Nature of the Work

Order clerks receive and process incoming orders for such items as spare parts for machines, consumer appliances, gas and electric power connections, film rentals, and articles of clothing. They are sometimes called order-entry clerks, customer service representatives, order processors, or order takers.

Orders for materials, merchandise, or services can come from within an organization or from outside it. In large companies with many work sites, such as automobile manufacturers, parts and equipment need to be ordered from the company's warehouses. Inside order clerks receive orders from other workers employed by the same company or from salespersons in the field. Many other order clerks, however, receive orders from other companies or from individuals. Order clerks in wholesale businesses, for instance, receive orders for merchandise from retail establishments that the retailer in turn sells to the public. A growing number of order clerks work in catalog sales, receiving orders from individual customers either by phone or by mail. Order clerks dealing primarily with the public sometimes are referred to as outside order clerks.

Today, most order clerks record orders on video display terminals (VDT's) that are part of a larger computer system. Many clerks sit at these terminals and receive orders directly by telephone, entering the required information as the customer places the order. Depending on the size of the purchase, the order clerk may be required to get approval for the credit card purchase. Some orders are received through the computer system; they are sent directly from the customer's terminal to the order clerk's terminal.

One-half of all order clerks work in wholesale or retail establishments.

The computer provides the order clerk with ready access to information such as order stock numbers, prices and inventory. Orders frequently depend on which products are in stock and which products are most appropriate for the customer's needs. Some order clerks, especially those in industrial settings, must be able to give price estimates for entire jobs, not just single parts. Others must be able to take special orders or give expected arrival dates.

Although the large majority of orders are now placed by phone, some order clerks also receive orders by mail and by fax machine. These clerks review the hand-written or typed orders for completeness and clarity. They extract the checks or money orders, sort them, and send them on for processing. The clerk may complete missing information or contact the customer for the information. Similarly, if customers need additional information, such as prices, shipping dates, or anticipated delays, the order clerk contacts them. These orders may be processed by order clerks in small establishments or, in large organizations, entered into the computer system by data-entry clerks.

After an order has been verified and entered, the customer's final cost is calculated. The clerk then routes the order to the proper department such as the warehouse that actually sends out or delivers the item in question.

In organizations with sophisticated computer systems, inventory records are adjusted automatically as sales are made. In less automated organizations, order clerks adjust inventory records. For example, after processing an order for bolts, the clerk verifies that the bolts were sent and subtracts the order from the inventory control form. Clerks also notify other departments when inventories are low or when orders would deplete supplies. They also compile data from completed orders to produce reports that managers use to assess the organization's sales and plan its future activities.

Some order clerks need to establish priorities in filling orders. For example, an order clerk in a blood bank may receive a request from a hospital for a certain type of blood. The clerk must first find out if the request is routine or an emergency, and then take appropriate action.

Employment

Order clerks held about 300,000 jobs in 1992. Most worked for wholesale and retail establishments and manufacturing firms.

Job Outlook

Job openings for order clerks should be plentiful through the year 2005 due to sizeable replacement needs. Tens of thousands of jobs will become available each year to replace order clerks who transfer to other occupations or who leave the labor force. Many of these openings will be for seasonal work, especially in catalogue companies that cater to holiday gift buyers.

Little change in the employment of order clerks is expected through the year 2005 as office automation continues to increase the productivity of these workers. As the economy grows, more orders for goods and services will be placed. How this growing business activity relates to employment of order clerks depends in large measure on the setting. Demand for outside order clerks who deal mainly with the public should remain fairly strong. The greater use of toll-free numbers that makes home shopping easier and more convenient will stimulate demand for these workers. However, productivity gains from the increasing use of automation will absorb some of the growth in the volume of orders.

Demand for inside order clerks will be much weaker, however. The spread of electronic data interchange (EDI), a system that enables computers to communicate directly with each other, allows orders between establishments to be placed with little human intervention. Although currently limited to large organizations, it is expected that orders between computers of different companies and from home computers will increase.

Other automation should also depress the demand for order clerks. Sophisticated inventory control and automatic billing systems allow companies to track their inventory and accounts with much less help from order clerks. A growing number of companies are using facsimile machines (faxes) to receive orders. Increasingly, data entry keyers enter the information from faxed or mailed orders. Some companies, especially retail businesses, use voice recognition equipment to receive orders. Currently, this technology consists of an answering machine. However, experts believe that by the year 2005, interactive voice recognition equipment will carry on a conversation with the customer and take the order. To the extent that such equipment is perfected and marketed widely, it is expected to further reduce the demand for order clerks.

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