[Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

Hexagon · 2015-05-10 00:07:29

I'm thinking about working in retail, and from a week experience it seems okay.

If you have worked in retail/sales, how has it been? Do the customers get "worse" (as in more picky/expect too much of you?) Is there any major downsides (salary is one) that would stop someone from working as a retail person?

Being super nice all the time to customers might wear down some people after a while though.

This topic can also help other people looking into going into a retail position.

ewoke · 2015-05-10 00:14:21

im not sure if it falls under retail, i work at a hardware store, the salary isnt that good.
customers depends alot some day you'll get annoying ones sometime you get good ones. with cool colleges its pretty fun to do

rgl32 · 2015-05-10 00:49:18

I work at a place where I basically sell food inside a store, to put it simply. Honestly, the people that hate it are usually ones that are just there for the sake of being there, and the money (the pay where I work is pretty decent). If you have no intention to at least enjoy some part of the job, other than the money, I suggest not taking it.

People will always expect a lot (especially if you are doing something that they want) and that is something you tend to just accept. It is a good idea to try and understand the different type of people, each one usually has some spot where you won't make them to angry and they won't make you mad because of that. Just try to understand that a lot of people have places to be, then it becomes easier dealing with them. I know some people have the belief of being nice no matter the rush/worry/etc. but that is something that others don't have, so with those just try to help them as quick as possible typically makes them happy.

Overall it is honestly not bad at all, enjoyable, that's coming from someone who isn't around people much also.

BuzzerBee · 2015-05-10 06:04:17

I used to work at a clothing store. It was fun, my managers were super cool and I got a (quite small) discount on the clothes. I had to quit, however, because it was too far from my home and I had to make conversations with customers about clothing and stuff and I got really bad anxiety whenever I would.

Lionhart · 2015-05-10 19:37:09

I've been in retail for about 6 months now. It gets better in some ways and it also gets worse. You will learn how to deal with people more effectively and how to make them happy while keeping the company's interests in mind. I believe these are extremely valuable life skills. We also get discounts every now and then, like right now it's 50% off the entire store (more specifically, 20% + 20% + 15%... it's about 50% unless you're buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff... I digress). And this is a big store we're talking about. I also like my managers and how everyone acts as a team. I have flexibility in my schedule which comes in handy quite often.

And yet I hate it. I hate customers, that's the problem. Their infinite capacity to complain and screw things up is what slowly takes away from my lifespan and adds it to my blood pressure. If people would simply read coupons and have them ready when they're ready to check out, that would make my life so much better. If they would understand the prices before they came to me, and put things back where they came from, then my life would be perfect. You would think that fully grown adults would understand how shopping works, and yet they're still completely clueless. They're just a bunch of tasmanian devils who go around throwing clothes and then when they come to me they're just full of hate and want to make me miserable. That's why I hate it.

And to make matters worse, this faux mask of joy that all cashiers have to wear (at least at my workplace) prevents me from expressing this hatred. It's like rubbing salt in the wound. "Sure, I'd love to put that back for you."

It's like prison if you have bills to pay and no chance of getting further up the ladder until you get a degree. Keep yourself busy so you don't have to actually experience anything. Or bring a book and somehow manage to read it.

Insanity · 2015-05-10 20:16:17

you learn how to pretend to act in the interest of others, when in reality you're acting in self interest.

its a sketchy business but it really forces you to grow a second pair of eyes

this all is dependent of course on what kind of product you're selling

BuzzerBee · 2015-05-11 05:57:22

Lionhart wrote:

...right now it's 50% off the entire store (more specifically, 20% + 20% + 15%... it's about 50% unless you're buying hundreds of dollars worth of stuff... I digress).

Wow, my discount was 20% off and we couldn't stack it on other discounts in the store. If we had a 30% off sale going on, I couldn't stack my 20% to make it 50% so often times store-wide discounts were actually better than our employee discounts.

Hexagon · 2015-05-11 12:13:14

Does anyone have a lot of conflicts in terms of rules with their co-workers? For example, someone tells you to do one thing, someone else something slightly different and someone else just says something completely opposite?

There's so many conflicts sometimes I just smile because I don't have a clue what's going on. It's really difficult to obey multiple opposing rules from multiple different people telling you something and trying to make everyone happy.

ewoke wrote:

im not sure if it falls under retail, i work at a hardware store, the salary isnt that good.

Salary is a big issue. Is there anyway that someone can work themselves to a higher position, or is retail considered to be the main position?

BuzzerBee · 2015-05-11 13:45:05

Where I worked the only positions were Sales Associates and Managers. Of course the managers made a lot more money than we did. But we never got raises or anything (I was even employee of the month once, no raise).

goeyfun · 2015-05-11 15:47:46

Hope you won't encounter these situations

ewoke

Lionhart · 2015-05-11 18:25:34

Hexagon wrote:

Does anyone have a lot of conflicts in terms of rules with their co-workers? For example, someone tells you to do one thing, someone else something slightly different and someone else just says something completely opposite?
There's so many conflicts sometimes I just smile because I don't have a clue what's going on. It's really difficult to obey multiple opposing rules from multiple different people telling you something and trying to make everyone happy.

I know the feeling. Where I work, the store manager is focused on customer service more than anything, but this other manager is dedicated to the rules, even if it makes the customer miserable.

For example, when it's a really busy day and a customer says "The sign said that was $15.99, not $18.99", the store manager would say "sure, let's mark it down for you" while the other manager would say "let's page the women's department, wait for them to call, give them a description of the item, let them look for it, and then wait for them to call back and verify the price."

I just do what our store manager does and if I'm questioned I can refer back to him. However, if I don't have a store manager's stance on something, and there's a conflict, I just choose whichever is best for the store. This way, I can defend my actions if I'm questioned.

As for the salary, our raises are distributed among each employee based difference in net profits in the entire state. So, naturally, unless the business is booming, we don't get one. Pennies at max. I just try to take other people's shifts so I can get 25+ hours each week. After a couple more years I can apply for a managerial position, but that's more commitment than I would like. This job is temporary.

Lionhart · 2015-05-11 19:05:57

goeyfun wrote:

Hope you won't encounter these situations

I love it whenever a customer gets so mad they just leave. It's like they're trying to make YOU feel guilty about their problems. Sometimes it's warranted, most of the time it's not. Like when people go shopping when they're in a hurry. Or if they didn't read something correctly.

Like this one miserable lady and her son were trying to buy a suit. Now, I'll admit that this is a mildly expensive store if you have bad luck. It just so happened that the things she wanted weren't on sale, and there were no coupons out. So when I asked her "Did you find everything alright?" like I normally do, she said something like "No. I don't understand why everyone shops here. It's just awful." (Lovely thing to say as you're checking out, right?) As I scanned each item, she would say something stupid like "That's $50?? That's ridiculous. I don't want that." and then she would throw it to the side. Literally every item elicited that response.

And while this is happening, I'm just thinking to myself... "Do you not know how to read or are you just trying to waste my time?" This experience was awful because I take pride in where I work, and to hear some privileged white soccer mom who thinks she's better than everyone else bash the entire store because it wasn't perfect set my teeth on edge. And her tone. It was sarcastic, bossy, furious, and volatile all at the same time. After she rejected the last item, she just gave a forced laugh and walked out of the store.

Then, to my surprise, a few minutes later she came back and bought some socks or something because she "needed them".

It's almost as if some people come into the store with a predetermined hatred, as if they're being tortured, but still come in and buy things. Like... ???? Don't bother. Go back to Walmart where the cashiers don't care if you're happy or miserable. I actually need to make you happy.

Sorry for these walls of text. This topic gets me heated.

TLDR: Lady pushes her unsolicited misery onto me, and I somehow managed to make it through without saying something insulting like "Well, if you don't like the prices, go to Walmart."

There needs to be a support group for customer service people.

ewoke · 2015-05-11 21:15:24

Hexagon wrote:

Does anyone have a lot of conflicts in terms of rules with their co-workers? For example, someone tells you to do one thing, someone else something slightly different and someone else just says something completely opposite?

my boss likes to do nothing, and give all tasks hes supposed to do to other people, and complains when its not done after it

Hexagon · 2015-05-15 23:40:22

(A personal question) is it professional to be just medium-nice to coworkers but super super nice to customers? I don't know how true that is though.

Different55 · 2015-05-15 23:41:54

http://reddit.com/r/talesfromretail/

Not the best representation of retail life but there are some decent stories.

ewoke · 2015-05-15 23:45:08

goeyfun wrote:

Hope you won't encounter these situations
▼Hidden text

this is pretty accurate

Hexagon · 2015-05-16 13:47:17

The customers are pretty good so far, which helps a lot.

Is it normal for customer to shake your hand, introduce their self and then ask for your help finding something?

Lionhart · 2015-05-16 16:11:58

Hexagon wrote:

(A personal question) is it professional to be just medium-nice to coworkers but super super nice to customers? I don't know how true that is though.

Yeah. Some treat everyone the same, but I don't have enough energy to smile and be all bubbly for everyone.

Hexagon wrote:

The customers are pretty good so far, which helps a lot.
Is it normal for customer to shake your hand, introduce their self and then ask for your help finding something?

Uh... no. At least, shaking their hand and introducing themselves. Unless you work at a place that is really personal with their customers.

Hexagon · 2015-05-16 19:12:27

Lionhart wrote:

Uh... no. At least, shaking their hand and introducing themselves. Unless you work at a place that is really personal with their customers.

It's not super personal (just selling products.) I was a little worried about that.

Official Everybody Edits Forums

#1 2015-05-10 00:07:29

[Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#2 2015-05-10 00:14:21

Re: [Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#3 2015-05-10 00:49:18, last edited by rgl32 (2015-05-10 00:49:45)

Re: [Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#4 2015-05-10 06:04:17

Re: [Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#5 2015-05-10 19:37:09, last edited by Lionhart (2015-05-10 19:41:38)

Re: [Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#6 2015-05-10 20:16:17, last edited by Insanity (2015-05-10 20:17:03)

Re: [Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#7 2015-05-11 05:57:22, last edited by BuzzerBee (2015-05-11 05:57:36)

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#8 2015-05-11 12:13:14, last edited by Hexagon (2015-05-11 12:14:01)

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#9 2015-05-11 13:45:05

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#10 2015-05-11 15:47:46

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#11 2015-05-11 18:25:34

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#12 2015-05-11 19:05:57

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#13 2015-05-11 21:15:24

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#14 2015-05-15 23:40:22

Re: [Discussion] How is working in retail/sales?

#15 2015-05-15 23:41:54, last edited by Different55 (2015-05-15 23:42:28)

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#16 2015-05-15 23:45:08, last edited by ewoke (2015-05-15 23:45:30)

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#17 2015-05-16 13:47:17

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#18 2015-05-16 16:11:58

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#19 2015-05-16 19:12:27

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