6 Things I Learned Working in Retail

The first thing I did after graduating high school was look for job. Naturally, I looked in the retail field. I had no idea what I would be walking into, but I figured "hey, how hard can it be?" While the job itself was not overly difficult, there are a lot of things that I learned very quickly. Here's a list of the many important things that I learned while working in retail.

1. The customer is usually wrong. We've all heard the age old phrase: "the customer is always right." Working in retail, you very quickly learned that this is a major fabrication in an attempt to make the customer feel good. We pretend that the customer is always right. It was very common at my store for customers to not read our sale signs and assume that every item in the store was 50% off when in fact, only the item the sign was in front of is 50% off. The customer would then come to the registers, with their full price item, and scream about false advertising and how "the customer is always right." This happened many, many times every single day.

2. People view themselves as better and smarter than you. It's not uncommon to be questioned by customers on a regular basis on the corporate policies that you enforce every single day. The reason is simple. How could you, a retail worker, possibly know more than them? It doesn't matter to them that the store in question is your place of employment and you spend almost every day there. A lot of people view retail workers as lower than them simply because of the fact that they are minimum wage employees working a cash register.

3. It's too easy to become a shopaholic. Before getting a job, all I had was Christmas and birthday money. Once I got a job, there were so many things I could buy. I started buying everything in the store I could get my hands on. While I managed to save as well, shopping became too easy and it became a form of relaxation and stress relief. Spending money was a hobby for me for a couple of years until I finally broke the cycle.

4. There's nothing wrong with asking for help. When I first started working, I didn't want to bother anyone with questions. After being trained, I would try my hardest to work things out on my own. Unfortunately, this usually ended up with me messing up a transaction, needing to start over, and calling for help anyway. Moral of the story: call for help when you're not sure. It saves time in the end.

5. You'll love your regulars... mostly. When you've been having a rough day and really just need a break, checking out a regular can be a relief. They're someone you know and a lot of the time can be relaxed around. You often times can build relationships with regulars. The trouble comes in when you have regulars who think they're more knowledgable on policies than you. Plus, some people are just miserable. Overall, I enjoyed the regulars from the store at which I worked.

6. Always take your breaks. In New York State, every 6 hour shift requires a half hour break. For any shift shorter than 6 hours, you are supposed to be offered a 15 minute break. While not required, always take them. When I first started at my retail job, I never took 15 minute breaks. However, I soon realized that I felt better when I could take a few minutes to sit and not think about someone's change, re-shops, or answering the phone.