RETAIL BUYING

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WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Purchasing and Sales Personnel engaged in retail purchasing and sales.

PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN

The purpose of this course is to help the retail buyer understand his or her role in the new millennium.? Retailers are faced with numerous challenges and they must broaden their horizons if they are to survive.

Specific coverage is provided in the following areas:
An Overview of Retail Buying
The Roles of Buying Groups
Understanding the Consumer
Merchandise Assortments
Planning and Control
Technology and Internet Commerce in Retailing
Choosing Vendors
International Vendors
Translating Plans into Purchases
Negotiating the Buy
The Buyer’s Order and Vendor Relations
Pricing and Selling

PROGRAM OUTLINE

At the completion of this course of instruction, students will be able to describe or explain:

• The responsibilities of buyers & merchandise managers
• Skills & personality traits for success in this field
• How different types of stores are organized to meet their buying needs
• The pros and cons of centralized merchandising
• Opportunities for women in this field
• The different types of buying groups
• The functions, services, & programs typical of these buying groups
• The role of centralized buying in group purchases
• The detailed activities involved in the buying-selling cycle
• How retailers & their research teams decide what motivates consumers
• How economic & social trends impact consumer preferences (& therefore, retail buying)
• Where to find both internal & external data that can help forecast demand for products
• The different types of brand identification, their potential benefits & challenges
• The importance of private-label merchandise in today’s marketplace
• Theories about the optimum breadth & depth of assortments
• How demand and selection factors, seasons & (in apparel) size, fashion, & fit all work to influence assortment & buying patterns
• Setting policies about assortments for buyers to work from
• How budgets are determined (& checked periodically) for a buying season or dept.
• Stockturn & how to determine the productivity of the merchandise as an investment
• Staple stock controls, or how stores ensure their basics & best-sellers are always available
• Factors to consider when dealing with seasonal merchandise
• How to buy even when the budget is very tight
• SKU numbers, bar codes, & Radio Frequency Identification
• Point-of-sale terminals & systems; Electronic Shelf Labeling
• Quick Response & Efficient Customer Response
• Electronic Data Interchange & Extensible Markup Language
• eCommerce (“e-tailing”) & Internet marketing
• New frontiers: global data synchronization; Collaborative Planning, Forecasting & Replenishment systems; & more
• Factors to consider in vendor selection
• Ethics & social responsibility in retail
• How & why to reevaluate current vendors
• Types of vendors to choose from
• How management policies impact vendor selection
• The proliferation & importance of imported products
• Gray markets
• Consumer attitudes about American-made versus foreign-made goods
• Finding international vendors & intermediaries
• Shipping costs & getting goods through U.S. Customs
• Market locations & buying trips
• Selecting new items
• How items fit into the store’s stock plans
• Buying job lots, irregulars & off-price merchandise
• Developing product specifications
• Environmental considerations
• Price negotiation
• Types of discounts
• The services included (or not) in a final price
• Shipping & insurance options
• Advertising & markdown allowances
• Order placement & accuracy
• Types of orders
• Follow-up & receipt of goods
• Typical vendor services
• Protecting yourself from unethical practices
• Retail education & regulation
• Profit margin controls
• Calculating initial markup & required markup
• Determining profitability of a department or store
• Pricing individual items
• Price line structures
• Markdowns & closeouts
• Calculating profits
• A retail buyer’s role in the selling process