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Buyer vs planning analyst

The differences between buyers and planning analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a buyer, becoming a planning analyst takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a planning analyst has an average salary of $68,137, which is higher than the $54,049 average annual salary of a buyer.

The top three skills for a buyer include purchase orders, customer service and logistics. The most important skills for a planning analyst are project management, customer service, and data analysis.

Buyer vs planning analyst overview

BuyerPlanning Analyst
Yearly salary$54,049$68,137
Hourly rate$25.99$32.76
Growth rate-11%
Number of jobs23,58992,380
Job satisfaction5-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age4744
Years of experience-4

What does a buyer do?

A buyer's duties include product sourcing and comparing resources for the best product range that would suit the specific needs of the business. Buyers must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to evaluate items that most likely benefit the customer and improve the sales of daily operations with cost-efficient products. They also conduct extensive research for market and price trends while considering the highest quality standards. Buyers should also possess strong analytical skills to create purchase orders and statistical analysis.

What does a planning analyst do?

As a planning analyst, you will be responsible for designing and implementing a company's business and marketing strategies with the goal of driving profits and reducing costs. You will propose measures to enhance an organization's overall efficiency, and guide managers on ways to strengthen profit margins through risk awareness reduced costs, and increased revenues. Other duties include conducting risk analyses to identify areas of potential failure, maintaining the business continuity program, and handling internal and external corporate communications with the investment community and industry analysts.

Buyer vs planning analyst salary

Buyers and planning analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

BuyerPlanning Analyst
Average salary$54,049$68,137
Salary rangeBetween $37,000 And $76,000Between $49,000 And $93,000
Highest paying CityEnglewood, NJWashington, DC
Highest paying stateNew JerseyRhode Island
Best paying companyNVIDIAMeta
Best paying industryAutomotiveAutomotive

Differences between buyer and planning analyst education

There are a few differences between a buyer and a planning analyst in terms of educational background:

BuyerPlanning Analyst
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 64%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - BakersfieldNorthwestern University

Buyer vs planning analyst demographics

Here are the differences between buyers' and planning analysts' demographics:

BuyerPlanning Analyst
Average age4744
Gender ratioMale, 43.9% Female, 56.1%Male, 53.4% Female, 46.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 4.0% Unknown, 3.1% Hispanic or Latino, 10.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 12.6% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage15%12%

Differences between buyer and planning analyst duties and responsibilities

Buyer example responsibilities.

  • Achieve QA initiatives by increasing transparency and communication with multiple departments and suppliers to achieve daily/weekly/monthly production requirements and expedites.
  • Manage all incoming RMA equipment, processing and directing to correct locations and departments.
  • Create, analyze and manage recaps pertaining to inventory, trends, OTB, and markdowns.
  • Manage KanBan spreadsheets to optimize inventory levels and supplier performance.
  • Manage business relationship with Japanese OEM of wide-format printer engines.
  • Manage MRB and IQA escalations to facilitate defective material resolutions.
    • Show more

Planning analyst example responsibilities.

  • Manage 160 footwear SKUs across 3700 stores to ensure optimal inventory depths during peak time frames.
  • Reduce work in process inventory by use of KANBAN system which also lead to improve customer service.
  • Manage suppliers (KPI's) to deliver target cost, service and quality levels in each operating center.
  • Manage cross-functional team which successfully create a manual for ISO 9000 certification and develop a training program for new hires.
  • Lead monthly and quarterly EAC forecasting and consolidate forecasts in support of corporate financial reporting.
  • Prepare requests for quotes (RFQ) and requests for improvement (RFI) for distribution to existing and potential suppliers.
    • Show more

Buyer vs planning analyst skills

Common buyer skills
  • Purchase Orders, 22%
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Logistics, 5%
  • Supplier Performance, 4%
  • MRP, 4%
  • Commodities, 3%
Common planning analyst skills
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • Data Analysis, 6%
  • Logistics, 6%
  • Strong Analytical, 5%
  • SQL, 5%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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