Will AI replace Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
36/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 57% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 66% of the work
What the job involves
Buy merchandise or commodities, other than farm products, for resale to consumers at the wholesale or retail level, including both durable and nondurable goods. Analyze past buying trends, sales records, price, and quality of merchandise to determine value and yield. Select, order, and authorize payment for merchandise according to contractual agreements. May conduct meetings with sales personnel and introduce new products. May negotiate contracts. Includes assistant wholesale and retail buyers of nonfarm products.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(11)
- Obtain information about customer needs or preferences by conferring with sales or purchasing personnel.
- Collaborate with vendors to obtain or develop desired products.
- Negotiate prices, discount terms, or transportation arrangements with suppliers.
- Consult with store or merchandise managers about budgets or goods to be purchased.
- Recommend mark-up rates, mark-down rates, or merchandise selling prices.
and 6 more
Out of reach(5)
- Examine, select, order, or purchase merchandise consistent with quality, quantity, specification requirements, or other factors, such as environmental soundness.
- Buy merchandise or commodities for resale to wholesale or retail consumers.
- Inspect merchandise or products to determine quality, value, or yield.
- Train or supervise sales or clerical staff.
- Conduct sales meetings to introduce new merchandise.
Also called
Buyer · Retail Buyer · Merchandise Buyer · Purchaser · Fur Buyer · Gold Buyer · Merchandise Planner · Merchant
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What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics