High street show shops trying to flog you crap shoecare

londonTiger

I used to work on JJB and I know how it's like from the other end. managers push you hard to sell these shoecare products which are huge moneyspinners. I can understand why, they basically sell a product that has a cost price of 20p for £3.

I didn;'t last long in the job because I just got grief from managers to sell products that I didn't belive in, we had a shoe whitener that was suppose to "restore whiteness" of the show, but in actual fact it used to ruin shoes completely because it left a clearly uneven paint finish on the shoe. The shoe whinterner was like tip ex, it was a thick paint that didn't always blend in with the whiteness of the shoe. Also it would mix with the dirt on the show and become grey.

I went to buy a shoe from barrats today, and I was infuriated by the hard sales tactics employed by sales staff to make these shoecare sales and meet their quotas.

When I shop, I just want to be left alone and allowed to do roam around thebstore and pick up stuff I want. Most shops have the attitude, go to zara, top shop, river island etc and nobody will bother you unless you look like you need help.

but walk into shops like barrats and you get greeted by contrived, over-friendly shop floor staff, you get asked "hi, are you alrigth", at least 3 times inside the store. It makes me cringe, I want to tell them don't bother me, but havening some retail experience I know that they're just being told to do that.

it's not that they're bothering me that annoys me, it's that fact that they're clearly being very insincere and don't actually care about you or what you're after.

Anyone long story short, I pick my shoe up, and take it to the checkout, then I get a barrage of mechanical and overly rehearsed sales speel on shoecare. Completely unnatural patter, he asked me a question and before I could respond he's already taking out the product and spraying it on the shoe and everything. I did not appreciate that. I m,ade my excuses and told them I had that, and then another sales staff comes in and starts demonstrating more product.

I felt like I was cornered into a hostage, and it turned my OK-ish experience into a very unpleasant one. I had to completely disengage with any rapport that I had with them and be stern with them. I just repeated "I have that already", "i never use them so I don't need them", back and forth. Each time I made an excuse they showed me a different product.

it's so annoying, I don't understand why retailers do this, why ruin the experience? I go to barrats because they have some decent shoes that are superior quality to the ones from river island, topman etc. But each time I walk into their shops I feel like I'm going into a hostage negotiation.

ljonski

They used to keep asking me for my Bonus Card in Iceland. I keep playing the role of the Psychiatric Idiot and they are glad to get rid of me now!

deanos

Thats why i rarely go to the hight street now and buy online , every shop is trying to flog extras like store cards or silly extras , latest one was BHS i only spent £5 but could save 10% if i signed up to there storecard

PlutoinCapricorn

The Post Office and banks do it too.

I avoid these places as much as possible: street markets, farmers' markets, charity shops, independent shops, online shopping ... places such as Aldi, Lidl, Wilkinsons get my money now.

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

I would ask them where the door was, and then leave. The girl can put the things back on the shelf safe in the knowledge my smelly feet may had been in them

jolfc

lol, when i worked on a work experiance for barratts many,many moons ago we were supposed to try and sell shoecare products and had a spiel to say to the customer. i used to say "you dont want the whitner do you?" in the end i got a talking to and told off, so i left. i just did not feel comfortable giving customers the pushy selling patter as i know it used to annoy me when i went in shops and got it.

s_b

its nearly 30 years since i worked for the british shoe corporation but even back then we had to sell what were called fancies ie polishes handbags and insoles
thing is retail rent isnt cheap and to survive you have to upsell
it can be done in a nice pleasant way rather than by robotic talk but this comes down to training and having the right type of sales staff,my staff enjoyed selling extras because it was done friendly no hard sell and it made them feel that they had achieved something because i targeted them against each other
we loved it

i too hate poor scripted pushy sales staff to the point i dont go mainstream shopping anymore

transient

Never happens to me but mind you I do have my in ear headphones on

Irn-Bru-Kid

The very first job I ever had was in Barratts. A YTS scheme with a weekly wage of £27.50.

We were 'encouraged' to go for the 'perfect sale' on the ladies floor. This would entail flogging a pair of shoes, matching handbag, matching belt, hosiery and some kind of sundry item i.e. polish. Bear in mind this was the mid-eighties and the trend was to match everything together in bright, almost neon colours, vile.

Anyway, myself and the other YTS used to battle it out to get the perfect sale. God only knows why, we never got anything for it.

The sales staff are required to upsell on sundry items, they are set targets and I believe some retailers offer a commission based on sales.

I agree though, from a customers point of view it is a pain in the backside.

milliebear00001

I am only ever offered one thing extra at the till because I always give them a very curt 'definitely not!' when asked. They NEVER offer me anything else...

I respond similarly to the 'are you OK there?' questions - with a short 'yes' with as little eye contact as possible. Nothing that could ever encourage them.

Possibly rude, but it works!

barbiedoll

My first "proper" full-time job, back in the 80's, was in a shoe shop. We were told to flog the shoe whitener, polish, insoles, heel grips ("Sorry, we don't have a size 6 but how about a size 7 with insoles and heel grips?")

I was always really surprised at how many people actually bought the stuff. OP is absolutely correct about the tippex-like shoe whitener, it used to set hard and flake off! And you wouldn't believe the amount of women who were quite happy to buy shoes that were too big, or worse, too small, rather than leave the shop empy-handed.

We did sell loads of matching handbags though, we used to display them in the window and it was rare that we sold a shoe in a new colour, without flogging the matching bag with it. I must admit, I was as bad, most of my wages went back into the store, I had matching shoes and bags in every colour. It certainly cured me of any shoe obsession, I really can't be bothered buying shoes now!