Retail Buyers' Saleability Judgments: A Comparison of Merchandise Categories

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the product, vendor, and information source saleability judgments of retail store buyers. The sample chosen for the study was retail buyers of women's wear and men's wear from three retailers in the southwestern United States. A mailed questionnaire consisting of saleability judgments was sent to 81 retail buyers resulting in a 77% (n = 63) return rate. Three Principal Component Factor Analyses with Varimax Rotation were used to reduce the number of product, vendor, and information source items to eight factors. Analysis of Variance was used to determine if women's wear buyers and men's wear buyers differed significantly on the eight product, vendor, and information source factors. Women's wear buyers rated reputation, price/promotion, and competition significantly higher than did men's wear buyers, indicating that women's wear and men's wear buyers emphasize different saleability judgments in making purchase decisions. Results will benefit retail management in developing buyer training programs, apparel manufacturers in designing and promoting apparel lines, and educators in designing retail curricula.

Channel relationship factors in cross-cultural contexts: Antecedents of satisfaction in a retail setting

“…Much of the retail buyer behavior research (e.g., Fairhurst and Fiorito, 1988;Fiorito, 1990;Stone and Cassill, 1989) builds from Sheth's (1981) model, accounting for the uniqueness of retail buyer decision making compared to industrial buyers and consumers. Retail buyers function similarly to consumers in that they normally purchase finished products.…”

Process modeling of US retail craft buyer decision making

“…Research on apparel buyers is sparse. Existing research on apparel buyers examines thejob content of buyer responsibilities (Fiorito&Fairhurst, 1989Kean, 1985-86;Kotsiopoulos, Oliver, & Shim, 1993), decision criteria in specific apparel categories (Anthony & Jolly, 1991;Ettenson & Wagner, 1986;Francis & Brown, 1985-86;Rogers & Lutz, 1990;Stone & Cassill, 1989;Taylor, 1985;Wagner, Ettensen, & Parrish, 1989), attitudes toward imported apparel product (Atkins & Jenkins, 1988;Sternquist & Phillips, 1991;Sternquist, Tolbert, & Davis, 1989;Tolbert, Sternquist, & Davis, 1988), small apparel store performance and buying (Arbuthnot, Sisler, & Slama, 1993;Fiorito, 1990;Fiorito & Fairhurst, 1989), and finally, information sources in retail buying decisions (Kline & Wagner, 1994).…”

“…Men's apparel buyers and appliance buyers appear to place more routine reorders than women's apparel buyers, possibly due to the concern of both apparel and appliance buyers with vendor reliability and less concern with fashionability (Francis & Brown, 1985-86;Stone & Cassill, 1989). Buyers use a variety of resources to make decisions.…”

“…Other variables include country of origin, vendor history, and store type and size. Buyers in different merchandise categories vary from one another in their sal ability judgments (Arbuthnot, Sisler, & Slama, 1993;Atkins & Jenkins, 1988;Ettenson & Wagner, 1986;Francis & Brown, 1985-86;Rogers & Lutz, 1990;Sternquist & Phillips, 1989;Stone & Cassill, 1989;Wagner, Ettenson, & Parrish, 1989). Department store buyers, specialty store retail buyers, and consumers differ in their selection of apparel when presented with the same array of items at the wholesale market level (Taylor, 1985).…”