Black Friday: the most terrifying phrase for every retail worker. It's the busiest shopping day of the year because stores are selling their merchandise for a killer deal. The madness still continues on even after Black Friday. Everyone is frantically buying last minute gifts for their loved ones. Not only is shopping at this time of year hectic, it gets even more crazy after Christmas is over. Everyone is given money and gift cards to spend which means near death for all retail workers.
No one will EVER understand the struggle of retail until they actually work in retail themselves. The number one struggle of working in retail is working with customers. Here is a letter to those that have shopped in stores; so basically everyone in this entire-this letter is for you to read.
Dear Customer,
Our staff cannot thank you enough for spending your time shopping in our store! We hope that the merchandise we have will satisfy your needs. Without you all, we wouldn't be where we are today- we would not be a store if it weren't for you all spending money on our items. Although there are just a few things we would like for you all to do to make our lives ten times more easier. Making our lives easier means better customer service for you.
If we are out of stock of the item you would like to buy, do not get upset with us because we have NOTHING to do with it. This also includes asking us "Do you have any more of this in the back?" Ninety-nine percent of the time, all of our items will be out on the floor. We do not carry extra items in the back. Most of the time the items we have in the back our old clothes that are about to be marked down or boxes of shipment we have received. If it is out, it is out. There is not much we can do from there. You especially should not get upset with us if you are shopping the day of Christmas Eve-it is not our fault that you decide to shop last minute for Christmas.
Treat others like you would like to be treated. Retail workers are humans too- we should not be treated as your personal slaves. Yes we are here to provide you with customer service and we are here to fulfill the needs you have, but there is always a nice and respectful way for you to ask for a dressing room.
With dressing room being said, clean up after yourselves-especially when you are in the dressing room. Your mother does not work in this store so you should be able to clean up after yourself. Shirt didn't fit you right? Didn't like how it looked on you? Then please take your clothes out of the fitting room and place it on the rack that is located nearby the dressing rooms-that rack is used for employees to put clothes back to where they belong. Whenever you are shopping throughout the store and see an employee folding shirts, DO NOT mess up their table while they are fixing it. That is one of the BIGGEST insults an retail worker could receive. If you don't know how to fold a shirt a certain way, just give it to the worker. That is much more polite than just ruining all the hard work they put into that table.
Lastly, do not get upset whenever we tell you that "clearance" item was not on clearance. Most of us are in that store 24/7 so we know what is on sale and what is full priced. We also have signs in the store that clarify what is on sale. Make sure to read the entire sign because it might appear that the pants are $5, but they are actually buy one get one for $5- that will save you from a huge disappointment whenever you read the entire sign.
By doing these things, we can enjoy our lives much more instead of dreading going to work every single day. We are human beings too and we deserve respect. Again, we do thank you all for shopping in our store, but try to be less of a pain in the a$$.
Love,
ALL Retail Workers
