Strategic Books & Events Buyer

LOVESTRUCK BOOKS LLC; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Lovestruck Books & Cafe is a romance-focused independent bookstore in Harvard Square seeking a Specialty Buyer to manage book, merchandise, and sidelines purchases for onsite and offsite events, B2B and bulk sales, and subscription services.

Reporting to the Chief Brand Officer within the Events & Marketing team, you will build scalable sourcing and fulfillment systems, negotiate favorable terms, and drive sustainable growth beyond the store.

Qualifications

• 2-3 years of book buying experience, ideally supporting nontraditional sales channels such as B2B, events, subscriptions, or drop-shipping.
• Experience in inventory management, publishing, or high-volume purchasing, with a track record of managing complex supplier relationships and lean inventory turnover; 3-5+ years is a plus.
• Experience in sales, marketing, business development, or bottom-line revenue responsibility, with the ability to balance customer experience, operational feasibility, and margin health.
• Proficiency with POS and inventory platforms such as Bookmanager; publisher ordering portals such as Edelweiss and Ingram; and shipping or fulfillment tools such as Pirate Ship.
• Strong knowledge of publisher discount structures, returnability, co-op advertising funds, freight terms, and bulk-tier break points, supported by effective negotiation skills.
• Established relationships with sales representatives across major publishing houses and independent distributors are strongly preferred.
• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills, including lookup formulas, pivot tables, and forecasting models, with the ability to analyze margin, sell-through, stock movement, prepublication data, bestseller trends, subgenres, and media buzz.
• Excellent logistical foresight and project management skills, including experience coordinating freight, multi-location staging, and strict delivery deadlines.
• Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to build, maintain, and follow complex checklists and administrative systems while managing multiple moving priorities.
• Experience with basic receipt tracking, expense reconciliation, invoicing details, and accurate order documentation.
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with publishers, sales representatives, corporate clients, community partners, and external vendors while representing Lovestruck with professionalism and warmth.
• Experience partnering with events and marketing teams to turn buying opportunities into coordinated promotions, client materials, and revenue-generating programs with clear timelines and ownership.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple external and internal stakeholders proactively across email, phone, meetings, and internal chat.
• A genuine love of books, community, and creating thoughtful, delightful customer experiences.

Responsibilities

• Source, negotiate, and order books, merchandise, and sidelines for onsite and offsite events, corporate and bulk sales, subscription boxes, drop-shipping orders, and special partnerships.
• Forecast demand and manage stock levels to meet program needs while protecting warehouse and backroom capacity and avoiding unnecessary overstock.
• Negotiate with publishers, wholesalers, and other vendors to maximize profitability through returnability, discount tiers, co-op support, freight terms, and other favorable arrangements.
• Maintain rigorous tracking of ISBNs, formats and editions, publication dates, and embargo requirements across all specialty programs.
• Monitor sales, sell-through, stock movement, and margin performance by channel; use findings to improve future buying decisions and inventory turnover.
• Manage fulfillment logistics and drop-shipping workflows with internal teams and external partners, ensuring accurate, timely delivery and clear communication throughout each order.
• Create, curate, and schedule title deliveries for recurring subscription boxes, specialized book clubs, and other programmed sales channels.
• Coordinate digital fulfillment platforms, freight shipments, pallets, multi-location staging, and firm delivery deadlines for offsite events, festivals, and bulk orders.
• Ensure excellent end-to-end service throughout quoting, purchasing, fulfillment, delivery, and post-order follow-through.
• Build, document, and improve repeatable workflows, checklists, and administrative systems that allow specialty sales programs to scale reliably.
• Lead the B2B and corporate sales process, including curated title lists, fast and accurate quotes, marketing materials, customer communication, and order execution.
• Prepare wholesale and corporate quotes, custom invoice terms, and tax-exempt purchasing workflows for schools, nonprofits, corporate clients, and other partners.
• Track, analyze, and report sales, sell-through, and profit margins for each external sales channel; develop quarterly projections and communicate performance clearly to leadership.
• Identify and evaluate new partnerships, programs, and revenue opportunities that align with Lovestruck's brand, customer experience, and profitability goals.
• Partner with the Events Manager to forecast and secure stock for on-and-offsite author and community events.
• Coordinate closely with receiving, marketing, leadership, and store teams so that product information, delivery timing, and fulfillment responsibilities remain aligned.
• Manage multiple concurrent projects through timely, proactive communication across email, phone, and internal chat channels.
• Requirements
• What You'll Bring

Skills

Book buying

Inventory management

Negotiation

Sales & business development

Project management

Vendor relationships

Excel/Sheets

Communication skills

Tools

Bookmanager

Edelweiss

Ingram

Pirate Ship

Job description

Lovestruck Books & Cafe is a romance-focused independent bookstore in Harvard Square seeking a Specialty Buyer to manage book, merchandise, and sidelines purchases for onsite and offsite events, B2B and bulk sales, and subscription services.

Reporting to the Chief Brand Officer within the Events & Marketing team, you will build scalable sourcing and fulfillment systems, negotiate favorable terms, and drive sustainable growth beyond the store.