Retail buyer vs purveyor

The differences between retail buyers and purveyors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a retail buyer and a purveyor. Additionally, a purveyor has an average salary of $61,138, which is higher than the $52,720 average annual salary of a retail buyer.

Retail buyer vs purveyor overview

	Retail Buyer	Purveyor
Yearly salary	$52,720	$61,138
Hourly rate	$25.35	$29.39
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	74,254	1,421
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Retail buyer vs purveyor salary

Retail buyers and purveyors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Buyer	Purveyor
Average salary	$52,720	$61,138
Salary range	Between $38,000 And $72,000	Between $28,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City	Edison, NJ	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	VF	-
Best paying industry	Start-up	-

Differences between retail buyer and purveyor education

There are a few differences between a retail buyer and a purveyor in terms of educational background:

	Retail Buyer	Purveyor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Business	Communication
Most common college	University of Akron	University of Pennsylvania

Retail buyer vs purveyor demographics

Here are the differences between retail buyers' and purveyors' demographics:

	Retail Buyer	Purveyor
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 31.5% Female, 68.5%	Male, 67.9% Female, 32.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 63.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.0% Asian, 4.7% White, 71.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between retail buyer and purveyor duties and responsibilities

Retail buyer example responsibilities.

Manage the open-to-buy (OTB) process by monitoring stock levels
Lead team of content support/merchandisers to achieve and consistently hit KPI goals.
Manage set up of new items as well as integration into POS system.
Manage open-to-buy to ensure continual flow of merchandise to stores and warehouses with careful attention to advertise events and promotions.
Key member of development team that implement JDA MMS software.
Maintain inventory and displays for jewelry and bath/body products.

Purveyor example responsibilities.

Coordinate and provide direction to inventory teams by managing product placement, open-to-buy, and logistics.
Work closely with the logistics department and internal warehouse to coordinate just in time deliveries and maintain daily inventory reconciliation.
Manage RFP process including search and qualification of requests and coordinate fulfillment.

Retail buyer vs purveyor skills

Common retail buyer skills

Gross Margin, 8%
Vendor Relations, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
Retail Management, 7%
Retail Store, 6%
Market Trends, 6%

Common purveyor skills

Retail Buyer vs. similar jobs

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Updated January 8, 2025

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