What does a wholesale buyer do?

A merchandise planner is responsible for monitoring the adequacy of stock inventories and requesting purchase orders by researching current market trends to meet customer demands. Merchandise planners assist with marketing campaigns and promotional offers of the business, selling goods and services to the customers based on their needs and budget requirements. They also write sales reports, inspect the validity of merchandise, and maintain an attractive visual display of items. A merchandise planner resolves and escalates customer complaints timely, processes replacements, and issues refunds as needed.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between wholesale buyers and purveyor. For instance, wholesale buyer responsibilities require skills such as "wholesale purchase," "international business," "market trends," and "retail sales." Whereas a purveyor is skilled in "food products," "hand inventory," "placement process," and "computer system." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Assistant merchandise buyers are skilled employees who are responsible for assisting other buyers and managers in purchasing products and maintaining the inventory of their store. These buyers must maintain positive relationships with vendors so that they can negotiate product specifications and prices of merchandise. They must prepare budgets and purchase orders so that they can purchase items and ensure on-time delivery of goods. Assistant merchandise buyers must also perform forecasts on their purchasing trends while compiling reports on the performance and statistics of their existing products.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that wholesale buyer responsibilities requires skills like "wholesale purchase," "international business," "retail sales," and "vehicle inventory." But a merchandise planner might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "gross margin," "strong analytical," "math," and "historical data."

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from wholesale buyer resumes include skills like "wholesale purchase," "international business," "retail sales," and "vehicle inventory," whereas an assistant merchandise buyer is more likely to list skills in "apparel," "kids," "purchase orders," and "math. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between wholesale buyers and associate merchandise buyers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a wholesale buyer might have more use for skills like "wholesale purchase," "international business," "retail sales," and "vehicle inventory." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of associate merchandise buyers require skills like "customer service," "open-to-buy," "product line," and "system tools. "