Paul Smith

Buyer
Key roles and responsibilities
You will be analysing consumer buying patterns and predicating future trends. You
will attend trade fairs, in the UK and overseas, to select and assemble a new
collection of products. A key responsibility will be presenting new ranges to senior
retail managers and reacting to changes in demand and logistics. Retail buyers
will meet suppliers and negotiating terms of contract. You will be receiving feedback
from customers and participating in promotional activities. When new staff join, you
may have to train and mentor the junior staff.
Personal and professional characters
You will need commercial awareness, creative flair and excellent analytical skills.
You will need to be creative and have the ability to recognise future trends. Having
good communication skills will come in handy as you will be speaking to hundreds
of people in your career. Due to the amount of times that you will be presenting, you
will need to have a lot of confidence and presentation skills and the ability to make
decisions under pressure.
Entry requirements
Although this area of work is open to all graduates, a degree in retail or business
can equip you with a greater commercial awareness and therefore increase your
chances of getting a job. Graduate programmes are open to those with a 2:2 or above.
Salary expectations
Starting salaries for junior buyers are in the region of £18,000 to £25,000. with
experience you can earn £25,000 to £45,000 and senior retail byers earn between
£45,000 and £70,000+. These salaries can vary due to the business, location, and the
product type. Some of the companies also offer benefits like retail discount, a
company car and private healthcare. Due to retails buyers often working on
deadlines they my work beyond 9am to 5pm. Early starts or late finishes may be
especially common when travelling to trade fairs or fashion shows. Although it is not
common freelance work is possible, especially in London, once you have experience.
Career breaks are not typical, but it depends largely on the organisation.
I think I would enjoy this career as it mixes a range of skills such as analytical and
communications skills which I think that that I have. I am very confident and this
role describes my personality .