Transcript Ch. 2: The Roles of Buying Groups

Ch. 2: The Roles of Buying Groups
• The different types of buying groups
• The functions, services, & programs typical
of these buying groups
• The role of centralized buying in group
purchases
• The detailed activities involved in the
buying-selling cycle
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
What Buying Offices Do
• Information exchange, research assistance
• Product (private-label brand) development
• Import programs and/or international
purchasing functions
• Promotion services (advertising schedules,
display advice, catalog production, etc.)
• An overall “consulting firm” with retail
stores as its client base
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
Types of Buying Offices
• Independent
Works for individual stores or small chains
May have a specialty or niche market
• Corporate
Represents one large store chain (“syndicated”)
or a single large store (“private”)
• Associated (Cooperative)
Owned jointly by a “co-op” of multiple retailers,
who share its costs and use it for centralized
buying
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
The Buying & Selling Cycle - BUYING
• Deciding specifically what & how much to
buy
• Deciding when to buy & when to bring items
into stock
• Deciding details: where to get it, how much
to pay for it, how to pay, how to ship it
• Actually performing the above tasks and/or
delegating them to others
• Training assistants in these activities
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
The Buying & Selling Cycle –
Stock keeping
• Handling the goods from their arrival at store to the
time they are sold
• Receiving functions: Checking incoming orders for
accuracy, quality
• Marking, ticketing with price and SKU information
• Storing goods until moved to sale location
• Moving and distributing goods
• Notifying stores of incoming shipments
• Checking & authorizing invoices for payment
• Authorizing returns, if necessary, to vendors
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
Stock keeping (continued)
• Protecting goods from theft or damage
• Cleaning, repairing items as necessary
• Inventory control: Decisions about how to
group items, both in storage and on display
• Determining (and monitoring) staple stock
levels
• Reclassifying items that sell more quickly (or
more slowly) than planned
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
The Buying & Selling Cycle
- Pricing
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Setting markup and margin goals
Setting price lines and ranges or “zones”
Pricing individual items
Repricing as necessary
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
The Buying & Selling Cycle
- Selling
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Management of sales force and workload
Decisions about what to promote & when
Informing & motivating sales teams
Working with advertising & display teams;
some input into advertising types & space
• Planning or requesting signage & display
contents; negotiating allowances for these
• Deciding where to place fixtures, items on
those fixtures, & displays of certain products
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved
The Buying & Selling Cycle
- Planning & Control
• Providing input into all store policies: image,
services, target customers, sales margins, etc.
• Analyzing & forecasting consumer demands
• Budgeting & building model stocks
• Tracking all goals, plans, policies & budgets
against actual sales data
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. All rights reserved