Job Check
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products
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.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Negotiate prices, discount terms, or transportation arrangements with suppliers.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 02Inspect merchandise or products to determine quality, value, or yield.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 03Recommend mark-up rates, mark-down rates, or merchandise selling prices.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 04Obtain information about customer needs or preferences by conferring with sales or purchasing personnel.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 05Buy merchandise or commodities for resale to wholesale or retail consumers.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 06Collaborate with vendors to obtain or develop desired products.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 07Authorize payment of invoices or return of merchandise.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 08Consult with store or merchandise managers about budgets or goods to be purchased.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 09Monitor and analyze sales records, trends, or economic conditions to anticipate consumer buying patterns, company sales, and needed inventory.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 10Examine, select, order, or purchase merchandise consistent with quality, quantity, specification requirements, or other factors, such as environmental soundness.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job loss47%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Your human edge
AI touches every main task of this job in some way. Your edge is judgment: knowing when AI’s work is right, and checking it before it counts.