What do they do?
Buy merchandise or commodities, other than farm products, for resale to consumers at the wholesale or retail level, including both durable and nondurable goods. Analyze past buying trends, sales records, price, and quality of merchandise to determine value and yield. Select, order, and authorize payment for merchandise according to contractual agreements. May conduct meetings with sales personnel and introduce new products. May negotiate contracts. Includes assistant wholesale and retail buyers of nonfarm products.
Also known as:
Buyer, Grocery Buyer, Procurement Specialist, Purchaser, Purchasing Agent, Purchasing Coordinator, Retail Buyer, Trader
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Ranks #43 in job growth rate1,890Job Openings
Ranks #10 in net job growth
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Most Popular Majors that prepare Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
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#1
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Degrees Granted
3,026
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Female Students
2,703
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Male Students
323
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Median Starting Salary
$41,200
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#2
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Degrees Granted
1,511
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Female Students
655
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Male Students
856
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Median Starting Salary
$48,168
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#3
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Degrees Granted
642
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Female Students
558
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Male Students
84
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Median Starting Salary
$35,825
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#4
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Degrees Granted
57
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Female Students
30
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Male Students
27
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Median Starting Salary
$48,168
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#5
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Degrees Granted
83
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Female Students
71
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Male Students
12
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Median Starting Salary
$41,200
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People in this career often have these skills:
- Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
People in this career often know a lot about:
- Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
- Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
People in this career often have talent in:
- Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Mathematical Reasoning - The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
People in this career often do these activities:
- Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies.
- Negotiate contracts with clients or service providers.
- Discuss business strategies, practices, or policies with managers.
- Purchase products or services.
- Provide information to coworkers.
- Determine the value of goods or services.
- Advise others on business or operational matters.
- Confer with personnel to coordinate business operations.
- Authorize financial actions.
- Disburse funds from clients accounts to creditors.
- Analyze market conditions or trends.
- Analyze consumer trends.
- Obtain information about goods or services.
- Train personnel to enhance job skills.
- Supervise employees.
- Create marketing materials.
- Research issues related to the environment or sustainable business practices.
- Evaluate logistics methods to reduce environmental impact.
- Develop business or market strategies.
- Identify strategic business investment opportunities.
This page includes data from:
Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database
by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA
Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics
Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development
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