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Fashion buyer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical fashion buyer skills. We ranked the top skills for fashion buyers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.3% of fashion buyer resumes contained vendor relations as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a fashion buyer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 fashion buyer skills for your resume and career

1. Vendor Relations

Here's how fashion buyers use vendor relations:

Maintained high vendor relationships to negotiate as needed on discounts, delivery, returns and consignment.
Managed vendor relations and negotiated pricing and shipment terms.

2. Gross Margin

Here's how fashion buyers use gross margin:

Manage multiple product departments to obtain turnover and gross margin goals for a 25 store chain in the northeast.
Increased gross margin four points by initiating product development in Providence factories.

3. Market Trends

Here's how fashion buyers use market trends:

Created collections that enhanced and elevated the brand, while ensuring profitability and growth by anticipating market trends.
Projected and bought for futuremarket trends.

4. Vendor Communication

Here's how fashion buyers use vendor communication:

Executed purchase orders, daily vendor communication, assisted with fittings, presented and analyzed financial reporting and sales trend.

5. Product Selection

Here's how fashion buyers use product selection:

Negotiated new vendor agreements regarding price, payment terms, and ad support and product selection.
Worked closely with sales team to generate sales through product selection and placement.

6. Payment Terms

Here's how fashion buyers use payment terms:

Developed productive relationships and financial plans with vendors, including profitability targets, payment terms, invoicing.
Facilitate supplier relationship management to provide timeliness of delivery, payment terms and invoice payment problem resolution.

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7. Sales Floor

The sales floor is the area in a company or a business that is specified for retail activities or is designated as the selling area of the shop. A car showroom can be considered a sales floor, as it has cars in its display which are to be sold. A sales floor is generally crowded with sales assistants who are there to help you out while you can search and check out the products. Generally a sales floor has free access to the public and they can observe, view and get information about the product that is being sold.

Here's how fashion buyers use sales floor:

Assist customers in finding items and accessories; provide customer service on the sales floor.
Work sales floor during major holidays, promotions, or events.

8. Sales Trends

Here's how fashion buyers use sales trends:

Explored and selected a range of merchandise suitable for styles relating to current inventory, sales trends, and customer needs.
Monitor and maintain promotional performance and provides recommendations to Associate/Buyers based on sales trends.

9. OTB

Here's how fashion buyers use otb:

Generated OTB, Wrote rough ad copy-worked on photo shoots-Created/ implemented/purchased/merchandised products for Christmas shop.
Defined and managed sales, markdowns, inventories (OTB plans) achieving financial objectives for all years in position.

10. Trade Shows

Here's how fashion buyers use trade shows:

Plan and organize photo shoots, exhibits & Fashion shows, represent company at trade shows and fashion events.
Traveled to trade shows to buy specific garments, brands and accessories for clientele.

11. Product Development

Product development is the complete procedure of creating a product from concept until release of the final product. Product development has many stages after which a product is released into the market. Identifying the need, creating the opportunity, conceptualizing a product, and providing a solution, all are different stages of product development.

Here's how fashion buyers use product development:

Achieved sales and margin goals through product development and selection across 500 retail stores.
Created cohesive working relationship with vendors to generate a thriving business by articulating clear product development needs, expectations and timelines.

12. Sales Performance

Here's how fashion buyers use sales performance:

Analyzed vendor sales performance and profitability, negotiated vendor margin assistance and developed compelling assortments.
Executed product allocation to stores and recommended pricing strategies based on analysis of sales performance and promotional plans.

13. POS

POS is an abbreviation of "Point of Sale" which is the time and place where a customer completes a transaction. It can either be a physical shop that consists of POS terminals or a virtual shop. A POS system helps simplify the retail functions and track important sales data.

Here's how fashion buyers use pos:

Maintained constant communication with the Marketing/Advertising Director regarding in-store POS collateral and items for print and television advertising.
Placed POS and assisted multiple locations nationally and internationally.

14. Photo Shoots

A photoshoot is a series of photographs that a photographer takes of someone, usually of a model or a famous person, to be used in a newspaper or a magazine. The goal of a photoshoot is to achieve a predetermined visual objective. Later, these images can be used for editing or post-production..

Here's how fashion buyers use photo shoots:

Worked with corporate stylists to pull styles for Forever21 magazines, look books, and photo shoots.
Style bi-weekly photo shoots to ensure site aesthetic is cohesive with merchandising.

15. Inventory Control

Here's how fashion buyers use inventory control:

Inventory control, managed receipt flow, assortment selection, analyzed quotation and negotiated prices/minimums.
Work with various inventory controlling systems and programs that manage purchase orders and product registrations.

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What skills help Fashion Buyers find jobs?

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List of fashion buyer skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a fashion buyer resume and required skills for a fashion buyer to have include:

Vendor Relations
Gross Margin
Market Trends
Vendor Communication
Product Selection
Payment Terms
Sales Floor

Sales Trends
OTB
Trade Shows
Product Development
Sales Performance
POS
Photo Shoots

Inventory Control
Store Locations
Retail Store
Sales Plan
Customer Demand

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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