounding to experienced practitioners who want to see the whole sector in one place.
No prior qualification is needed. Employers can use it to give a whole team a shared understanding of the sector.
Procurement and Sourcing
Buying merchandise, own brand, logistics and store services
Supply Chain and Planning
Planning stock turn, replenishment and promotions
Supplier Management
Holding own brand and branded suppliers to a standard
Store and Replenishment Operations
Keeping shelves full at store level
Own Brand Development
Building the products that carry your name
Range and Markdown Planning
Deciding what to stock and what to clear
IERTTM Curriculum
20 Modules60 guided hours
- 1. Before There Was Retail2. The People Who Built Retail3. The Catastrophe That Wrote the Retail Rulebook4. What Retail Got Spectacularly Right5. Retail: Booms, Busts and Absurdities
- 1. Follow the Money in Retail2. Retail From One End to the Other3. The Retail Supply Base and Everyone in the Room4. Commercial and Data Norms in Retail5. The Retail Rulebook and Its Enforcers
- 1. The People Who Do the Work in Retail2. What Is Industry 5.0, and What Does It Mean for Retail?3. Robots, Algorithms and People in Retail4. What the Machines Are Actually Doing in Retail5. The Bill Arrives: The Retail Environmental Account
- 1. Built to Bend: Resilience in Retail2. Who Actually Decides in Retail?3. In Retail, the Chain Is the Business4. What Retail Now Requires, and Why Depth Wins5. An Honest Look at Your Own Retail Operation
Four parts, following the journey from warehouse to shelf through supply chain, sourcing and procurement, with 63 case studies along the way.
Built for Real Retail Work
Case-Based Learning
Real retail cases, each with its published source, so you see how the decision actually went.
Knowledge Checks
182 checks across the course, asking about the case you just read rather than the definition.
Story-Led Decisions
63 decision points where you make the call first, then see what the organization really did.
Glossary Flashcards
A flashcard set for every module, built from the 185 terms this course defines.
Choose how you Learn
Self Paced Online
Role focusedlearning
Instructor led Training
Learn at yourown pace
Corporate Training
Verifiabledigital certification
Showcase your pharmaceutical Procurement Expertise
Retail demand planning is not humanitarian logistics. Construction procurement is not technology sourcing.
Every industry has its own regulations, supplier markets, risks, technologies and measures of performance. A qualification designed to apply everywhere cannot reflect every industry’s reality.
Digital Certificate
Verifiable Credential
Professional recognition
Credential holder profile
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything You Need to Know About the SCPMI Community
Find quick answers about who can join, what you can access and how to participate.
A professional space where supply chain practitioners, leaders, educators and learners connect, exchange knowledge and grow together.
Membership is open to anyone working in or moving towards procurement and supply chain — sourcing and supplier management, planning and operations, quality and regulatory, and healthcare procurement among them.
Holding an SCPMI certification first is not a requirement. Many members join while they are still studying and stay on afterwards.
Discussion spaces organised by industry and by topic, alongside shared resources: professional templates, knowledge checks and worked examples of the kind used throughout the certification.
Members exchange ideas, ask questions and solve real-world supply chain challenges with experienced peers rather than working through them alone.
Each Industry Community gathers members who work in the same sector, so the discussion reflects the regulations, supplier markets and risks that sector actually faces. Pharmaceutical procurement sits within Pharmaceutical & Life Sciences.
Where your work spans more than one sector you can follow several, and the wider community stays open to every member.
Start by introducing yourself and following the industry communities closest to your role. From there, taking part is as simple as answering a question, describing how you handled a problem, or posting one of your own.
Members who want a larger part can contribute resources, help newer members find their footing, or join the sessions SCPMI runs through the year.
Build Specialised Capbility in Pharmaceutical Procurement
Connect with professionals, exchange ideas and
continue growing with SCPMI.
