Will AI replace Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products?

What this score means

Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products sits in the middle of the exposure range for Business & Operations. Routine parts of the job are starting to automate, but much of it still depends on judgment, relationships, and context that today's models handle poorly. At 42 out of 100 it scores 5 points below the Business & Operations average of 47. Across the 4 sources behind this baseline, individual estimates run from 40 to 45, so the score is a weighted consensus rather than any single figure.

The number is a consensus estimate for the typical version of the role, built from published academic and industry research scored occupation by occupation. It is not a prediction about any individual. How scoring works

What this job actually involves

Exposure follows the work itself rather than the job title, so it is worth seeing what the role is made of. These are the tasks O*NET records for Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products, most central first, showing 12 of 20.

• 01Buy merchandise or commodities for resale to wholesale or retail consumers.
• 02Negotiate prices, discount terms, or transportation arrangements with suppliers.
• 03Examine, select, order, or purchase merchandise consistent with quality, quantity, specification requirements, or other factors, such as environmental soundness.
• 04Recommend mark-up rates, mark-down rates, or merchandise selling prices.
• 05Obtain information about customer needs or preferences by conferring with sales or purchasing personnel.
• 06Authorize payment of invoices or return of merchandise.
• 07Monitor and analyze sales records, trends, or economic conditions to anticipate consumer buying patterns, company sales, and needed inventory.
• 08Collaborate with vendors to obtain or develop desired products.
• 09Inspect merchandise or products to determine quality, value, or yield.
• 10Conduct sales meetings to introduce new merchandise.
• 11Consult with store or merchandise managers about budgets or goods to be purchased.
• 12Provide clerks with information to print on price tags, such as price, mark-ups or mark-downs, manufacturer number, season code, or style number.

Task statements from O*NET by the National Center for O*NET Development, used under CC BY 4.0. The tasks are descriptive; the exposure score above is ours.

The research behind this score

This baseline aggregates 4 research sources that scored Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products for AI and automation exposure. More recent, higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

• 01Global Automation Atlas: Task Substitution Exposure by Occupation · 2026Garg, Crosta, Baier (2026), arXiv:2605.17086
• 02Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure · 2025International Labour Organization, Working Paper 140 (2025)
• 03GPTs are GPTs: Labor Market Impact Potential of LLMs · 2024Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin, Rock (Science, 2024)
• 04AI Occupational Exposure to Language Modeling · 2023Felten, Raj, Seamans (2023)

Common questions

How likely is AI to replace Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products?

Published research puts Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products at 42 out of 100 for AI displacement risk, in the transitioning band. The number is a weighted consensus of 4 research sources and describes the typical version of the role, not any individual.

Do researchers agree on the risk for Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products?

Broadly, yes. Individual estimates for Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products run from 40 to 45 out of 100 across the 4 sources behind this score, a fairly tight range. More recent and higher confidence studies carry more weight in the final number.

Which business & operations roles face similar AI exposure?

The closest published business & operations roles to Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products by score are Government Property Inspectors and Investigators (42/100), Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers (43/100), and Fundraisers (43/100). Each has its own page with the research behind its number.

Also covers

Acquisition Specialist · Art Dealer · Buyer · Buying Professional · Category Planner · Commodity Buyer · Contract Sourcing Specialist · Contracts Specialist and related titles

More business & operations occupations

• Environmental Compliance Inspectors44/100
• Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers43/100
• Fundraisers43/100
• Project Management Specialists43/100
• Security Management Specialists43/100
• Government Property Inspectors and Investigators42/100
• Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products41/100
• Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners41/100