# Ten Things I Have Learned From Working in Retail **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273 "2008-12-22T03:56:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/41 "2008-12-22T19:41:36Z")
**hotflungwok** –you are too funny. Sadly, you speak truth. I have never worked retail, but I am awake when I shop–I’ve seen about all of those behaviors (the kitchen appliance and the CDs amazed me). **Mindfield** : the horn. Oh, god, the horn. You should send that in to Dilbert. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/42 "2008-12-22T19:48:14Z")
> [@brad\_d](#): > > If you’ve closed out the tills and are using that as an excuse to turn people away by 8:58, I can understand a customer being a bit upset if your posted closing time is 9:00. If you cannot or will not sell anything, you are effectively already closed. Is it going to take them less than 2 minutes to find what they want and make the purchase? When the store closes at 9, I for one do not still want to be inside, either as the customer or as the employee. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/43 "2008-12-22T20:34:35Z")
**Cervaise** , don’t forget to tell the glob story! ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/44 "2008-12-22T20:44:23Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > I’ve spend plenty of time on the front lines of retail so I can identify and agree with most of that. I didn’t get many questions about restrooms, but cashiers probably get that a lot more than floorpersons. My most frequent question would have been, “Do you have \?” 99.9% of these people just walked in the store and haven’t even bothered looking. A significant percentage of them asked me while standing in front of the endcap the product they were looking for is being displayed on. In a million year I would never waste time looking for an item when there are people who, to my knowledge, are literally being paid to help me find things so I can buy them. Does it bother you when people give their orders to waitresses instead of trying to go back and tell the kitchen themselves? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/45 "2008-12-22T20:58:12Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > In a million year I would never waste time looking for an item when there are people who, to my knowledge, are literally being paid to help me find things so I can buy them. Does it bother you when people give their orders to waitresses instead of trying to go back and tell the kitchen themselves? If everyone who walked into a store requested the floor staff to take them to each of their items - well, shopping would take a hell of a lot longer than it does already. I only ask if I’ve looked in the expected area and not found what I’m looking for; I figure it’s the least I can do to actually walk myself to that area and look. Most stores who encourage “personal shopper” service also charge for the privilege, last I checked (or expect a serious tip for the shopper). ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/46 "2008-12-22T21:11:26Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Most stores who encourage “personal shopper” service also charge for the privilege, last I checked (or expect a serious tip for the shopper). Nah. Stores with personal shoppers make their money on markup. That personal shopper is a _salesperson_, not a clerk, and is upselling and relationship selling at every opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/47 "2008-12-22T21:42:37Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > In a million year I would never waste time looking for an item when there are people who, to my knowledge, are literally being paid to help me find things so I can buy them. Does it bother you when people give their orders to waitresses instead of trying to go back and tell the kitchen themselves? For most places, sales associates are there to be personal shoppers. They’re there for advice if you’re not sure what’s popular or good, to help you look for something if you can’t seem to find it yourself, or direct them to the proper department if what they’re looking for isn’t in yours, or answer various other questions technical or otherwise. Waitressing is an entirely different bag. That’s what they’re there for. Sales associates sell, answer questions, and offer advice – hopefully only on things they’re qualified to give advice on, but let’s not kid ourselves _too_ much, especially if they’re on commission. But on the whole customers are generally expected to do their own legwork so sales associates can assist people with legitimate concerns, and approach one only if they’re having problems finding what they’re after. > [@elanorigby](#): > > Mindfield: the horn. Oh, god, the horn. You should send that in to Dilbert. > Reply With Quote Multi-Quote This Message Quick reply to this message Dilbert does Retail? ---
**Author:** ![KnitWit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@KnitWit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KnitWit)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/48 "2008-12-22T22:05:37Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > For most places, sales associates are there to be personal shoppers. They’re there for advice if you’re not sure what’s popular or good, to help you look for something if you can’t seem to find it yourself, or direct them to the proper department if what they’re looking for isn’t in yours, or answer various other questions technical or otherwise. It would be so great if this was true. It SHOULD be true. Unfortunately, at gigantic discount stores the sales associate’s job is to pick up crap that customers threw around, stock shelves, put things in order by type, color, and size, and so on. No one is trained to do anything but that. And you wouldn’t want to be asking a Walmart employee what’s “good.” They only know what’s in other departments if they’ve been there for awhile and have been perusing the store. And even then, they’re really not the kind of quick-witted crowd who remembers where they saw items last time they were shopping. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/49 "2008-12-22T22:07:22Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Is it going to take them less than 2 minutes to find what they want and make the purchase? When the store closes at 9, I for one do not still want to be inside, either as the customer or as the employee. It might. 😉 I mean, I see what you’re getting at and to a certain degree I agree: Customers (who as a group will take a mile any time they’re given an inch) will happily (ab)use whatever leeway a merchant provides concerning Closing Time, and merchants need to decide where they’re going to draw the line and say, “Sorry, come back tomorrow. You need to leave now.” No shopping visit can take zero time. What it sounds like some are suggesting is that a 9:00 PM posted closing time means that - by 9:00 - the employees expect to have all closing chores completed and be free to leave. Closing out registers and effectively “closing” at some unspecified time before 9:00. While a store is free to run itself this way, few do in my experience as both an employee and a customer. More commonly, the posted Opening Time is when the public is allowed in, and the posted Closing Time is when new customers are turned away and those already in the store are encouraged to make up their minds and pay for their stuff. Opening prep and closing tasks (and, yes, ringing up those final purchases) are done before and after, respectively. Some fudging is always possible by claiming that “Well, my watch reads 9:01,” of course. That’s not to say staff can’t begin winding stuff down and performing such wrap-up work as they can if customer traffic is lightening up, but places I worked were firm that we be able to conduct a transaction any time during our posted “Open” times. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/50 "2008-12-22T22:11:24Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > My most frequent question would have been, “Do you have \?” 99.9% of these people just walked in the store and haven’t even bothered looking. A significant percentage of them asked me while standing in front of the endcap the product they were looking for is being displayed on. I’ve done this plenty of times when I go to an unfamiliar store to get just one thing. Like picking up some olives in a grocery store. I don’t know how that store is layed out or what they group olives with. So taking 10 seconds of your time is better than me spending 10+ minutes wandering around. I don’t expect you to walk me to the item, but I highly regard it if you do. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/51 "2008-12-22T22:14:10Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > F > Dilbert does Retail? Dilbert does corporate stupidity. This qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/52 "2008-12-22T22:31:34Z")
Since I currently am working full-time retail (I have a college degree and no one will hire me) I am not only agreeing with what everyone is saying, I seem to have it magnified by 100 because of the unabated anger I have at the fact I have to work here (I went to college so I DON"T have to do this goddammit!!) Since we are told to ask “Can I help you find something” I have never really minded getting questions about where things are located since I am usually the one who incites it. I do however have one big one to add here… 1. I never mind being asked where something is located, but if you need to ask “What isle is water in?” and my answer is “Isle 7, underneath the sign that says ‘water’”, then I probably hate you. If you don’t totally understand that a can of tomatoes is in the “Canned Vegetables” section, then that is KIND OF ok, we don’t have the word tomatoes on the sign. Water is in the isle labeled water. Soda is in the soda isle, and yes, even salad dressing is in the isle under “salad dressing” I hate people. ---
**Author:** ![Convict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Convict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Convict)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/53 "2008-12-22T22:34:43Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’m with you on just about everything except this. Do you mean when an item goes on sale a customer will return the item just to buy it again at the sale price? Is that really unscrupulous? Some stores actually have a policy allowing this, I believe Circuit City was one. When I worked at World Market I had a lady return some Christmas ornaments on Dec. 26. The receipt was dated the middle of November and all the tags were still on the ornaments. After we completed the return transaction she told us she wanted to repurchase them. At the 75% off clearance price that was effective that day. Turns out after she bought the ornaments she hung them on the tree with the tags still on with every intention of returning them and rebuying them when they went on clearance. This way she could enjoy the ornaments and get some of her money back. How do I know this? SHE TOLD ME. I told her she could purchase them immediately at the regular price, but I couldn’t sell them at the clearance price until the next day. See, all returned clearance merchandise had to be logged before it could placed back on the floor, and we couldn’t log anything until after the store closed. Well, not really, but I wasn’t going to let her screw the system. She came back late the next day. Unfortunately for her the ornaments had already sold. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/54 "2008-12-22T23:10:06Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > If everyone who walked into a store requested the floor staff to take them to each of their items - well, shopping would take a hell of a lot longer than it does already. I only ask if I’ve looked in the expected area and not found what I’m looking for; I figure it’s the least I can do to actually walk myself to that area and look. Most stores who encourage “personal shopper” service also charge for the privilege, last I checked (or expect a serious tip for the shopper). Are you talking about walking into a store and saying “I’m going to need some pants, let’s get started”, or more like “I’m here for the new widget in silver, I saw you have it on sale, please”? I assume **Mindfield** meant closer to the later since I don’t believe 99.9% of questions are like the former. I don’t know if that would really be a bad thing but if retail stores would grind to a halt if everyone were like me I’m glad nobody else is like me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/55 "2008-12-22T23:52:45Z")
> [@KnitWit](#): > > It would be so great if this was true. It SHOULD be true. Unfortunately, at gigantic discount stores the sales associate’s job is to pick up crap that customers threw around, stock shelves, put things in order by type, color, and size, and so on. No one is trained to do anything but that. And you wouldn’t want to be asking a Walmart employee what’s “good.” They only know what’s in other departments if they’ve been there for awhile and have been perusing the store. And even then, they’re really not the kind of quick-witted crowd who remembers where they saw items last time they were shopping. True enough. Of course, I was speaking from an ideal – what was supposed to be my job description. But the reality is that discount stores don’t have a monopoly on messy shoppers. The software section was always a bit of a mess by the end of the day – the children’s software was always the worst by a wide margin. It didn’t matter how neat and organized I tried to keep it, it still required the most attention. Fortunately I’ve never worked in a regular department store or discount store; I know from having shopped at them that that’s where the _majority_ of messy shoppers go. Is there something linking lower income and/or frugality to laziness and disrespect? > [@filmore](#): > > I’ve done this plenty of times when I go to an unfamiliar store to get just one thing. Like picking up some olives in a grocery store. I don’t know how that store is layed out or what they group olives with. So taking 10 seconds of your time is better than me spending 10+ minutes wandering around. I don’t expect you to walk me to the item, but I highly regard it if you do. In certain cases I can understand it. Going to an unfamiliar store, particularly one you’re not likely to return to anytime soon if at all, is a good candidate for just asking so you can grab it and go. Some stores are just damn confusing; the big supermarket by me has the strangest ideas about how to group certain things. But most of the people who did it in the Future Shop I worked in weren’t just there for the one thing. They’d often ask teh same question multiple times – still having never looked for it themselves – and then head to another department to do the same. Sometimes I think we need to bring back catalog shopping for these people, ala the original Consumers Distributing. (Anyone remember those? Before they went all showroomy, I mean.) > [@elanorigby](#): > > Dilbert does corporate stupidity. This qualifies. Ah, of course – yes, Slappy would indeed qualify as corporate stupidity. He could be his own stupid corporation with an unlimited supply of stupid to provide. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/56 "2008-12-23T00:32:12Z")
I have also worked in retail, I learned how clueless most custors are. what really made me laugh-the people who came in 10 minutes before closing-and didn’t know what they wanted to buy. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/57 "2008-12-23T00:51:08Z")
To add on to what ralph says… “The time is 9:55, the store will be closing in 5 minutes…” Customer in isle 2: Humdy dumdy dum…I’m gonna wander up and down a bit, do do do… ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/58 "2008-12-23T02:03:46Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > To add on to what ralph says… > > “The time is 9:55, the store will be closing in 5 minutes…” > > Customer in isle 2: Humdy dumdy dum…I’m gonna wander up and down a bit, do do do… When this happens at my store, the customer will find themselves surrounded by 1-3 salespeople, in order to “help” them finish shopping as quickly as possible. I suppose this only works at a small store, however. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/59 "2008-12-23T02:31:04Z")
Customers sometimes have no concept of safety. I worked in a large box store once. We had no tornado shelter. A warning was broadcast, and the manager made an announcement that everyone needed to leave to seek shelter. We clerks grabbed the money, threw it in the safe and ran across the street to the restaurant that had a basement. The manager stayed to check the store one more time and found a customer who wanted to know “where’s the strawberry jam?” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273/60 "2008-12-23T03:05:19Z")
Former specialty retail jockey here. As a matter of fact, I’m a former very good specialty retail jockey. If you wanted an item, I could tell you whether or not we had it. I could also tell you whether or not it wasn’t produced in the color combination/size/finish you were looking for. Seriously. I’m an expert. When you told me you used to have a pair like that, I could tell you with complete confidence that it was fake, or you were remembering it wrongly. I had ten years’ worth of the back catalog for primary brand X memorized, including special editions produced in runs of less than a dozen. I wished you the best of luck finding it in “every other store” where it was “bound to be available” while laughing at you behind my hand. No, you couldn’t have a discount. No, not just because you asked. We weren’t selling used cars. I didn’t care if you didn’t want to pay full price for the “display model”. Sure, they’d been tried on before. Probably at least a dozen times. No, that didn’t mean you got a discount. 90% of our inventory was “display models”. Did you ask the clerk at K-Mart if you could get a discount on that pair of jeans you were wearing? Of course not- and they were within touching distance of somebody else’s _balls_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-things-i-have-learned-from-working-in-retail/478273.md?page=4)