I’ve worked in retail for about 5 years. It’s very flexible with hours, which is helpful when school starts up again. I won’t say that working in retail is easy, because its definitely not. The things retail workers put up with is just unbearable at times. You learn a lot about other people and how to handle different personalities. Here are some things I learned from working in retail.
1. You need to have patience: I’ll be completely honest when I say that I am not the best when it comes to dealing with patience. But by working in retail, I’ve learned how to be patient and it’s transcended into other aspects of my life. Working in retail, you need to be patient with certain customers. The customers that take 5 years to find a coupon, or forgot their wallet in the car (Happens ALL THE TIME, which I don’t understand), customers who want 4 different things at once, etc. There will be customers who want one item, ask you to grab it in the back, then change their mind, then switch back again and its just a vicious cycle. Just try to be patient, that’s the point.
2. There are plenty of rude people out there: I don’t think I have to go into much detail on this, but understand that you will encounter these people in all walks of life. People want their shopping deals and when they don’t get them or something goes wrong, they will throw everyone under the bus. Also, you'll explain the situation to them and they'll ask for a manager WHO WILL TELL THEM THE SAME THING YOU DID.
3. There are plenty of nice people out there: Don’t let all the rude customers ruin your work day, you will encounter plenty of nice people as well. IT’S RARE, but it’ll happen. These are the people who actually understand, are patient with you, and genuinely treat you with respect. Also, these are the people that get coupons on their purchases. Yea, usually when an employee tells you they don’t know any coupons that are out: they are probably lying, they think you’re rude and don’t deserve it. If you’re nice to us, we will give you a damn discount.
4. PAY ATTENTION TO STORE HOURS: This is for all the people out there that walk into a store at 8:45/50 when it closes at 9. Don’t say you’ll take 5 minutes and be quick, we all know that's a lie, so don’t even try. Also, don’t get mad when we let you know that we are closing. The workers there have to stay usually until 10 or later depending on the store and how it looks. We want to go home too and we want to leave at the time we are scheduled to leave at! So in conclusion check the hours before you come in.
5. The customer is not always right: There are certain things where yes, an employee can be wrong but majority of the time the customers are just being inconsiderate and throwing a fit.
I could honestly go on and on about the crazy things you witness while working in retail but I don’t think any of you want to read a novel on that. Just keep these things in mind; you can be a nice person while shopping, you’re dealing with someone’s kid and if your kid was being targeted by a rude customer you wouldn’t like it, we all make mistakes, pay attention to hours, JUST BE A DECENT HUMAN BEING.
Check out these hilarious but truthful videos about retail workers deal with:
