A Day in the Life of an Associate Buyer at Elyse Walker
A day for an associate buyer at Elyse Walker involves meticulous data entry ("making sure everything...is entered correctly"), analyzing sales data ("checking our sell through"), and managing the open-to-buy budget to strategically fulfill orders and address inventory gaps across stores. The role is highly communicative, requiring Julia to field requests and collaborate with managers to curate the store's assortment.
Retail, Budgeting, Data Entry, Communication, Detail-Oriented
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Julia Hamilton
Associate Buyer
Elyse Walker
New York University, 2017
Anderson MBA
Business Management & Admin
Apparel, Beauty, Retail & Fashion
Strategic Management and Executive
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. A day involves many emails and addressing urgent issues, highlighting the fast-paced nature of the job.
2. Detail-oriented tasks are crucial, such as correctly entering data to avoid pricing errors.
3. The role uses open-to-buy budgets, a key retail concept involving planning and purchasing within allocated funds. This involves analyzing sales data, identifying gaps in inventory, and placing orders to meet demand and maintain store assortments. It also involves communication with store managers and responding to requests for specific products.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of an associate buyer look like?
That is a good question. A lot of my work involves responding to emails and addressing urgent issues. It's mainly day-to-day work on orders, focusing on the backend and accurately entering data.
If I enter an incorrect price, the item will sell at that incorrect price. So, being detail-oriented is crucial. I work through any purchase orders that come through and check our sell-through to see what sold from the previous day or over the weekend.
I also take a look at our budget. In retail, we work with something called an "open to buy" budget. Buyers and planners are involved in this process. The planners create the budget, guiding buyers on how much they can spend to bring products into the store.
It's about looking at how much open-to-buy budget is left to fulfill necessary orders and address any gaps in our stores. I review every single assortment in every store. It also involves walkthroughs with our managers and handling requests for specific items. Honestly, it's a lot of fielding communication.