The Book

"The best retail buying book available. It combines concepts with actual calculations … this provides students with a better understanding of the topics." - Katherine Annette Burnsed, University of South Carolina, USA

With crucial math concepts integrated throughout the text, this guides you through typical buying tasks, from identifying potential customers, to creating a six-month merchandising plan, to developing sales forecasts. It’s fully updated with new examples and trends from global retailing and designed for courses on retail buying in general and fashion merchandising in particular.

New to this edition:
- New coverage of omni-channel retailing, social media, online and mobile technologies
- 25% new examples (trends and international examples) in the Snapshots and Trendwatches feature within each chapter
- More on analysing and interpreting data, with new practice problems
- Even more STUDIO student online resources, including self-quiz questions, video tutorials and quizzes, downloadable Excel spreadsheets, and worksheets featuring step-by-step solutions to common problems
- More support for instructors, too, including an Instructor’s Guide, Testbank, Powerpoint presentations, and Learning with STUDIO resources.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I Understanding the Retail Environment Where Buying Occurs
1. Today’s Buying Environment
2. The Buying Function in Retailing
3. Buying for Different Types of Stores
PART II Getting Ready to Make Buying Decisions
4. Obtaining Assistance for Making Buying Decisions
5. Understanding Your Customers
6. Understanding Product Trends: What Customers Buy
Part III Planning and Controlling Merchandise Purchases
7. Forecasting
8. Preparing Buying Plans
9. Developing Assortment Plans
10. Controlling Inventories
Part IV Purchasing and Pricing Merchandise
11. Selecting Vendors and Building Partnerships
12. Making Market Visits and Negotiating with Vendors
13. Locating Sources in Foreign Markets
14. Making the Purchase
15. Pricing the Merchandise
Appendix A: Basic Retail Math Formulas
Appendix B: Decision Making
Glossary
Credits
Index

About The Authors

Richard Clodfelter is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the College of Hospitality, Retail, and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina, US.