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Purchase goods or services

Work activity · O*NET

Purchase goods or services is an intermediate work activity in the O*NET database — a concrete task that recurs across many occupations , grouped under Monitoring and Controlling Resources. 195 occupations report doing it as part of their work.

What it involves

The most common detailed activities O*NET records under this category, ranked by how many occupation tasks map to each.

  • Order materials, supplies, or equipment
  • Order instructional or library materials or equipment
  • Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources
  • Purchase products or services
  • Order medical supplies or equipment
  • Order construction or extraction materials or equipment
  • Acquire supplies or equipment
  • Purchase stocks of merchandise or supplies

How AI is applied to this activity

Microsoft's "Working with AI" study mapped real Bing Copilot conversations to O*NET work activities. The figures below are their measurements for this activity — they describe how AI is used today in one assistant's data, not a forecast that the activity will be automated.

AI completes it successfully 92.7% When Copilot attempts this activity, how often it finishes the task
Scope AI handles 7.3% How much of the activity AI carries within a conversation
Positive user feedback 77.8% Share of interactions users rated positively
How often AI is applied here 34th pct Percentile across all measured activities by how often AI performs them

Source: Microsoft "Working with AI" (working-with-ai). A high completion rate means AI can assist the activity in isolation — it does not mean an occupation that performs it is being automated, since every job blends many activities.

Detailed work activities

The more granular units of work O*NET groups under this activity, ordered by how many occupations perform them.

Occupations that perform this activity

Ranked by how many of the occupation's tasks map to this activity.

Occupation Tasks
Online Merchants 5
Animal Breeders 2
Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 2
Billing and Posting Clerks 2
Chefs and Head Cooks 2
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers 2
Construction Managers 2
Curators 2
Facilities Managers 2
Farm and Home Management Educators 2
Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers 2
Librarians and Media Collections Specialists 2
Lodging Managers 2
Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products 2
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products 2
Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive 2
Tellers 2
Wholesale and Retail Buyers, Except Farm Products 2
Adapted Physical Education Specialists 1
Administrative Services Managers 1
Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors 1
Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary 1
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians 1
Animal Caretakers 1
Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary 1
Architectural and Engineering Managers 1
Architecture Teachers, Postsecondary 1
Archivists 1
Area, Ethnic, and Cultural Studies Teachers, Postsecondary 1
Art Therapists 1
Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary 1
Automotive Engineering Technicians 1
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants 1
Bakers 1
Barbers 1
Baristas 1
Bartenders 1
Bicycle Repairers 1
Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary 1
Biological Technicians 1

Showing 40 of 195 occupations.

Exposure quadrant: AI task-overlap percentile vs Median pay AI task-overlap (horizontal) versus median pay (vertical), each as a percentile across all scored occupations, for 38 occupations in occupations that perform Purchase goods or services.. Overlap measures shared tasks with AI, not automation. Lower overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · higher pay Higher overlap · lower pay Lower overlap · lower pay Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians Barbers Animal Breeders Facilities Managers Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers Art Therapists Baristas Chefs and Head Cooks Automotive Engineering Technicians Construction Managers Tellers Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors Architectural and Engineering Managers Curators Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Online Merchants Billing and Posting Clerks Anthropology and Archeology Teachers, Postsecondary Librarians and Media Collections Specialists AI task-overlap percentile → ↑ Median pay
Occupations that perform Purchase goods or services., by AI task-overlap and median pay

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Purchase goods or services." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/activities/purchase-goods-or-services

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Purchase goods or services. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/activities/purchase-goods-or-services

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-purchase-goods-or-services,
  title  = {Purchase goods or services},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/activities/purchase-goods-or-services}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.