Buyers Assistant Job at OneDayOnly

Responsibilities:

• Preparing prelims for the Buyers: gathering supplier catalogue data, running cost and competitor comparisons (C&Cs), and loading deals accurately onto the backend system.
• Checking the commercial viability of proposed buy-ins – margin, volume, landed costs and stock risk – and presenting well-supported recommendations for sign-off.
• Keeping deal data up to date and accurate across ASANA, Google Sheets and internal systems, and saving all deal screenshots and supporting documents to the correct Google Drive folders daily.
• Owning the end-to-end sample process: requesting samples from suppliers, checking quality, tracking testing results and coordinating with the Studio team for photography.
• Working with the FX and Sourcing teams to pull documentation, track shipping timelines and follow up on pending approvals for direct imports.
• Running daily online market sweeps and regular in-store visits to track competitor pricing and spot new product, brand and range-gap opportunities.
• Monitoring live deal performance (daily sales and sell-through rate), and assisting with replenishment lists and placement opportunities to move stock.
• Making sure deals are loaded, checked and signed off before daily cut-offs, and that cover images reach Design on time.
• Reviewing monthly returns reports and acting on feedback to protect deal quality and our customers' trust.
• Providing admin support to the team: compiling spreadsheets, preparing for meetings, managing calendars, taking meeting notes and following up on emails, calls and action items.
• Assisting with range showings, reviews and post-mortems to keep improving our buying decisions.
• Shadowing the Buyers daily to learn the buying process and how decisions affect margin, cash flow, warehousing and customer experience.

Experience and Qualifications

A relevant tertiary qualification, ideally one of:

• Consumer Science: Clothing & Retail Management
• BCom Management or Marketing
• BCom Imports & Exports
• Recent graduates are welcome to apply – no prior work experience is required, though retail, buying or e-commerce exposure is a bonus.
• Commercial thinking: a basic understanding of margin, costs and pricing, and an eye for what makes a deal worth doing.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to compile accurate spreadsheets and data.
• Good working knowledge of Excel or Google Sheets (formulas, lookups and basic calculations), plus Outlook/Gmail and Google Drive. Experience with ASANA is a plus.
• Solid research and analytical skills, with confidence comparing prices and product information across multiple sources.
• Highly organised, able to multitask and prioritise across many deals and deadlines at once.
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication, and comfort working with suppliers and other departments.
• Proactive and quick to escalate: you raise issues early and make suggestions without waiting to be asked.
• A fast learner who is keen to grow into a buying role and embraces feedback.
• Calm under pressure, resilient, and accountable for your mistakes.
• A genuine interest in retail, product and consumer trends.