Ahh, retail therapy. It's a favorite to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe and the need to shop only becomes more urgent as the holidays approach. As a person who has worked in retail for over 6 years, I tend to be a little less excited about Christmas shopping than your average college female.
As you wander through the mall I'm sure you're all aware that some shoppers are not the brightest people. Most mall goers these days stroll through at the slowest speed possible and believe that they are the only people shopping that day. Over the past week, I've unfortunately had multiple run-ins with my least favorite types of shoppers and it's made me even more excited for the relief of being closed on Christmas day.
1. The shopper who just can't find it themselves.
Picture this: It's a nice Sunday afternoon at the mall and we're a bit slower than usual. I keep myself busy by organizing hangers and refolding stacks of clothes on our tables. A customer walks into the store and I greet her, explain the promotions that we currently have, and ask her if she needs help, which she politely denies saying that she is "just looking." A short period of time passes and she comes over to ask if we have a specific shirt in her size. (This is where it gets ugly). Obviously, my first question is "Did you see it on the rack?" and 9 times out of 10 the customer's response is "Well no, I didn't look." To these people, I ask one simple question, "WELL WHY NOT?"
2. The shopper who needs the shirt at the bottom of the stack.
Sometimes the size you need is at the bottom of the stack of my perfectly folded sweaters and really, I get it, I do. This shopper is the one whom I see struggling to get their size. They contemplate the best way to try and retrieve their size without making a huge mess, which is actually appreciated greatly. My biggest pet peeve here, just ask for help. Over the past week, I've refolded more sweater tables than I could have counted and many times it could have simply been avoided. Ask for help if you need a size at the bottom of the stack. We really would rather help you than refold another sweater table.
3. The shopper who argues over discounts.
Look, we get it, you want to save money. Being a college student who spends way too much money means I'm all for coupons and discounts on clothes. Over the holidays though, many stores do flash sales or discounts that make the clothes cheaper than ever to the public. You could walk into a store and easily purchase an item for the same price as the employees in the store, which is a great deal. My most difficult customer this past week was that one person who had to have an item for more than 50% off. After politely explaining to the customer that it was not company policy to use the coupon on top of the half off sale I expected an understanding to be had. Unfortunately, that is not what I got. She made some strong points, don't get me wrong, but I came to realize that these people are simply the worst to deal with over the holidays.
Working in retail has definitely given me a different look at the idea that everyone needs gifts during the holidays. I've seen some very interesting things and I've met some interesting characters that have only made me so much more excited to spend Christmas with my (semi) normal family.
