the purchasing department admired distributing is the liaison between buyer and our product vendors and is responsible for ensuring inventory levels are always ready to meet customer demand but simply that Meijer has the right product mix on our shelves to sell to customers at any given time this involves managing all details associated with vendor partnerships product information and stocking inventory levels using math and analytics to forecast future product demand is an essential part of purchasing process purchasing manages our vendor relationships working to grow our partnerships product lines and sales categories this includes managing day-to-day vendor details to ensure contracts are fulfilled liability insurance is understood tax information is processed and other corporate documents are in order [Music] understanding product information such as pricing and specifications is essential for keeping every part of the Myer distribution supply chain in order and purchasing must ensure this product information is accurate and up-to-date purchasing analyzes and forecasts starting and ongoing inventory levels based on market conditions and customer feedback feedback from our customers and our sales staff is vital in helping us learn what product works and what doesn't and ultimately influences the future direction of products we stock on our shelves there are several positions within the purchasing department purchasing managers are the most senior members of the department staff and are responsible for determining the overall direction of Meyers product sales categories they oversee the department providing oversight through assisting agents and buyers with placing stock orders managers conduct extensive research into current and potentially new products in order to stay on the forefront of customer needs they also handle top-level vendor negotiations and constantly work to maintain and build strong vendor relationships purchasing agents are buyers focus on placing replenishment stock orders to maintain adequate inventory levels of sellable product and updating vendor information including product and part number data agents and buyers are responsible for selling marketing items to vendors including but not limited to all buyer offered catalogs and show promotions posting clerks work closely with warehouse receiving team to efficiently post all receive inventory in stock as well as communicate any shipping accuracy issues to our vendor partners administrative assistants work with our inventory control team to resolve and look into any inventory shortages miss counts and work with our Accounts Payable staff to research any possible vendor inventory billing issues assistance also run reports in order to do needed vendor stock adjustments as well as all Billings for vendor marketing spins the purchasing department performs a wide variety of tasks and it is up to each team member to schedule time to complete these tasks many tasks are performed for multiple vendors and are completed each day or week placing orders updating vendor information updating and maintaining system pricing information and completing marketing related offerings for each vendor our routine tasks but not necessarily predictable as to when they need to occur math Excel spreadsheet usage and organization are skills that would be important in any department but they are of particular importance to purchasing an understanding of general math is required in order to efficiently analyze purchase advice reports and determine needed inventory stocking levels organization and ability to stay on task are very important to excelling in the purchasing department communication skills are very important as purchasing works closely with many other departments we work with the marketing department to ensure all vendor marketing tasks are completed on schedule we consult with the sales department in order to have the most up to date product information relative market product pricing and suggested inventory levels based on customer feedback we rely on the warehouse staff and inventory control teams for accurate and timely posting of all received shipments and inventory on hand amounts helping us correctly determine future inventory means we provide assistance to the Accounts Payable staff to maintain the flow of payments to vendors for products purchased if problem-solving and customer service are your strengths consider beginning a career in the Meijer purchasing department see what positions we have available today at wwe.com