Retail Procurement and Merchandise Sourcing Training Course

Course overview

Retail procurement decisions directly affect margin, availability, product quality and customer trust. Buyers and procurement teams must balance commercial targets with assortment strategy, supplier capability, lead times, minimum order quantities, ethical sourcing requirements and seasonal demand. Poorly structured sourcing can create stock-outs, aged inventory, weak supplier accountability and avoidable cost increases. This course equips retail professionals to make sourcing decisions that support profitable ranges while maintaining disciplined supplier governance.

Participants learn the end-to-end retail procurement process, from defining merchandise requirements and building sourcing plans to evaluating suppliers, negotiating commercial terms and monitoring supplier performance. The course covers should-cost analysis, total cost of ownership, request for quotation (RFQ) design, supplier scorecards, purchase order controls, lead-time planning, quality specifications and ethical sourcing checks. Participants practise converting category needs into clear supplier briefs, comparing bids using weighted evaluation models and preparing negotiation positions for retail merchandise purchases.

Teaching combines instructor-led explanation with retail cases, spreadsheet-based analysis and group sourcing workshops. Participants work through a simulated category sourcing project involving product specifications, supplier quotations, landed-cost calculations, delivery constraints and supplier risks. They leave with a practical retail sourcing pack containing a sourcing strategy, supplier evaluation matrix, cost comparison model, negotiation plan and supplier performance scorecard. Successful participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to professionals moving into retail buying or procurement roles, as well as experienced team members who need a more consistent method for sourcing products, evaluating suppliers and documenting purchasing decisions.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Build a category sourcing strategy that links assortment requirements, demand patterns, supplier markets and margin targets
• Prepare product specifications and supplier briefs using measurable quality, packaging, labelling and delivery requirements
• Calculate landed cost and total cost of ownership using unit price, freight, duty, handling, payment terms and markdown risk
• Design an RFQ and weighted supplier evaluation matrix for comparable retail merchandise bids
• Conduct supplier due diligence using financial, capacity, quality, compliance and ethical sourcing criteria
• Develop a negotiation plan covering target price, minimum order quantity, lead time, service levels and concession limits
• Create supplier scorecards using on-time delivery, fill rate, defect rate, cost variance and responsiveness measures
• Produce a documented retail sourcing recommendation supported by cost analysis, risk assessment and award rationale

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Retail Buyers — who source ranges and need stronger supplier evaluation and negotiation discipline
• Procurement Officers — who evaluate merchandise bids and must defend supplier award decisions
• Assistant Buyers — who support supplier communication, purchase orders and range delivery
• Category Managers — who need sourcing plans that protect margin, availability and product standards
• Merchandise Planners — who need to understand how lead times, order quantities and supplier constraints affect plans
• Supply Chain Coordinators — who manage supplier delivery performance and escalation of inbound issues

Requirements and prerequisites

This is a foundation-to-intermediate course. Participants should understand basic retail terms such as SKU, margin, purchase order, lead time, minimum order quantity and supplier quotation, or be prepared to learn them quickly during the first day. Confidence with basic Microsoft Excel tasks, including entering formulas and reading tables, is expected because cost and bid-analysis exercises use spreadsheets. Experience in buying, merchandising, procurement or supplier administration is helpful but not mandatory. No prior use of SAP Ariba, Power BI, formal negotiation training, contract-law qualification or advanced supply-chain qualification is required.

Training methodology

The five days combine instructor-led retail procurement instruction with worked examples, Excel-based cost modelling, supplier-bid analysis and facilitated group decisions. Participants examine realistic merchandise scenarios involving seasonal demand, import lead times, minimum order quantities, product quality failures and competing supplier quotations. Small groups prepare RFQs, score suppliers, calculate landed cost and negotiate a commercial position, then receive instructor feedback against defined criteria. On the final day, each participant adapts the sourcing pack to a live or anticipated category challenge and identifies actions to apply with their manager.

Course outline

Day 1: Retail procurement foundations and category requirements

• Retail buying, procurement and merchandising accountabilities
• Category strategy alignment with assortment, margin and availability targets
• SKU, range, seasonality and product lifecycle implications for sourcing
• Supplier market mapping and supply-base segmentation
• Make-versus-buy, private-label and branded merchandise sourcing models
• Merchandise requirement definition and specification discipline
• Procurement workflow from sourcing request to purchase order release

Workshop: Participants create a sourcing brief for a seasonal retail category, defining product, volume, quality, packaging, timing and commercial requirements.

Day 2: Cost analysis and supplier market assessment

• Unit cost, gross margin and retail price relationships
• Landed-cost calculation for domestic and imported merchandise
• Total cost of ownership including quality, handling and markdown exposure
• Incoterms 2020 allocation of freight, insurance and risk
• Minimum order quantity and order-frequency cost trade-offs
• Supplier financial, capacity and capability assessment
• Ethical sourcing, social compliance and product traceability checks

Workshop: Participants build a landed-cost model in Microsoft Excel and compare three supplier options for a retail product line.

Day 3: RFQs, supplier selection and commercial evaluation

• RFQ structure, supplier instructions and response schedules
• Product specification sheets and sample approval criteria
• Weighted supplier evaluation matrix design
• Price normalization and like-for-like quotation comparison
• Quality, capacity, lead-time and service-risk scoring
• Supplier shortlisting and cross-functional evaluation governance
• Award recommendations and audit-ready decision records

Workshop: Working in groups, participants issue a simulated RFQ, score supplier responses and prepare an evidence-based shortlist recommendation.

Day 4: Negotiation, purchase terms and supplier control

• Negotiation objectives, BATNA and concession planning
• Retail commercial terms including rebates, discounts and promotional funding
• Lead-time, delivery-window and fill-rate commitments
• Quality agreements, inspection points and defect-resolution procedures
• Payment terms, currency exposure and price-adjustment mechanisms
• Purchase order controls and change-management procedures
• Supplier relationship segmentation and escalation routes

Workshop: Participants conduct a supplier negotiation role-play and produce a negotiated term sheet with agreed concessions and unresolved risks.

Day 5: Supplier performance and applied sourcing plan

• Supplier scorecard metrics for retail merchandise performance
• On-time-in-full, fill rate and delivery variance measurement
• Defect rates, returns data and corrective-action requests
• Cost variance, invoice discrepancy and price-compliance monitoring
• Supplier business reviews and performance-improvement plans
• Risk registers for continuity, quality, compliance and logistics disruption
• Sourcing recommendation presentation and implementation planning

Workshop: Participants complete and present a retail sourcing pack containing their strategy, cost model, supplier scorecard, risk register and implementation actions.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, SAP Ariba Sourcing, Microsoft Power BI, Incoterms 2020

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions