Women In Commerce

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 113, 6 February 1937, Page 21

Women In Commerce

Good Prospects For Well-Educated

Many well-educated women at the end of their college or university course, and faced with the problem of choosing a career, inevitably seek to enter the already overcrowded men’s professions of medicine, Jaw, or the Civil Service, says an overseas writer. Others are fascinated by the will o’ the wisp of journalism, or tire forced into typist-secretarial posts. Of trade and commerce they usually have learnt nothing, yet it is here that many plums of four-figure salaries are awaiting the intelligent woman with the right kind of training. Among these the post of buyer iu a retail store is one of the most lucrative; yet how to obtain it is a problem which seems wrapt in mystery for the average woman. Briefly, the best qualification for being a successful buyer is be a good saleswoman. While the training is usually long and arduous, the possessor of specialised knowledge or with a flair for any particular branch of commerce may be lucky and fall into a post, but admittedly these cases are few. There is, for instance, the example of the county golfer who realised that women’s sports clothes should be designed with a view to their rather technical requirements. She obtained a post in a speciality sports shop, where, on her advice and suggestion, garments were created that soon became famous and obtained a world sale. Her opinion was as invaluable to the manufacturers with whom she had to deal r.s it was to the retail store of which she was eventually made a director.

Another woman, an American, struck by the excellence of British woollens, but deploring their out-of-date treatment, suggested modern colourings and design, and succeeded in bringing back prosperity to a languishing trade. There are others, if, at present, only a few. Considering that textiles, house furnishings, beauty culture and household goods are pre-eminently women’s requirements, it is remarkable how few women hold administrative posts in their sale and manufacture. Of these the textile trade holds out the most opportunities, perhaps, and here there are many women employed as buyers earning far larger salaries than they can hope to obtain in any of the professions.

The job of buyer .calls for an increasing degree of intelligence, and is becoming more and more specialised, for no longer Is it merely a question of buying from the wholesale manufacturer and selling retail to the public. The buyer has not only to cater successfully for her own clientele; she has to watch the market, forestall a demand for any

particular kind of goods created by special circumstance and, by providing the best possible value for the money, prove to a discriminating public why her goods should be bought in preference to those supplied by other people.

She needs to have her hand on the pulse of fashion and to -know how to present her wares, in which, incidentally, she will l>e helped by the advertising department. Her object is to obtain a quick turnover, for by her figures only will her worth be judged by the management who provides her with the necessary capital. It is no small part of her duties to select and control her staff and to see that her customers are properly served, for a satisfied client is her best advertisement. Tlie buyer in an important store is generally required to travel, and a knowledge of languages is an advantage though not essential. She has the opportunity to study foreign markets and to choose the best values, and if she has chosen the profession of textiles would be well advised to study design and dressmaking.

The average buyer has usually started as a shop assistant, where' she has obtained a first-hand knowledge of the psychology of selling and learnt technical details of the particular type of merchandise she has to handle. She will require endless tact and patience in dealing with customers, but by hard work, initiative and ability can work up to become head saleswoman, then underbuyer. If promotion is slow, she can wait her chance to improve her position when it offers in another firm and, perhaps, achieve her ambition more quickly, though a well-organised store is usually anxious to promote a promising' saleswoman. The aspirant for the post of buyer must be prepared to work hard. She should possess good sense, good humour, good taste and, while having the courage of her own opinions, be willing to adopt newer and better methods. She will be rewarded by a grateful management with a good salary, for it is upon her efforts that 'the prosperity of the firm depends. Her “returns” are expected to soar upward always, and a comparison with what was done in that particular department in previous years is the bogy with which she has to contend.

Tu an age of keen competition when the best brains are needed, the educated woman might well pause to consider how she can show the h-ads of trade and commerce that she is able to hold down important positions in this, to her, almost untried sphere of activity.