Sometimes they are called customer service representatives or customer complaint clerks. The industry also employs administrative occupations found in most industries, such as general office clerks and bookkeepers. Executive, administrative, and managerial occupations comprised 5 percent of industry employment. Department managers oversee sales workers in a department or section of the store. They set the work schedule, supervise employee performance, and are responsible for the overall sales and profitability of their departments.
Buyers purchase merchandise for resale from wholesalers or manufacturers.
Using historical records, market analysis, and their sense of consumer demand, they buy merchandise with the best style, quality, selection, and price. Wrong decisions mean that the store will mark down slow selling merchandise that may have to be sold below cost, causing lost profits. They also plan and implement sales promotion plans for their merchandise, such as arranging for advertising and ensuring that the merchandise is displayed properly. In department store chains, which have many stores, much of the buying and merchandising functions are centralized in one location. Some local managers might decide which merchandise, among that bought centrally, would be best for their own stores.