Wholesale and Retail Buyer

Also called: Art Dealer, Buyer, Commodity Buyer, Contracts Specialist, Fashion Buyer

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Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products, 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. May negotiate contracts. Includes assistant wholesale and retail buyers of nonfarm products.

Buy merchandise or commodities for resale to wholesale or retail consumers.
Negotiate prices, discount terms, or transportation arrangements with suppliers.
Examine, select, order, or purchase merchandise consistent with quality, quantity, specification requirements, or other factors, such as environmental soundness.
Recommend mark-up rates, markdown rates, or merchandise selling prices.
Obtain information about customer needs or preferences by conferring with sales or purchasing personnel.
Authorize payment of invoices or return of merchandise.
Monitor and analyze sales records, trends, or economic conditions to anticipate consumer buying patterns and determine what the company will sell and how much inventory is needed.
Collaborate with vendors to obtain or develop desired products.
Inspect merchandise or products to determine quality, value, or yield.
Conduct sales meetings to introduce new merchandise.
Consult with store or merchandise managers about budgets or goods to be purchased.
Provide clerks with information to print on price tags, such as price, mark-ups or mark-downs, manufacturer number, season code, or style number.
Train or supervise sales or clerical staff.
Determine which products should be featured in advertising, the advertising medium to be used, or when the ads should be run.
Monitor competitors' sales activities by following their advertisements in newspapers or other media.
Analyze environmental aspects of competing merchandise when making buying decisions.
Compare transportation options to determine the most energy efficient options.
Develop strategies to advertise green products or merchandise to consumers.
Identify opportunities to buy green commodities, such as alternative energy, water, or carbon-neutral products for resale to consumers.
Monitor consumer preferences or environmental trends to determine the best way to introduce new green products.

Work Context

Telephone — 100% responded "Every day".
Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 100% responded "Every day".
Electronic Mail — 100% responded "Every day".
Contact With Others — 90% responded "Constant contact with others".
Face-to-Face Discussions — 82% responded "Every day".
Structured versus Unstructured Work — 57% responded "A lot of freedom".
Frequency of Decision Making — 76% responded "Every day".

Freedom to Make Decisions — 52% responded "A lot of freedom".

Work With Work Group or Team — 57% responded "Extremely important".

Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 54% responded "Very important results".

Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 50% responded "Very important".

Time Pressure — 44% responded "Once a week or more but not every day".

Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 48% responded "Extremely important".

Spend Time Sitting — 47% responded "Continually or almost continually".

Letters and Memos — 47% responded "Every day".

Deal With External Customers — 59% responded "Extremely important".

Responsibility for Outcomes and Results — 47% responded "Very high responsibility".

Coordinate or Lead Others — 36% responded "Extremely important".

Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 43% responded "More than half the time".

Level of Competition — 32% responded "Moderately competitive".

Frequency of Conflict Situations — 46% responded "Once a week or more but not every day".

Physical Proximity — 44% responded "Slightly close (e.g., shared office)".

Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People — 32% responded "Once a week or more but not every day".

Consequence of Error — 33% responded "Fairly serious".

Work Activities

Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
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.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

Monitoring and Controlling Resources — Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money.

Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.

Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.

Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

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.

Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.

Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.

Detailed Work Activities

Research issues related to the environment or sustainable business practices.
Evaluate logistics methods to reduce environmental impact.
Develop business or market strategies.
Identify strategic business investment opportunities.
Analyze consumer trends.
Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies.

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.

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.

English Language

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Negotiation

Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Persuasion

Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Judgment and Decision Making

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Complex Problem Solving

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Management of Financial Resources

Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Service Orientation

Actively looking for ways to help people.

Mathematics

Using mathematics to solve problems.

Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Instructing

Teaching others how to do something.

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Systems Evaluation

Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.

Time Management

Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

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.

Mathematical Reasoning

The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Number Facility

The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.

Inductive Reasoning

The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Category Flexibility

The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

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).

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Written Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Selective Attention

The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

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).

Originality

The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

They do well at jobs that need:

Achievement/Effort

Persistence

Initiative

Leadership

Cooperation

Concern for Others

Social Orientation

Self Control

You might use software like this on the job:

Development environment software

Eclipse IDE

Web page creation and editing software

LinkedIn
Facebook

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Sage ERP Accpac
Product development management software
Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
Oracle PeopleSoft
JDA Software Group Assortment Planning by Arthur
JDA Software Group Advanced Warehouse Replenishment by E3
Biztrak Business Solutions Biztrak
Enterprise resource planning ERP software
Enterprise risk management software ERMS
SAP software

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Wholesale and Retail Buyer

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