Median annual earnings of purchasing managers were $59,890 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $43,670 and $81,950 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $32,330, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $108,140 a year.
Median annual earnings for purchasing agents and buyers, farm products were $40,900 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $31,390 and $55,440 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $23,850, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $76,740 a year.
Median annual earnings for wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products, were $40,780 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $30,040 and $55,670 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $23,270, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $76,070 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products, in 2002 were as follows:
| Management of companies and enterprises | $49,150 |
| Grocery and related product wholesalers | 42,850 |
| Machinery, equipment, and supplies merchant wholesalers | 37,920 |
| Building material and supplies dealers | 35,910 |
Median annual earnings for purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products, were $45,090 in 2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $34,820 and $58,780 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $27,950, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $73,990 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of purchasing agents, except of wholesale, retail, and farm products, in 2002 were as follows:
| Federal Government | $58,410 |
| Aerospace product and parts manufacturing | 52,900 |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 50,790 |
| Local government | 42,450 |
| General medical and surgical hospitals | 34,420 |
Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents receive the same benefits package as other workers, including vacations, sick leave, life and health insurance, and pension plans. In addition to receiving standard benefits, retail buyers often earn cash bonuses based on their performance and may receive discounts on merchandise bought from their employer.
Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents seek to obtain the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible purchase cost for their employers. In general, purchasers buy goods and services for use by their company or organization, whereas buyers typically buy items for resale. Purchasers and buyers determine which commodities or services are best, choose the suppliers of the product or service, negotiate the lowest price, and award contracts that ensure that the correct amount of the product or service is received at the appropriate time. In order to accomplish these tasks successfully, purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents study sales records and inventory levels of current stock, identify foreign and domestic suppliers, and keep abreast of changes affecting both the supply of, and demand for, needed products and materials.
Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents evaluate suppliers on the basis of price, quality, service support, availability, reliability, and selection. To assist them in their search for the right suppliers, they review catalogs, industry and company publications, directories, and trade journals. Much of this information is now available on the Internet. They research the reputation and history of the suppliers and may advertise anticipated purchase actions in order to solicit bids. At meetings, trade shows, conferences, and suppliers’ plants and distribution centers, they examine products and services, assess a supplier’s production and distribution capabilities, and discuss other technical and business considerations that influence the purchasing decision. Once all of the necessary information on suppliers is gathered, orders are placed and contracts are awarded to those suppliers who meet the purchaser’s needs. Contracts often are for several years and may stipulate the price or a narrow range of prices, allowing purchasers to reorder as necessary. Other specific job duties and responsibilities of purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents vary by employer and by the type of commodities or services to be purchased.
Purchasing specialists employed by government agencies or manufacturing firms usually are called purchasing directors, managers, or agents; buyers or industrial buyers; or contract specialists. These workers acquire materials, parts, machines, supplies, services, and other inputs to the production of a final product. Some purchasing managers specialize in negotiating and supervising supply contracts, and are called contract or supply managers. Purchasing agents and managers obtain items ranging from raw materials, fabricated parts, machinery, and office supplies to construction services and airline tickets. The flow of work—or even the entire production process—can be slowed or halted if the right materials, supplies, or equipment are not on hand when needed. To be effective, purchasing specialists must have a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.
In large industrial organizations, a distinction often is drawn between the work of a buyer or purchasing agent and that of a purchasing manager. Purchasing agents usually track market conditions, price trends, or futures markets. Purchasing managers usually handle the more complex or critical purchases and may supervise a group of purchasing agents handling other goods and services.
Changing business practices have altered the traditional roles of purchasing or supply management specialists in many industries. For example, manufacturing companies increasingly involve workers in this occupation at most stages of product development because of their ability to forecast a part’s or material’s cost, availability, and suitability for its intended purpose. Furthermore, potential problems with the supply of materials may be avoided by consulting the purchasing department in the early stages of product design.
Businesses also might enter into integrated supply contracts. These contracts increase the importance of selecting the right supplier, because agreements are larger in scope and longer in duration. Integrated supply incorporates all members of the supply chain, including the supplier, transportation companies, and the retailer. A major responsibility of most purchasers is to work out problems that may occur with a supplier, because the success of the relationship affects the buying firm’s performance.
Purchasing specialists often work closely with other employees in their own organization when deciding on purchases, an arrangement sometimes called team buying. Often, purchasing specialists in government place solicitations for services and accept bids and offers through the Internet.
Purchasing specialists who buy finished goods for resale are employed by wholesale and retail establishments, where they commonly are known as buyers or merchandise managers. Wholesale buyers purchase goods directly from manufacturers or from other wholesale firms for resale to retail firms, commercial establishments, institutions, and other organizations. Buyers largely determine which products their establishment will sell. Buyers also follow ads in newspapers and other media to check competitors’ sales activities, and they watch general economic conditions to anticipate consumer buying patterns.
The use of private-label merchandise and the consolidation of buying departments have increased the responsibilities of retail buyers. In addition, merchandise managers often visit the selling floor to ensure that goods are properly displayed.
Computers continue to have a major effect on the jobs of purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents. Computers are used to obtain instant and accurate product and price listings, to track inventory levels, to process orders, and to help determine when to make purchases. Computers also maintain lists of bids and offers, record the history of supplier performance, and issue purchase orders.
Computerized systems have dramatically simplified many of the acquisition functions and improved the efficiency of determining which products are selling.
Overall employment of purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents is expected to grow slower than the average through the year 2012. Offsetting some declines for purchasing workers in the manufacturing sector will be increases in the services sector. Companies in the services sector, which have typically made purchases on an ad hoc basis, are beginning to realize that centralized purchasing offices may be more efficient. Demand for purchasing workers will be limited by improving software, which has eliminated much of the paperwork involved in ordering and procuring supplies, the increased use of credit cards by some employees to purchase supplies without using the services of the procurement or purchasing office, and the growing number of purchases being made electronically. Despite slower-than-average growth, some job openings will result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or leave the labor force.
The projected change in employment varies significantly by occupational specialty. Employment of purchasing managers is expected to grow more slowly than the average through 2012. The use of the Internet to conduct electronic commerce has made information easier to obtain, thus increasing the productivity of purchasing managers. The Internet also allows both large and small companies to bid on contracts. Exclusive supply contracts and long-term contracting have allowed companies to negotiate with fewer suppliers less frequently.
Employment of wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products, also is projected to grow more slowly than the average. In the retail industry, mergers and acquisitions have forced buying departments to consolidate. In addition, larger retail stores are removing their buying departments from regional markets and centralizing them at their headquarters.
In contrast, employment of purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products, is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2012. Despite the greater use of electronic transactions, purchases of complex equipment are more difficult both to automate and to transact electronically. Employment of purchasing agents and buyers, farm products, also is projected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations, as the need to evaluate the quality and freshness of farm products limits the ease of making purchases electronically.
Persons who have a bachelor’s degree in business should have the best chance of obtaining a buyer position in wholesale or retail trade or within government. A bachelor’s degree, combined with industry experience and knowledge of a technical field, will be an advantage for those interested in working for a manufacturing or industrial company. Government agencies and larger companies usually require a master’s degree in business or public administration for top-level purchasing positions.
.Qualified persons may begin as trainees, purchasing clerks, expediters, junior buyers, or assistant buyers. Retail and wholesale firms prefer to hire applicants who have a college degree and who are familiar with the merchandise they sell and with wholesaling and retailing practices. Some retail firms promote qualified employees to assistant buyer positions; others recruit and train college graduates as assistant buyers. Most employers use a combination of methods.
Educational requirements tend to vary with the size of the organization. Large stores and distributors, especially those in wholesale and retail trade, prefer applicants who have completed a bachelor’s degree program with a business emphasis. Many manufacturing firms put yet a greater emphasis on formal training, preferring applicants with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering, business, economics, or one of the applied sciences. A master’s degree is essential for advancement to many top-level purchasing manager jobs.
Regardless of academic preparation, new employees must learn the specifics of their employers’ business. Training periods vary in length, with most lasting 1 to 5 years. In wholesale and retail establishments, most trainees begin by selling merchandise, supervising sales workers, checking invoices on material received, and keeping track of stock. As they progress, retail trainees are given increased buying-related responsibilities.
In manufacturing, new purchasing employees often are enrolled in company training programs and spend a considerable amount of time learning about their firm’s operations and purchasing practices. They work with experienced purchasers to learn about commodities, prices, suppliers, and markets. In addition, they may be assigned to the production planning department to learn about the material requirements system and the inventory system the company uses to keep production and replenishment functions working smoothly.
Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents must know how to use both word processing and spreadsheet software, as well as the Internet. Other important qualities include the ability to analyze technical data in suppliers’ proposals; good communication, negotiation, and mathematical skills; knowledge of supply-chain management; and the ability to perform financial analyses.
Persons who wish to become wholesale or retail buyers should be good at planning and decisionmaking and have an interest in merchandising. Anticipating consumer preferences and ensuring that goods are in stock when they are needed requires resourcefulness, good judgment, and self-confidence. Buyers must be able to make decisions quickly and to take risks. Marketing skills and the ability to identify products that will sell also are very important. Employers often look for leadership ability, too, because buyers spend a large portion of their time supervising assistant buyers and dealing with manufacturers’ representatives and store executives.
Experienced buyers may advance by moving to a department that manages a larger volume or by becoming a merchandise manager. Others may go to work in sales for a manufacturer or wholesaler.
An experienced purchasing agent or buyer may become an assistant purchasing manager in charge of a group of purchasing professionals before advancing to purchasing manager, supply manager, or director of materials management. At the top levels, duties may overlap with other management functions, such as production, planning, logistics, and marketing.
Regardless of industry, continuing education is essential for advancement. Many purchasers participate in seminars offered by professional societies and take college courses in supply management. Professional certification is becoming increasingly important, especially for those just entering the occupation.
In private industry, recognized marks of experience and professional competence are the Accredited Purchasing Practitioner (APP) and Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) designations, conferred by the Institute for Supply Management, and the Certified Purchasing Professional (CPP) and Certified Professional Purchasing Manager (CPPM) designations, conferred by the American Purchasing Society. In Federal, State, and local government, the indications of professional competence are Certified Professional Public Buyer (CPPB) and Certified Public Purchasing Officer, (CPPO), conferred by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. Most of these certifications are awarded only after work-related experience and education requirements are met, and written or oral exams are successfully completed.
.Workers in other occupations who need a knowledge of marketing and the ability to assess consumer demand include advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers; food service managers: insurance sales agents; lodging managers; sales engineers; and sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing.
Further information about education, training, employment, and certification for purchasing careers is available from any of the following sources:
Someone is needed to buy the glycerin, preservatives, lathering agents, and even the pretty bottle the gel comes in. Those who buy finished goods, such as clothes or furniture, are called buyers. Those who buy the parts and materials that help make goods are called purchasing agents or purchasers. They may travel to factories to examine products. They must know what types of material work best for manufacturing.
Summary of: http://www.iseek.org/sv/13000.jsp?id=100263
She became responsible for helping to determine what fashions were going to sell and what wouldn't, at one of the country's major department stores, Bloomingdale's. She was a retail buyer. Buyers' decisions can directly impact a store's reputation and profits. Buyers are usually under a lot of pressure because they are responsible for buying the merchandise that will keep customers shopping at their store. For more information on this and other career paths, click on the Career Minute link at the top of this page.
Summary of: http://cdc.richmond.edu/multimedia/careerminute/fashionbuyer.html
In general, purchasers buy goods and services for their company or organization, whereas some buyers buy items for resale. Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents evaluate suppliers based upon price, quality, service support, availability, reliability, and selection. Purchasing professionals employed by government agencies or manufacturing firms are usually called purchasing directors, managers, or agents; buyers or industrial buyers; or contract specialists. These workers acquire product materials, intermediate goods, machines, supplies, services, and other materials used in the production of a final product. Integrated supply incorporates all members of the supply chain including the supplier, transportation companies, and the retailer.
Summary of: http://www.jobbankusa.com/ohb/ohb023.html
This will help you get your links to link to the right place even if your files are in different folders. You can override this on each item by spesifying the width when making the item. This does not affect the first submenus, but you need it here so it can be the default value for all levels. If you have set pagecheck to 1 above this is what the pagecheck will change when reaching the bounderies of the page. If not spesified it will get the default width spesified above.
Summary of: http://www.incomesdata.co.uk/mpr/288_3.htm
In general, purchasers buy goods and services for use by their company or organization, whereas buyers typically buy items for resale. Purchasing managers, buyers, and purchasing agents evaluate suppliers on the basis of price, quality, service support, availability, reliability, and selection. Integrated supply incorporates all members of the supply chain, including the supplier, transportation companies, and the retailer. Purchasing specialists who buy finished goods for resale are employed by wholesale and retail establishments, where they commonly are known as buyers or merchandise managers. Forty-two percent worked in the wholesale trade and manufacturing industries, and another 15 percent worked in retail trade.
Summary of: http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos023.htm
And I’m tired of seeing so many retailers choose the WRONG software and regret their purchase. After all, POS software can have a dramatic affect on the efficiency and success of your business. I've talked to hundreds of retailers that went through 2, 3 or even 4 different POS systems before they found one they're happy with. I will actively promote your e-book so that others will not make the same mistake as me. Thirdly, your guide STOPPED us from making BAD decisions.
Summary of: http://www.possoftwareguide.com/
grocery Kathy Holderman Kathy has worked at Good Source for 8 years as a Buyer. Her expertise is in the Non Profit division of Good Source that services Food Banks, Share Programs and other non-profit organizations throughout the United States. This means her focus is with retail pack products - Canned, Frozen, and Refrigerated, as well as Frozen Fruits and Vegetables in all pack sizes, including Totes. Please send us your feedback.
Summary of: http://www.gssi.cc/Purchasing/Buyers/Kathy+Holderman.htm
Nature of the Work Purchasers and buyers seek to obtain the highest quality merchandise at the lowest possible purchase cost for their employers. Other specific job duties and responsibilities vary by employer and by the type of commodities or services to be purchased. Some purchasing managers specialize in negotiating and supervising supply contracts and are called contract or supply managers. Purchasing agents and managers obtain items ranging from raw materials, fabricated parts, machinery, and office supplies to construction services and airline tickets. Wholesale buyers purchase goods directly from manufacturers or from other wholesale firms for resale to retail firms, commercial establishments, institutions, and other organizations.
Summary of: http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh9899/23.htm
The skill with which they do this directly affects the sales volume of their store and its share of the total retail market. They may buy for a department, an entire store, or a chain of stores. Buyers in small stores often manage the department for which they buy. It is important that Buyers maintain a balanced inventory and a budget agreed upon between themselves and the store or merchandising manager. Computers have also made it possible for Buyers to select and order directly from manufacturers.
Summary of: http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/BUYER.HTM