Role of Buyers and Planners

ROLE OF A BUYER AND PLANNER IN RETAIL
The Buyers Role

In any retail organisation, Buyers and Planners play an extremely important role. It is therefore important to understand the accountability and responsibility of these two positions.
The buyer’s main responsibility is purchase of merchandise. This is done through a process of range planning for a specific season wherein he would consider the following
- Sales planned based on historic data and opportunities existing to increase sales
- Selection of merchandise based on a planned price architecture to reflect the good, better and best selection of merchandise for the season
- Planning for gross and absolute margins for the category which would drill down to the SKU level.
Buyers select the range, type and quantity of merchandise based on
- customer demand ( price, quality etc)
- trends
- budget
- store/company policy
Buyers need to understand customer needs to enable providing a commercially viable range of merchandise at competitive prices to maximize profits for the organization. Buyers need to source new and review existing merchandise to ensure products are competitive and current. Keeping abreast of market trends and reacting to demands are key elements of the role.

FOR A BUYER TO BE SUCCESFUL, HE MUST KNOW HIS CUSTOMER , HIS NEEDS, HIS LIFESTYLE AND HIS DESIRES. THE CUSTOMER SHOULD BE THE CENTRAL FOCUS ON ALL BUYING DECISIONS

Activities of the buyer would typically involve the following
- analyzing consumer buying patterns and predicting future trends;
- regularly reviewing performance indicators with sales;
- managing plans for stock levels, reacting to change in demand and logistics;
- meeting suppliers and negotiating terms of contract;
- maintaining relationships with existing suppliers and sourcing new suppliers for future products;
- participating in promotional activities;
- writing reports and sales forecasts, and analyzing sales figures;
The Planner’s role
The Planner takes over after the buying decisions are made and through the planning system takes the following action
- Creates an input plan for each DC
- Through the planning system loads the range plan via store clusters into individual store weekly estimates to season end.
- phases the input plan depending on supplier lead times
- checks and controls replenishments, checks reforecasting and reorders or cancels accordingly
- Monitors slow moving merchandise and recommends action to be taken in terms of markdowns or special clearance activity to clear stocks
- Ensures final clearance to liquidation of merchandise
- Accountability of store and DC stocks
- Management of Gross to Net Margins by minimising stock levels, primary and secondary freight and markdowns
- Ensures Ideal Stocks are maintained at outlets

Competencies of a Planner
- Interest in the relevant section.
- Numeric skills paramount.
- Data analysis
- Excel knowledge.
- Good at planning
- Good team worker.
- Good PC skills.
- Working to deadlines.
- Time management.
- Good communication skills – liaison with stores.

I would welcome any suggestions additions to the roles that I have defined .