At Four Seasons Recruitment our dedicated buying and merchandising team hire for all levels from Buying Administrator, Assistant Merchandiser, Senior Buyer, Director to Head of Buying & Merchandising. Our clients include leading premium and luxury fashion brands based in London and the UK across menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, footwear, jewellery and accessories.

What does a Buyer do?

The primary focus of a fashion buyer is to source and choose the products that will go into the store, based on market trends and forecasting. A buyer might focus on one area or brand within a retailer, or they might look after a whole store or even a chain of stores.

To be a successful buyer in fashion you must be able to understand your target market, be creative and imaginative, whilst also having strong negotiation skills and good commercial awareness. Buying is a highly numerical role and you'll need to be an expert in Excel.

Typical responsibilities include:

• Tracking and predicting future fashion trends
• Monitoring and analysing sales and deciding whether to buy more or less of a particular product, or raise or lower its price 
• Negotiating prices with suppliers to meet demand and monitoring deliveries to ensure orders are correct and arrive on time
• Visiting fashion shows and trade fairs to look for emerging brands

Are you considering a career in buying but not sure where to start? Contact us

What does a Merchandiser do?

There is a fine line marking the differences between buying and merchandising and the responsibilities of the two roles often vary between companies.

The main goal of a fashion merchandiser is still to meet the demands of customers while increasing sales for the business, however, it involves a more analytical approach and optimising stock allocation. Business decisions are based on analysing reports and figures and so to be a successful Merchandiser you must take an analytical approach to the task in hand, have excellent commercial awareness skills and experience in planning forecasting.

Typical Merchandising responsibilities include:

• Liaising with buyers, analysts, stores, suppliers and distributors
• Forecasting profits and sales, and optimising the sales volume and profitability of designated product areas
• Planning budgets and presenting sales forecasts and figures for new ranges

It's a common misconception that a Visual Merchandiser and Merchandising do the same thing - this is not the case. Visual Merchandising is a highly creative role that involves developing, delivering and communicating visual concepts and strategies to promote a brand, product and service in-store and online.

If you are an experienced Buyer or Merchandiser and seeking new opportunities in luxury retail and fashion then please see our current list of vacancies below, or register your CV today.