Page 31 - DMGT554_RETAIL_BUYING

Retail Buying

Notes fashion trends in terms of silhouette, color, fabrications, and so forth is assessed and
brought back to the buyer for use in his or her buying plans. Another staff position in
some stores is the comparison shopper. This individual scouts the competitors’
advertisements and inventories to determine if there are any price conflicts between the
companies. In many stores this job has been eliminated, with this responsibility given to
the assistant buyer. Another function that might fall within the merchandising division
includes testing bureaus, where merchandise might be put to certain tests to determine
reliability. The latter is used only by the giants in the industry.

Task Make distinction between General Merchandise Manager and Divisional
Merchandise Manager.
Publicity

With the fierce competition being faced by retailers every day, it is necessary to get the attention
of the consumer as often as possible. It is the publicity division, called the sales promotion
division by some retailers, that has this responsibility.

This division is often divided into four departments, each with a specific role in gaining customer
attention: advertising, visual merchandising, special events, and publicity.

Did u know? In many store organizations, the buyer often participates in the publicity
division’s endeavors by selecting merchandise that suits the needs of the particular event
or campaign that is being developed.
The publicity division employs specialists who perform a variety of functions ranging from the
preparation of advertisements to the installation of visual presentations in windows and on the
selling floor. Included in this division’s roster are artists, copywriters, layout experts, display
installers, lighting experts, press writers, and others.

Store Management

In the store management division, those involved range from the upper levels of the
management team down through the sales associates who interact with the shoppers. In the
early years of retailing, as described earlier, many of the major stores employed a table of
organization known as the Mazur Plan, in which the sales personnel were part of the
merchandising division and were the responsibility of the buyers. Today, however, with the
buyer’s role so full of other duties and responsibilities that warrant a great deal of time away
from the store, as well as expansion through the opening of many branch stores, in most major
companies this role has been given to the store management division.

Although, the buyer does not have direct supervisory responsibility over the department
managers and sales associates, he or she interacts with them regularly nonetheless.
Communication with those in the selling departments is extremely vital to the buyer, whether
it is through in-person visits, closed-circuit TV, or by telephone, faxes, or e-mail. By maintaining
these direct lines of communication, the buyer is able to disseminate merchandise information
to them and ascertain any ideas that they might have from their interaction with shoppers.

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