Assistant Buyer

Grocery Outlet Career•Emeryville, CA

About The Position

The Assistant Buyer will be part of the MTO (Made-to-Order) team, responsible for category management decisions, assortment planning, seasonal planning, RFPs, and the buying and replenishment of everyday items. This role focuses on assisting buyers with their daily responsibilities, ensuring accuracy in the ordering process, and facilitating communication between vendors, buyers, stores, and other company departments. The Assistant Buyer will support buyers on all day-to-day functions, maintain departmental files, assist in writing and monitoring purchase orders, ensure quality control, manage receipt flow, handle direct store shipments, initiate alerts and corrective billings, track ad plans, understand product distribution, create Hot Buy sheets, update internal systems, and ensure thorough communication with vendors and internal partners. The role also involves assisting in marketing event planning, creation of packaging and branding, analyzing opportunistic purchases, maintaining positive vendor relationships, identifying and shopping competition, understanding trends, reviewing sales data, negotiating terms, and writing articles for store managers about organic trends and merchandising. This position reports to a Sr. Buyer.

Requirements

A Degree or 1 to 2 years retail/sales or related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Proficient in the use of Excel, Microsoft Word and Outlook.
Keen to details and highly organized.
Resourceful and able to research problems and recommend solutions.
Highly analytical and numerical savvy.
Strong written & verbal communication skills.
Ability to prioritize, multitask and manage multiple projects with broad workload to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
Proven team player, self-motivated, independent-thinker.
Ability to reprioritize projects frequently.
Able to effectively and respectfully communicate with all levels of staff and management.

Nice To Haves

Excellent interpersonal skills, outgoing, willing to help others and positive attitude.
Frozen industry awareness or interest with the ability to understand and research current trends, within competition and market.

Responsibilities

Support Buyers on all day-to-day functions of the department.
Maintain departmental files on line; Purchase Orders, Quote Sheets, Import files, Vendor lists, Performance files correspondence, forms and other documents.
Assist the Buyers in writing purchase orders.
Monitor existing purchase order status; production, shipping and receiving of shipments.
Ensure quality control of all orders.
Monitor on-order and manage weekly receipt flow into DC to insure timely arrival of orders.
Responsible for direct store shipments – Flex Order Guide.
Responsible for initiating yellows, red alerts, price changes and corrective billings.
Track and maintain monthly ad plan.
Understand and execute appropriate distribution of products and maintain proper turn goal.
Create weekly Hot Buy sheets for Friday purchasing meeting.
Update WOW alert photos and verify product descriptions on a weekly basis.
Update internal communication system.
Ensure that communication (written/verbal) is complete and thorough with vendor and internal partners.
Assist in marketing event planning.
Assist with creation of packaging and branding.
Assist the Buyer in analyzing opportunistic opportunities and communicate to the Buyer recommendations.
Maintains positive working relationships and communication with vendors, internal departments, stores and warehouse.
Identify and shop competition (including price checks); understand the target customer.
Identify trends within the department to help reach and exceed sales and margin plan.
Review sales by store by SKU; identifying hot and slow sellers.
Maintain vendor relationships; work with vendors and Buyer to help negotiate better terms and/or costs for merchandise being purchased.
Establishes and maintains a reputation of credibility and responsiveness; promptly returns vendor and store phone calls, ensures timely follow-up on issues within 24 hours.
Write articles addressed to store managers and operators communicating organic trends, merchandising recommendations and general knowledge of the organic category.