Retail buyer
Retail buyers choose products for shops to sell, like clothing, toys, electrical goods and food.
Typical Salary
£23,000 – £50,000
per year
Working Hours
38–40
hours per week
Day-to-day tasks
As a retail buyer, you couldattend trade fairs to find new products; negotiate prices, orders and delivery dates; manage product quality; obtain and analyse customer feedback; forecast trends based on consumer data; present collections to senior managers; track sales figures, manage stock levels and keep to budgets; check and react to competitor activities; adapt quickly to meet changing consumer behaviour and trends
Skills needed
- the ability to work well with others
- persuading and negotiating skills
- to be flexible and open to change
- the ability to use your judgement and make decisions
- maths knowledge
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to use your initiative
- the ability to sell products and services
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently
How to get into this role
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- completing private industry-recognised training
Career progression
With experience and training you could become a senior buyer, buying controller or head of buying. You could also move into product management, marketing or merchandising.