WHOLESALE AND RETAIL BUYER

Job Definition:

• Buyers buy goods and services for use or resale on behalf of industrial, commercial, government or other establishments and organizations.

Job Description:

• Buy merchandise or commodities, other than farm products, for resale to consumers at the wholesale or retail level, including both durable and nondurable goods. Analyze past buying trends, sales records, price, and quality of merchandise to determine value and yield. Select, order, and authorize payment for merchandise according to contractual agreements. May conduct meetings with sales personnel and introduce new products.

Duties and Tasks:

• 1) Train and supervise sales and clerical staff.
• 2) Provide clerks with information to print on price tags, such as price, mark-ups or mark-downs, manufacturer number, season code, and style number.
• 3) Determine which products should be featured in advertising, the advertising medium to be used, and when the ads should be run.
• 4) Monitor competitors’ sales activities by following their advertisements in newspapers and other media.
• 5) Examine, select, order, and purchase at the most favorable price merchandise consistent with quality, quantity, specification requirements and other factors.
• 6) Negotiate prices, discount terms and transportation arrangements for merchandise.
• 7) Analyze and monitor sales records, trends and economic conditions to anticipate consumer buying patterns and determine what the company will sell and how much inventory is needed.
• 8) Interview and work closely with vendors to obtain and develop desired products.
• 9) Authorize payment of invoices or return of merchandise.
• 10) Inspect merchandise or products to determine value or yield.
• 11) Set or recommend mark-up rates, mark-down rates, and selling prices for merchandise.
• 12) Confer with sales and purchasing personnel to obtain information about customer needs and preferences.
• 13) Consult with store or merchandise managers about budget and goods to be purchased.
• 14) Conduct staff meetings with sales personnel to introduce new merchandise.
• 15) Manage the department for which they buy.
• 16) Use computers to organize and locate inventory, and operate spreadsheet and word processing software.

Activities:

• 1) Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
• 2) Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• 3) Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• 4) Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• 5) Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
• 6) Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
• 7) Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
• 8) Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.
• 9) Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• 10) Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
• 11) Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• 12) Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• 13) Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
• 14) Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
• 15) Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• 16) Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• 17) Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.

Abilities:

• 1) Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• 2) Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 3) Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 4) Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• 5) Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• 6) Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• 7) Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• 8) Mathematical Reasoning — The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
• 9) Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• 10) Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• 11) Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• 12) Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• 13) Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

Knowledge:

• 1) Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• 2) Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• 3) Economics and Accounting — Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• 4) English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 5) Clerical — Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.