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| ▲ Tonny Park, merchandiser for GS Homeshopping |
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HOW MANY jobs let you travel abroad, meet new and interesting people, buy and source foreign as well as Korean products? How many jobs let you make decisions that only CEOs can make, while paving the way to establishing your own company? How many jobs let you have fun and stay young while you are at it? Perhaps your answer would be not many. If the above perks appeal to you then perhaps you'd care to step into the world of a buying office merchandiser.
A buying office merchandiser is one of the jobs related to merchandising. Merchandisers in general are people who oversee a product's birth, its success and its decline. They participate in every aspect of the practice starting with the selection of the raw materials up to servicing the warrantee of the launched product. The merchandiser's job is comparable to that of running a small company, for he or she works with all the offices within the company in coordinating the product. Many merchandisers dream of starting their own companies based on their diverse experiences.
| Nothing is more important for a merchandiser than falling in love with the product.
- Park
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A buying office merchandiser not only fulfills these duties but also works in connecting foreign buyers with domestic vendors. "The buyer transmits the designs and orders the products. Then the buying office merchandiser checks the domestic vendors that are interested and compares their strength and capacity, while coming up with the best vendor that fits the model given by the buyer," states Jenna Kim, the buying office merchandiser of the Gap, a specialty retailer. "The merchandiser then manages and oversees the manufacturing of the product. The most important thing is that the product gets out to the market on time and in the best shape possible."
"The merchandiser's job requires many different skills and sense," says Tonny Park who works as a fashion merchandiser for GS Homeshopping and teaches at the merchandising academy Acavision. "The buying office merchandiser especially needs to be up with the times and follow the trends that are influencing society. They need to be able to acquire information fast, process it as quickly as possible, and then accurately arrange the launching of a product at the right moment," remarks Park. Kim adds that,"The most important skill of a buying office merchandiser is the ability to communicate in foreign languages. Moreover they need to be interested in trade and commerce. People skills are also important, because the buying office merchandiser's main job is with people as well as the product." Currently there is no specific academic major required to become a merchandiser because the position hasn't had time to take root in Korea. "What you major in is not a big deal in this industry; all you need is the willingness to learn about the product and be able to 'pick-out' the current trends," says Park.
"The world is becoming smaller and smaller. The global market is getting larger because of the global sourcing that is taking place," states Kim. The role of the buying office merchandiser shows great promise because of the increase in multi-national companies. Moreover, companies like Samsung and LG are recognizing the need for having buying office merchandisers in their international campaigns. As Korean products are taking the international market by storm, the buying office merchandiser stands in the eye of the storm, controlling the input and output of the gale winds i.e. the product.
"There is nothing more important for a merchandiser than to fall in love with the product that one is launching," states Park. "I always tell my students that it is not about which field that shows the most promise but how much you care about the product. This is what makes a merchandiser truly successful," he explains.
Do you often find yourself thinking of how to sell yourself better? Or are you interested in selling Korean products to international buyers? Most importantly, are you ready to fall in love with your work? If you answered yes, then this is the job for you!
