Retail Buyer: Job Profile and Role

Let’s say you are an avid shopper who enjoys little shopping sprees in town or online. Have you ever asked yourself how all the things you like to buy actually end up in a shop’s window and shelves? Making sure you have something to buy is one of the tasks of a retail buyer. Maybe this job also is one you are interested in doing.

The following blog will now take a close look at the job profile and role of a retail buyer. We will tell you what the responsibilities are and who your potential employers can be. Furthermore, we will take a look at the expected salaries and the qualifications and skills you need to become a retail buyer. The blog concludes with insights into the working day of a retail buyer and tips for thriving in this exciting job.

Short Summary

• As a retail buyer, you are responsible for selecting and purchasing products for your employing company.
• As a retail buyer, your job is to read and analyse relevant market trends and data as well as your products’ KPIs.
• As a retail buyer, you can be responsible for the visual merchandising of the products purchased by you.

Job description

A retail buyer’s job is to select and buy products for the employing company. The job involves dealing with vendors and suppliers as well as with customers. By knowing the customers’ needs and preferences, a retail buyer is able to pick the perfect product portfolio for the company. Besides the merchandise purchase, a retail buyer is also responsible for analysing the KPIs and adjusting the product palette accordingly. Lastly, a retail buyer can be responsible for the visual merchandising of the products he or she has procured for the company.

Responsibilities

• Promotions and Pricing
• Inventory Management
• Budget Management
• Seasonal Planning
• Quality Assurance
• Risk Management
• Product Selection
• Vendor Relations
• Market Research
• Cost Analysis

Different types of Retail Buyers

• Luxury Buyer
• Fashion Buyer
• Grocery Buyer
• Regional Buyer
• Sustainability Buyer

Salary

Retail buyers in the UK with full-time employment and work experience can expect an annual salary ranging from £30,700 to £42,900. Depending on a retail buyer’s performance, the set-up of the company and the location, this annual salary can also be considerably higher. Note that entry-level salaries typically only amount to £18,000 to £20,000.

Working hours

Typically, a retail buyer works between 38 and 40 hours a week. It is not unusual for you to have to attend networking events in the evenings. Looming project completions and seasonal peak times will likely affect your weekends, during which you will also be working. These factors will increase your weekly working hours.

If you are interested in remote work, you should check if this option is available at the company you are applying to. This can give you more flexibility in dividing and working the hours expected of you.

Note that some retail buyers have to travel to trade fairs to check and buy new merchandise. The travel times and the time spent at the trade fairs can be further working hours you will have to invest as a retail buyer.

Employers

Usually, retail buyers find employment with retail chains or department stores which in turn tend to offer a wide variety of merchandise. If you are thinking about working for one of these employers, you should definitely define which kind of merchandise you want to be responsible for.

You can also find employment in other sectors, such as the luxury sector, the fashion sector or the furniture sector. With all potential employer, you may also have the chance to be in charge of their e-commerce side of merchandising and retail buying.

Qualifications

Generally, there are three different ways to approach your future career as a retail buyer. You can do an academic degree, such as a Bachelor’s degree, or you can enrol in appropriate college courses or apprenticeships. These educational qualifications require a specific number of GCSEs and the according grades. You should also complete your education in a retail-relevant field, such as retail, fashion buying and/or merchandising.

To further your career, you can think about acquiring appropriate certifications. These you can find at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS).

Skills

You have decided on your approach to become a retail buyer? Brilliant – then, let’s take a look at the soft skills that you should also have or develop when you want to work and excel in this job. Obviously, you should already have above-average communication skills. Or else you might struggle to actually talk to everyone involved in your day-to-day dealings. Being good at this particular skill will give you a good start. And if you also have the following three skills, there will be no stopping you as a retail buyer.

Analytical Skills

As a retail buyer, you need to analyse the relevant numbers and data connected to your job. These include market trends, sales figures and inventories. Only by reading those numbers correctly, can you then make informed and wise purchasing decisions that your company and your customers will profit from. Your analytical skills should be accompanied by mathematical/numerical skills.

Merchandising Skills

Obviously, as a retail buyer, you are in charge of merchandise. However, the accompanying merchandising skills are not limited to purchasing sellable products for your company. In fact, these skills extend to negotiating the best prices, optimally displaying the merchandise and selling them at the best possible price.

Emotional Intelligence

Let’s assume the company you work for sells jewellery. Now think about your company’s target audience, which will likely be made up of mostly women. Regardless of the purchasing gender, the purchaser wants to buy something with sentimental value. Each piece of jewellery is connected to an event which is supposed to remind the owner of happy times. In short: by buying your merchandise, you also buy emotions. If you have emotional intelligence, you will be able to figure out which item fits which possible emotion and need.

Career Path

Your career path as a retail buyer is closely connected to your level of work experience. You will start at entry level, possibly as a junior retail buyer. Within the next years, you can work towards a promotion. This can result in you becoming a senior retail buyer, a buying controller or even the head of retail.

Educational Background

Typically, you have three different educational options to become a retail buyer: university, college or apprenticeship. If you choose an academic approach, you can study fashion buying and merchandising or marketing, for example. Appropriate college courses can be the Level 2 Diploma in Fashion Retail or the Level 3 Diploma in Retail Skills. If an apprenticeship is your preferred choice, you can either do an advanced apprenticeship as a retail team leader or a higher apprenticeship as a retail manager, for example.

These approaches have one thing in common: you will need a certain number of GCSEs and the appropriate degrees to enrol in the course/education of your choice.

Entry Level

Your first job as a retail buyer will be an entry-level position, possibly as a junior retail buyer. This position may not be as well paid as the position of a senior retail buyer. But it will provide you with something equally important: your first work experience. This you will need to climb up your chosen career ladder. And who knows? Maybe after a few years and lots of hard and good work, your efforts will pay off. And you will be promoted to senior retail buyer.

Continuous Learning

And to achieve that, you should never stop learning. Continuous learning is one of the surest ways for you to get to the top of the retail buyer profession. Always keep up-to-date with the latest merchandising trends, and always keep a very close eye on your employer’s competition. And always learn everything there is to know about the latest software, apps and programs that can help you become an even better retail buyer than you already are.

How to Impress a Retail Buyer

If you want to convince a retail buyer to work with you, you should be aware of these facts: as a vendor/supplier, your sales pitch should be outstanding and brilliant, and your product should be so out of this world that a retail buyer just cannot say no to working with you. And no wonder – a potentially successful product means high sales figures which, in turn, means job security for a retail buyer.

A Day in the Life of a Retail Buyer

Have you ever wondered what a retail buyer does all day long? Well, you can now stop wondering. Because we will tell you exactly what a day in the life of a retail buyer looks like. And we can assure you: it involves a lot more than buying merchandise for a company, checking emails and meetings with the team. So, without any further ado, these three things are what shape the working day of a retail buyer:

Market Research

In order to know what is going on in the world of retail buying, you need to start your day by conducting thorough market research. This way, you stay on top of the latest developments and trends. Your market research will also give you valuable insights into your competitor’s dealings and the preferences of the respective customers, for example, their purchasing patterns.

Product Evaluations

Before your purchased merchandise hits the shops, so to speak, you need to conduct a quality assessment. You need to evaluate your products. Are they all flawless or are there flaws that require exchanges and replacements? Your product evaluation does not only involve your personal checking of the merchandise. Future improvements can also be achieved by listening to your customers’ feedback and criticism.

Budgeting and Financial Analysis

Managing your company’s budget and finances is a vital part of your day as a retail buyer. The numbers will tell you exactly how well or badly a product is performing or selling. Where to get these important figures? By checking the so-called key performance indicators (KPIs) which refer to everything from inventories to sales and budget margins.

Tips for Thriving as a Retail Buyer

Retail is a very dynamic field that is prone to lots and quick changes. Staying on top of all the latest developments is mandatory if you want to thrive as a retail buyer (and it is our first tip for thriving in this profession). But what else can you do to thrive as a retail buyer? Let’s take a close look at three invaluable tips that ensure that you will thrive as a retail buyer:

• Customer-centric approach
• Improve your negotiation skills
• Build strong relationships

Customer-centric Approach

To be an excellent retail buyer, you need to understand your company’s target audience. What are its expectations and needs? Which products will they likely buy, and which ones will probably collect dust on your shelves? The answers to these and other important questions will help you to develop a customer-centric approach as a retail buyer. By understanding your customers, you will thrive in this profession.

Improve your Negotiation Skills

As a retail buyer, you are responsible for purchasing merchandise that is then displayed for further purchasing. It will come as no big surprise that your suppliers will try to sell you their products at the highest possible price, thus ensuring they meet their margins and make a profit. However, you might not want to pay what they want. Therefore, you need to negotiate. And you will also need to know the relevant numbers that will ensure the success of your negotiations. Improving your negotiation skills is a very important skill if you want to thrive as a retail buyer.

Build Strong Relationships

As a retail buyer, you are reliable on a great deal of people, ranging from your team to your superiors, vendors and suppliers. It is of the highest importance to build and maintain strong relationships with each and every one of these persons. They will enable you to negotiate the best deals, to come up with the most brilliant merchandising strategies and to eventually climb up the career ladder. Building and maintaining strong relationships is a sure way to thrive as a retail buyer.

Frequently Asked Questions