1. Section 23.1 The Role of the Buyer
Marketing Essentials
n Chapter 23 Purchasing
Section The Role of the Buyer

2. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1
What You'll Learn
The terms used to describe organizational buyers
How planning purchases differs between an industrial market and a reseller's market
The six-month merchandise plan and its calculations
The concept of chain store buying

3. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1
Why It's Important
The purchasing function in any business is important because the costs associated with running a business are often a direct result of the competency of the person responsible for buying the goods and services required to run the business.

4. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 organizational buyers
Key Terms
organizational buyers
wholesale and retail buyers
six-month merchandise plan
open-to-buy
centralized buying
decentralized buying

5. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Planning Purchases
Businesses, like consumers, must plan:
what to buy
how much to buy
when and where to shop
Organizational buyers buy goods for businesses. Much of what they buy requires technical knowledge and/or knowledge of the operations of the firm, especially in manufacturing and service operations.

6. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Industrial Marketing
In manufacturing and service businesses, the people responsible for purchasing may be called purchasing managers, industrial buyers, or procurement managers. They are often directly involved in production planning.
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7. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Industrial Marketing
A bill of materials is the list of everything needed to make a product. It helps the purchasing manager determine what to buy, and how much to buy.
Materials requirement planning (MRP) helps determine when to buy, so supplies are ready when they are needed in the production schedule.
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8. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Resellers
Wholesale and retail buyers purchase goods for resale—they forecast customers’ needs and buy the necessary products. Buyers must plan far in advance of the selling season to know how much of each item to purchase.

9. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Six-Month Merchandise Plan
Buyers plan their purchases by preparing a six-month merchandise plan—or the budget that estimates planned purchases for a six-month period. First a buyer must determine planned sales, usually based on the previous year's sales.
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10. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Six-Month Merchandise Plan
Buyers must ensure that there is enough stock to accommodate the planned sales volume; this is also known as beginning-of-the-month (BOM) inventory. It is calculated:
planned sales x stock-to-sales ratio = BOM
The BOM for one month is the same as the end-of-the-month inventory (EOM) for the prior month.
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11. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Six-Month Merchandise Plan
The other number in the six-month merchandise plan is planned retail reductions, the reductions in the selling price and shortages of merchandise caused by clerical mistakes, employee pilferage, or customer shoplifting. This can be calculated:
as a percentage of sales or
as a percentage reduction from the prior year
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12. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Six-Month Merchandise Plan
In order to determine how much to purchase, buyers use this formula:
(planned sales + EOM stock + reductions) - BOM stock = purchases
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13. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Open-To-Buy
During the buying season, a buyer may want to know the open-to-buy (OTB), or the amount of money left for buying goods. OTB is calculated as follows:
purchases – (goods received + goods ordered)
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14. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Open-To-Buy
To determine the actual money the buyer has to spend, you must calculate markup percentage and deduct that figure from the retail value.
100% - markup % = % attributed to cost
% attributed to cost X retail value = OTB at cost
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15. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1
Planning Purchases for a Chain Store Operation
Buying for all branches in a chain store operation is usually done in a central location (company headquarters), and is called centralized buying. Chain stores use centralized buying in order to create a unified image for the chain. Customers can expect to find the same goods in every branch.
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16. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1
Planning Purchases for a Chain Store Operation
Decentralized buying is used when chain stores want to have special goods in their stores that are not available elsewhere in the chain. In these cases, local store managers or their designated buyers are authorized to make special purchases for their individual stores.
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17. The Role of the Buyer SECTION 23.1 Government Markets
Government units are the federal, state, or local agencies that are responsible for purchasing goods and services for their specific markets. There are approximately 85,000 government units in the U.S., including the Federal Aviation Administration and local school boards.

18. Reviewing Key Terms and Concepts
ASSESSMENT
23.1
Reviewing Key Terms and Concepts
1. What are the differences between organizational buyers and consumers?
2. What products might an industrial buyer purchase?
3. What do wholesale and retail buyers purchase?
4. In a retail buying situation, what does a buyer prepare in advance of the selling situation?
5. Why do chain stores use centralized buying?

19. ASSESSMENT Thinking Critically 23.1
What would happen if a buyer computed a planned sales figure for the next planning period that was 20 percent too high?

20. Marketing Essentials
End of Section 23.1