Working retail is something you can only understand if you’ve actually done it. The holidays amplifies any odd, crazy, or annoying things you may see customers do while they are shopping. These are some types of customers I ran into while working this past holiday season.
1. The customer who takes something off the shelf but later decides not to buy it so they place it in the most abnormal spot in the store.
While cleaning the shelves in the makeup aisle, I came across a loaf of bread. Never mind the fact that the makeup aisle was nearly on the opposite side of the store from where the groceries were. I am not sure why a customer decided against buying the bread while going through the cosmetics. Maybe they only had enough money for either bread or mascara, who knows. However, it was quite weird to find a loaf of bread in the cosmetics section.
2. The customer who doesn’t know what gift to get for their family member.
About a half hour before the store closed, a frantic customer walked up to me with her child in the shopping cart, asking, “Excuse me, what do you think I should get for my brother?” I stood there for a second, completely dumbfounded by her question. It was as if I personally knew her brother. I began asking her questions about her brother, like if he enjoyed sports are was a fan of any specific restaurants, but she couldn’t seem to answer any of them. Ma’am, if you barely know your brother, then there’s not much of a chance I will either.
3. The customer that basically hires you as their personal shopper.
Most customers during the holiday season come into the store with a preplanned list of items they are looking to purchase. I ran into one customer who asked me to help him find one item, which turned into me spending over an hour with him, going through everything on his list, and finding it in the store. Of course the customer always comes first, but I’m sorry, I am not your personal shopper.
4. The last minute shoppers.
Not many stores are open on Christmas Eve, but unfortunately where I worked was. And of course, that’s when we get a flood of procrastinators, and people buying last minute items. We closed at 10pm, and the store was busy even past close. Customers came running in minutes before we closed, and stayed much past 10 p.m. Again, the customer comes first so we couldn’t just push them out of the store, even though all we wanted was to go home to be with our families. If you are a last minute shopper, try to remember that the employees don’t necessarily want to be working Christmas Eve, especially after the time we are scheduled to close.
5. The customers who need assistance immediately and will get angry if they don’t get it.
A common occurrence I ran into was customers interrupting me while I was assisting another customer, and having them get angry with me after I tell them that I will be with them in a minute. I’ve come to find out that there are many customers who don’t exactly understand that they don’t always come first. It’s a busy time of year, the store is buzzing, and as employees we have little to no down time. Don’t be offended if we can’t get to you right away.
6. The customers who are crazy for deals no matter what they are.
Believe it or not, the morning after Christmas day there was a line outside of the door consisting of people who wanted to save a few bucks. There wasn’t really any big deals the store had going on, besides the 30% off Christmas items. I can’t ever see myself wanting to wake up before 7am, going to the store just to buy some wrapping paper that is a few dollars cheaper than it was a few days ago.
7. The customers that complain to the employees about the prices.
As employees, we do not set the prices of the merchandise sold in the store, nor do we have the power to change them. So, don’t expect us to get involved with any of those types of things and please don’t get angry at us when we try to explain that to you.
8. The customers who are apologetic about the fact we are open such crazy hours during the holiday season.
Don’t apologize, it’s our job and it’s just what comes with it.
