Buyer – General Merchandise
Location: Richmond, BC
Job Type: Full‑Time
Who We Are
At London Drugs, we’re more than just a retail store—we’re a community‑driven, 100% Canadian‑owned company that believes in going above and beyond for our customers and our team. We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional service while fostering a supportive, growth‑oriented environment.
We’re excited to hire an experienced Buyer – General Merchandise to join our Merchandising team and support continued growth across assigned categories. We place a strong focus on developing our team members and rewarding high performance, with meaningful opportunities for advancement for those looking to grow their merchandising careers.
Staying current on market trends and responding to evolving customer demand is essential in this role. Buyers translate customer insights and market trends into profitable, commercially viable assortments that drive sales, margin, and customer satisfaction across the retail network.
What You’ll Do
Product Selection & Assortment Planning
- Develop and maintain product assortments for assigned categories, balancing customer needs, market trends, and financial objectives
- Research and identify new products, brands, and vendors to enhance assortments and drive competitive differentiation
- Conduct market analysis and competitive shopping to identify pricing, assortment, and merchandising opportunities
- Partner with Planning on assortment breadth and depth decisions based on sales potential, inventory constraints, and space allocation
- Manage the product lifecycle from introduction through discontinuation, including seasonal transitions and end‑of‑life planning
Vendor Management & Negotiation
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with vendor partners to secure favorable terms, exclusive products, and promotional support
- Negotiate costs, payment terms, minimum order quantities, and promotional funding to optimize margin and inventory investment
- Evaluate vendor performance including fill rates, quality, lead times, and service levels, addressing performance issues as needed
- Attend trade shows, vendor meetings, and industry events to discover new opportunities and strengthen vendor relationships
Financial Management & Margin Optimization
- Partner with the Pricing team on everyday pricing, promotional pricing, and markdown strategies
- Manage Open‑to‑Buy in collaboration with Planning to balance inventory investment with sales opportunities
- Analyze category performance including sales, margin, inventory turns, and GMROI
- Identify opportunities to improve profitability through assortment optimization, pricing strategies, or cost initiatives
Promotional Planning & Cross‑Functional Collaboration
- Secure vendor promotional funding and cooperative advertising support
- Partner with Marketing on promotional messaging, imagery, and campaign execution
- Collaborate with Space Planning on category layouts, planograms, endcaps, and seasonal merchandising sets
- Work closely with Planning, Pricing, Supply Chain, and other partners to support forecasting, allocation, and vendor compliance
- Provide accurate product information to support item setup, reporting, and data integrity
What You Bring
- Retail buying or merchandising experience with strong product knowledge and merchandising judgment
- Proven vendor negotiation skills and ability to build productive, long‑term partnerships
- Solid understanding of retail financial metrics including margin, inventory turn, GMROI, and Open‑to‑Buy
- Strong analytical skills with proficiency in Excel
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced retail environment
- Strong communication, collaboration, and organizational skills
- Post‑secondary education in Business, Marketing, Procurement, or a related field (an asset)
Starting pay will fall within the salary range indicated and may vary based on job-related experience, knowledge, and education. We offer the potential to earn significant bonuses based on your ability to meet sales, margin, inventory, and contribution goals as well as other performance metrics.
We offer advancement opportunities through our promote-from-within policies, as well as the following comprehensive benefits program:
- Comprehensive medical, dental, prescription drug and vision coverage for you and your family (Ensuring you and your family are taken care of)
- Employee Discount Program (Sharing our success)
- Employee Recognition Program (Tangible rewards for great work!)
- Company matched RRSPs (Helping you plan for your future)
- Ongoing In-House Training & Education Courses (Lifelong learning)
- Employee Family Assistance Program (Free confidential counseling)
- Community Involvement (Giving back to our communities)
If you possess the necessary skills and expertise and would like to join an exciting team of professionals,
Apply Now!
London Drugs is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workforce. We are committed to building a company that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.
We will provide accommodations during the recruitment process upon request.
The above information outlines the general nature and level of work for this role and is not intended to cover all responsibilities or requirements.
Please note that London Drugs does not use third‑party recruitment services.
London Drugs may collect, use, and disclose personal information provided during the application process as reasonably required to assess candidacy, manage the employment relationship, or conduct reference checks.
To protect yourself, be cautious of unsolicited job offers and do not share personal or financial information with unverified individuals or websites.
