Employers
Buyers work for a wide variety of businesses, both wholesale and retail, as well as for government agencies. Employers range from small stores, where buying may be only one function of a manager's job, to multinational corporations, where a buyer may specialize in one type of item and buy in enormous quantities.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as of May 2023, there were approximately 477,980 wholesale and retail buyers employed in the private sector across the United States. The following industries are the top employers of buyers: management of companies and enterprises; federal, state, and local governments; merchant wholesalers, durable goods; and aerospace product and parts manufacturing.
Starting Out
Most buyers find their first job by applying to the personnel office of a retail establishment or wholesaler. Because knowledge of retailing is important, buyers may be required to have work experience in a store.
Most buyers begin their careers as retail sales workers. The next step may be head of stock. The head of stock maintains stock inventory records and keeps the merchandise in a neat and well-organized fashion both to protect its value and to permit easy access. They usually supervise the work of several employees. This person also works in an intermediate position between the salespeople on the floor and the buyer who provides the merchandise. The next step to becoming a buyer may be assistant buyer. For many department stores, promotion to full buyer requires this background.
Large department stores or chains operate executive training programs for college graduates who seek buying and other retail executive positions. A typical program consists of 16 successive weeks of work in a variety of departments. This on-the-job experience is supplemented by formal classroom work that most often is conducted by senior executives and training department personnel. Following this orientation, trainees are placed in junior management positions for an additional period of supervised experience and training.
- Accountants
- Antiques and Art Dealers
- App Services Workers
- Apparel Industry Workers
- Arbitrators
- Auctioneers
- Auditors
- Automobile Sales Workers
- Automotive Dealership Owners
- Automotive Dealership Sales Managers
- Billing Clerks
- Biotechnology Production Workers
- Bookkeeping and Accounting Clerks
- Budget Analysts
- Business Continuity Planners
- Business Development Managers and Directors
- Business Intelligence Analysts
- Business Managers
- Cashiers
- Chief Customer Officers
- Chief Executive Officers
- Chief Financial Officers
- Chief Information Officers
- Chief Information Security Officers
- Chief Restructuring Officers
- Chief Revenue Officers
- Chief Robotics Officer
- Chief Sustainability Officers
- Chief Trust Officers
- Client Services Managers
- Collection Workers
- Color Analysts
- Commodities Brokers
- Community Health Program Coordinators
- Compliance Managers
- Continuous Improvement Managers
- Corporate Climate Strategists
- Corporate Community Relations Directors
- Corporate Lawyers
- Corporate Librarians
- Cosmeticians
- Cosmetics Sales Representatives
- Cosmetics Shop Owners and Managers
- Cosmetologists
- Cost Estimators
- Costume Designers
- Counter and Retail Clerks
- Cultural Advisers
- Customer Service Directors
- Customer Service Representatives
- Customs Brokers
- Customs Officials
- Data Entry Clerks
- Decision Scientists
- Digital Workplace Experience Engineers
- Directors of Corporate Sponsorship
- Directors of Security
- Document Management Specialists
- Economists
- Entrepreneurs
- Ethical Sourcing Officer
- Event Planners
- Executive Recruiters
- Export-Import Specialists
- Fabric Designers
- Fashion Coordinators
- Fashion Designers
- Fashion Illustrators
- Fashion Models' Agents
- Fashion Photographers
- Fashion Stylists
- Fashion Writers and Editors
- Fish and Game Wardens
- Florists
- Forensic Accountants and Auditors
- Franchise Owners
- Grain Merchants
- Health Care Managers
- Health Club Owners and Managers
- Health Data Analysts
- Human Resources Managers
- Image Consultants
- Industrial Traffic Managers
- Information Technology Infrastructure Engineers
- Internet Consultants
- Internet Executives
- Internet Store Managers and Entrepreneurs
- Internet Transaction Specialists
- Interpreters
- Jewelers and Jewelry Repairers
- Labor Union Business Agents
- Legal Operations Specialists
- Logistics Analysts
- Logistics Engineers
- Loss Prevention Managers
- Makeup Artists
- Management Analysts and Consultants
- Manufacturing Supervisors
- Market Research Analysts
- Merchandise Displayers
- Merchant Mariners
- Models
- Music Agents and Scouts
- Music Venue Owners and Managers
- Nail Technicians
- Office Administrators
- Payroll Directors
- Personal Shoppers
- Pet Shop Workers
- Plastics Products Manufacturing Workers
- Product Designers
- Product Development Directors
- Product Management Directors
- Product Managers
- Professional Organizers
- Project Managers
- Proposal Managers
- Purchasing Agents
- Receptionists
- Regulatory Affairs Managers
- Regulatory Affairs Specialists
- Retail Business Owners
- Retail Loss Prevention Specialists
- Retail Managers
- Retail Sales Workers
- Rubber Goods Production Workers
- Sales Managers
- Sales Representatives
- Secretaries
- Space Tourism Managers
- Statisticians
- Stenographers
- Stock Clerks
- Strategy Managers
- Supermarket Workers
- Supply Chain Managers
- Tailors and Dressmakers
- Tax Managers
- Temporary Workers
- Textile Manufacturing Workers
- Traffic Managers
- Translators
- Truck Dispatchers
- Typists and Word Processors
- Watch and Clock Repairers
- Wind Energy Operations Managers
- Workplace Diversity Experts