Marie-Louise Jacobsen 
The Art of Retail Buying 
An Insider’s Guide to the Best Practices from the Industry

Buying for retail is a demanding and challenging job that requires a creative flair, a strong awareness of fashion trends, life trends as well as good interpersonal and team working skills. Buyers and merchandisers have to ensure that the right merchandise is being sent to the right stores, at the right time, in the right quantities. This takes a blend of forward planning and rapid response to consumer demands. In combination with the other areas of the business, success comes from maximizing profit, which is achieved through anticipating customer needs and responding rapidly to immediate issues. It involves complex data analysis, liaison with the stores operation teams and balancing store stock levels.

To succeed as a professional buyer, you will need strong analytical and numerical skills, an interest and understanding of consumer demands and strong commercial awareness. You also need to have an ability to understand and prioritize issues quickly and efficiently. Progression into the Merchandising function also involves the ability to manage change. The better equipped you are in your buying function the better you will be able to adapt to these changes. The best change of all is to graduate from a good buyer to an outstanding one!

To handle the complexity of data and to enable you to contribute effectively in the critical role of a buyer, you need the right skill-sets and a right mind-set. Both of which can be learned in The Art of Retail Buying.

This easy to read guide is written in a concise & pictorial style with colorful images that enables you to follow step-by-step each function of a buyer. The Art of Retail Buying will inspire you, motivate you and encourage you towards merchandising excellence!

Table of Content

Dedication vii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Chapter 1: Retail Formats 1

Chapter 2: Qualifications- Qualities- Abilities 11

Chapter 3: The Buyer’s Roles 29

Chapter 4: Management Expectations 39

Chapter 5: Retail Math 53

Chapter 6: Budgeting 75

Chapter 7: Assortment Planning 95

Chapter 8: Anticipating Consumer Trends 127

Chapter 9: Forecasting Customer Demands 139

Chapter 10: Central Buying 157

Chapter 11: The True Essence of Buying 171

Chapter 12: Buying Merchandise 195

Chapter 13: Brand Strategy 243

Chapter 14: Managing Suppliers 265

Chapter 15: Negotiation 273

Chapter 16: Retail Shrink: The Bare Truth 287

Chapter 17: Lending By Example 307

Chapter 18: Business Communication 317

Appendix 1: International Trade Fairs 341

Appendix 2: Common Terms from The World of Fashion 347

Appendix 3: Catalog of Colors 365

Appendix 4: Common Shipping Terms 375

Glossary 387

Index 393

About the author

Marie-Louise Jacobsen has more than 28 years of international marketing experience in retailing and merchandising. Part of her career in the retail industry was spent in Asia where she was the General Manager of Merchandising for Robinsons & Co. Singapore for 16 years. Prior to that Marie-Louise worked in Denmark as an International Marketing Manager for Royal Copenhagen Retail, and as Vice-Director with AC Illums A/S in Copenhagen.