Ch. 11: The Buyer’s Order &
Vendor Relations
•
•
•
•
•
•
Order placement & accuracy
Types of orders
Followup & receipt of goods
Typical vendor services
Protecting yourself from unethical practices
Retail education & regulation
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights rese
Types of Orders
• Advance – A regular order, placed for future (not
speedy) delivery.
• Back – An order to be filled as soon as merchandise
becomes available.
• Blanket – An overall order to cover all or part of a
season.
• Open – A buying office order on behalf of a retailer.
• Regular or stock – Normal order that includes full
specifications, amounts, time of shipment, etc.
• Reorder – For additional quantities of goods.
• Special – Placed at store level for an individual
customer.
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights rese
Policies for a Retailer’s Code of Conduct
• Fair and equitable treatment in pricing and
price negotiations or concessions
• Rules about how allowances are handled &
how much control allowances “buy” for
vendors who offer them
• Set hours for contact with retail buyers
• Rules for sale of new season merchandise &
markdowns of previous season’s items
• Prohibition of style piracy
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights rese
Reasonable Expectations of Suppliers
• Has your store’s best
interest in mind
• Offers sales programs,
ideas for promotions
• Packages goods to
meet all applicable laws
• Will tag the goods
before shipment to your
specifications
• Offers training for your
employees
• Hires & pays product
demonstrators (for
some product lines)
• Offers product
warranties and/or
service plans
• Has a fair and
uncomplicated returns
policy
• Is ethical, honest,
prompt and reasonable
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights rese
Common Problems with Suppliers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Product substitutions (with or without prior notification)
Failure to follow instructions (shipping, deadline issues)
Price and/or service discrimination
Indirect price increases (lower discount rates, higher shipping
charges, reduced advertising allowances)
Refusal to sell to deepdiscounting retailers
Manufacturing only “to order” (making reorders difficult or time
consuming)
Agreements between vendors on price points (potential
collusion)
Selling directly to consumers (your customers)
Selling to your competitors
Bribery (actual, attempted, and/or implied)
Copyright © 2006 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights rese