The Buyer Evolution
By Candace Sheppard

Vendors address the pros and cons of the new school of vendees

Tight retailer spending during recent home textiles markets raises the question: is today’s buyer more concerned with the dollar than product design? Advocates for the 21st century buyer contend that retailers are more design savvy than the old-fashioned buyers from the ’80s or ’90s and they are not driven by best sellers alone.

Jennifer Sheridan, national sales manager for C&F Enterprises states that buyers are tightening on their dollar, but primarily exercise their buying power according to their emotional reaction to a product, not just price.

Nelson Chow, vice-president of sales, C&F, supports Sheridan’s perspective, adding, “Buyers want good figures and are price conscious. But my experience with buyers is that they look at fashion [first].”

Chow does acknowledge, however, that the tightening on the dollar and the current state of the economy have affected what buyers will purchase. Big-box retailers, especially, are less willing to take chances on a new product that has not been previously tested on the market. Other vendors, however, are not convinced that economic woes alone are influencing buyers’ decisions.

“Back in the day, buyers took chances. They would make on-the-spot purchases,” avers Rae Blum, vice-president, national sales manager, Cobra Espalma. “Very few buyers today are leaving written orders. Now it depends on SKU’s and having [product] approved by retailer committees.”

One anonymous vendor representative states, “Today’s young buyer is just so unknowledgeable. They are just selectors. They know nothing about constructions and it seems that their merchandisers [are the same]. [They] are just not passionate about [textiles].”

Ryan Jones, principal, Stellar Alliance, attributes this buyer evolution to lack of training. As retailers expand and consolidate, the task of educating their buyers is sacrificed in the process. As a result, buyers from big-box chains function like accountants.

“In the old days, a buyer would choose the vendor, see the line, decide if they liked the pattern, and negotiate advertising,” says Jones. “They used to be total merchandisers. But today, they are [more like] pattern pickers.”

Some big-box retailers, for example, have trend committees that give buyers design guides of what to purchase at markets. Others require that vendors put in price bids and perform product presentations before a committee.

Yet, many buyers from specialty stores still emulate the old-fashioned buyer, acting as total merchants from the purchase through the marketing of the product.

Jones admits that there is a world of difference between the buyer of yesteryear and today. Yet, still, it’s not all negative.

“Some of the changes have occurred because of the progress made in the industry,” says Jones. With computers eliminating handwritten orders and implementing sourcing and business overseas, technology has advanced the industry.

Vendor views may collide on the nature of today’s buyers and what they should and should not be, but progress and growth cannot come without some change.