A Day in the Life of a Buyer at Ross
A Ross associate buyer's week begins with reviewing sales data—"jumping out of bed and saying, 'oh my gosh, how did this buy do?'"—to understand what's selling and project future sales. The rest of the week involves vendor meetings to build relationships—"relationships are so key"—negotiating prices, managing shipping, and planning future buys, such as the Q1 assortment for upcoming holidays like Mother's Day.
Data Analysis, Negotiation, Relationship Building, Sales Forecasting, Vendor Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Gabby DAnnunzio
Buyer
Ross
University of Arizona
None
Business & Related
Apparel, Beauty, Retail & Fashion
Business Strategy
Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Associate buyers analyze sales data to understand product performance and make data-driven decisions.
2. Building and maintaining strong relationships with vendors is crucial for success in this role.
3. Associate buyers are involved in the entire product lifecycle, from initial planning and design to negotiating costs and ensuring timely delivery.
Transcript
What does the day in the life of an associate buyer look like?
Absolutely. While no day is truly normal, a typical week starts with reviewing last week's sales. It's exciting to immediately see how well products performed, like how many units of a brand we sold.
For example, this past Monday, we saw hundreds of units of Algenist, a big skincare brand at Sephora, sold. We constantly run reports to see what's selling and what works. We analyze hundreds of data points to understand performance.
If something isn't selling well, we figure out what’s wrong and how to adjust. We also project sales and review them with our VP, planning the path forward. The rest of the week is usually unpredictable, as no two days are alike.
We frequently meet with vendors. Tomorrow, I'm visiting K-beauty brand Crumb Shop, known for its fun face masks. We'll discuss strategy, market opportunities, and both long-term and short-term plans.
In retail, especially at Ross, strong relationships are crucial. Whether it’s a Teams meeting or an email, maintaining these connections is vital. It’s how Ross differentiates itself.
If you're a buyer with limited units and many potential partners, strong relationships help secure those deals. It's important to be present and engaged.
Additionally, we handle a lot of shipping, especially in these post-COVID times, ensuring everything is picked up correctly. Physical buying is also a core part of the job. We're currently working on our Q1 buys, covering February, March, and April.
We're planning for Mother's Day, considering how our sets should look. I'm communicating with vendors about specific design preferences, like wanting sets in green instead of purple or yellow. Negotiating costs is also a key part of this process.
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