After working in a retail setting for a couple months now I have discovered that there are some things that I wish I could tell customers but can’t. I am pretty sure I can speak for everyone who has worked retail or is currently working retail in this list that I have compiled. Here are some things that we want you to know:
One. We don’t have other sizes in the back room
Usually everything that is out on the floor is all that we carry. It’s not like we have an entire second store in the back room. The things you will find back there are only empty coffee cups, a couple shipment boxes, and some rolling racks. That’s it.
Two. Your email matters.
You will make any associate’s day by giving your email. I know it’s tedious and you don’t want a million emails but you are helping us help you get discounts and fun fact: you are usually able to customize your emails to only get coupons. So rethink then next time you turn down your email.
Three. We almost always close at the time we say we are going to close.
If it says we close at nine, we would like to try and close at nine. We will never ask you to leave the store but we do have lives outside of work. Hint: there is a reason the music stops playing after a certain time.
Four. The Return policy is the return policy.
We all love talking about return policies. Please don’t get upset with us if you can’t get your money back or you can’t return a clearance item because we physically don’t have the capability to do that.
Five. The place for items you don’t want is not on the floor of the fitting room.
Fitting rooms are always crazy and we would really appreciate if you did not leave your clothes in a pile on the floor. You can either hand them to us, leave them hung up in the room, or put them in a designated area. It makes everything so much easier.
Six. We are working as fast as we can at the register.
It is a process to ring you out. We have to attempt to get an email, de-sensor everything, ring it up, and then make sure everything is folded. Sometimes the line gets long and you as the customer may have to wait a little extra; it happens and we are sorry.
Seven. Act interested when we tell you about the credit card.
We are usually required to tell you about a company credit card even if you don’t want one, please act interested and then politely decline.
Working in retail is more complicated than you think. We always try our best but things to happen that are out of our control sometimes so we just ask that you cut us some slack. If you need help or are unsatisfied just let us know and we will do everything we can because that is our job.
