Ask Fashion Girl

Dear Heather:

A Buyer is the career title for the person who purchases the merchandise for a store, catalog, or website. She has to buy the merchandise according to the needs of the store for which she is buying, so salability is what she's looking for. The item has to be hot, or it has to be a steady, repeat seller. How a Buyer knows which products will sell is the whole key to the job of Buyer. A Buyer researches fashion trends, of course, but her digging doesn't stop there. A Buyer looks at the economic forecast and researches her customer in terms of lifestyle trends. She uses all this research and her experience in the field along with her instincts and her eye for fashion to decide what to buy at the big fashion markets. The more years of experience a Buyer has in this field, the better equipped she will be to understand the market. However, a young Buyer can also be well-positioned to understand a young consumer and this is a very competitive field. For a major shopper, this could be a dream career!

One way to get going on a great career as a Buyer is to launch your success with a Merchandise Marketing degree. FIDM's program enables you to be doing what you love in just two years! If you're interested in learning more about FIDM's Merchandise Marketing major, go to the FIDM website at www.fidm.com and click on the Majors section.

Good luck, and go shopping now . . . just for practice!

Sincerely, Fashion Girl