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Home >> Learning >> Career Advice >> Responsibilities as a Buyer
Responsibilities as a Buyer
A quick essential guide to the areas a buyer will primarily focus on in this demanding yet rewarding role.

MAIN AREAS:-
  1. COMPAY
  2. WORK COLLEAGUES
  3. CUSTOMERS
  4. SUPPLIERS
  5. FABRIC MANUFACTURERS
  6. TRIMS AND ACCESSORIES
  7. YOURSELF!


1)         COMPANY


1.1       PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

-          Margin

-          Stock Turn

-          Weeks Cover

-          Sales Volume

-          Sales Units

-          % increase this year vs. last year

-          Bonus incentives

1.2      CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS


-         Passing off

-         Confidential practices

-         Fraudulent activities



1.3     COMPANY EHTICS/ CODE OF CONDUCT

 
-         Company representative

-         Fashion shows

-         Fabric fairs

-         Supplier meetings

-         UK and international comparative and directional shopping

-         Professionalism

-         Marks and Spencer

-         Littlewoods

-         C & A

-         The Burton Group



2)       WORK COLLEAGUES


THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEAM ENVIRONMENT

 

2.1      DEPARTMENTAL TEAM

-          Senior Buyer                           Senior Merchandiser

-          Buyer/ Junior Buyer                Merchandiser/ Junior Merchandiser

-          Assistant Buyer                       Assistant Merchandiser

-          Admin/ Clerical Assistant        Allocator

-          Gradate Trainees

-          Sponsored Students

-          Youth Opportunities

 

2.2     THE BOSS

-         Conflict of ideas

-         Personality clashes

-         Favouritism

-         Politics

-         Controller acting as Buyer

 

2.3       PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

-          Training needs

-          Problem cases

-          Spokesperson

-          Peer Groups

 

3)        CUSTOMERS

 

THE RIGHT PRODUCT TO THE RIGHT CUSTOMER AT THE RIGHT PRICE IN THE RIGHT SHOP WITHT THE RIGHT PROMOTION - SIMPLE ART OF BUYING!!

 

3.1      THE TARGET CUSTOMER

-         Identification of the target customer

-         Identifying the needs of the target customer

-         Identifying latent needs of the target customer

-         Relating fashion trends to commercialism

-         Coordination and  Multi purchase

 

3.2     SERVICE AND QUALITY

-         Repeat business - best sellers

-         Quality Assurance

-         How does the customer view quality vs. price

-         Refund procedure - buyers involvement

-         Individual requests

-         The brown jacket saga

-         Obvious scams


3.3     CUSTOMER LOYALTY

-         Consistent designs and quality

-         Next review vs. Principles review

-         Pricing structures

 

4)        SUPPLIERS


 
4.1      ESTABLISHED SUPPLIERS

-          Working relationships

-          Fairness

-          Honesty

-          Integrity

-          Trustworthy

-          RESPECT

-          PERSONALITY

 

4.2      NEW SUPPLIER EVAULATION

-          Range overview

-          Newness - what's different?

-          Pricing structure - one season wonder?

-          Reliability

-          Rationalisation of supplier base

 

4.3       CLOSING OF ACCOUNTS

-          Tact and diplomacy

-          Conviction

-          Assertive

-          Weakness - supplier will be defensive

-          Home territory

-          Individual or team

 

5)         FABRIC SUPPLIERS

 

5.1       CONTINUITY OF SUPPLY

-          Season variables

-          Wool vs. poly viscose

-          Copyright infringement

-          Garment selling cut off points

-          New developments - assessing commercialism

-          Quality standards and bulk fabric testing

-          Below par fabrics vs. commercial acceptance

 

5.2      CUSTOMER RETURNS/ FAULTY FABRIC

-          Procedure

-          Allocation of ‘blame'

-          Garment supplier vs. fabric supplier

 

6)        TRIMS AND ACCESSORIES

6.1              CONTINUITY OF SUPPLY

6.2              FAULTY MERCHANDISE

6.3              ASSESSMENT OF NEW SUPPLIERS

6.4              EXCLUSIVITY

-          Price vs. Novelty value

-          Price vs. Quality

 
7)         YOURSELF

BE TRUE TO YOURSELF AND KEEP YOUR SPIRIT LEVEL!!


-          Conflict of interest

-          Frustration

-          Political pressure

-          Backbiting

-          Insecurities

-          Confidence

-          Psychological assessment of others

 

REMEMBER..................... IT IS ONLY A JOB AND A PIECE OF FABRIC AT THE END OF THE DAY
 
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