Retail Buyer

Retail Buyer interview questions

High-quality candidates are qualified and experienced with awesome math and research skills, a critical mind and strong negotiation skills. They’ll have solid industry knowledge and a great understanding of purchasing strategies, plus they’ll be a great communicator and team player with an eye for the right opportunities.

Top tips: 

• Set an assignment: Ask candidates to sit a quick merchandising math test to see how they do on-the-job. 
• Grow together: Hire candidates you can grow with by making sure their personal career goals align with your company's mission.

Role-specific interview questions

• What do you consider when you buy a product?
• What are your top strategies to discover the best products?
• How do we stand out from our competitors?
• How has your background prepared you for this role?
• What is TCO (total cost of ownership?)
• When and how would you close a deal with a supplier?
• How do you forecast consumer behavior?
• What’s your reporting experience?
• Have you used ERP systems before?
• What’s your favorite [industry] product? Why is it successful?

Behavioral interview questions

• Describe a time you negotiated a price decrease.
• Tell us about a time when your creativity led to sales growth.
• Have you ever experienced conflict with another buyer? What happened?
• Have you ever made an unsuccessful purchase? What would you have done differently?
• Have you ever disagreed with your boss about a purchase? What did you do?

Problem solving interview questions

• What would you do if you realized a product line had lower consumption rates than forecasted? How would it affect your strategy?
• If we sold the same product at the same price as one of our competitors but they had higher sales, what would you do? 
• What would you do if our best-selling product began to plummet in sales? 
• If we needed to drop a product line, how would you decide which one?