When it comes to body shape, we are what we eat. Similarly, the health of your retail business is a function of what and how much you buy. Selecting what to buy is the glamourous part of the job. Choosing the actual order quantities, ship dates and cancel dates are the behind-the-scenes, vital decisions that will ultimately define one’s profits or losses for the merchandise in question.

Working Toward Profit Maximization

Generally, I think that gun and accessory buyers do a...