Shop assistant training

isayoldchap

You visit the shop only to find the product that you want is not on the shelf.
You then ask the shop assistant if there are any left in the stockroom.The
majority of times I am told that there are none available.Of course they can only put out what fits on the shelf and I would hope that they attempt to replenish lower stocks.My belief is that they really don't know if an item is in stock at all.Does anyone know if they are advised not to spend too much time with the customer on this.

You then buy a quantity of the same product.Let's say ten of the same cereals only to have a remark made from the till assistant about your shopping.Is this also mentioned at the training.

skylight

I think shop assistants are also trained to discuss their boyf's at the till and they have diplomas in how to throw your change at you rather than place it in your waiting hand.

Mind you - bought a swing from Wilkinsons the other week - and they were really helpful (okay the 2nd person I spoke to was!!) The 1st person told me that if it wasn't out then there weren't any left - the 2nd person "Yes Madam - I'll have a look in the stock room" And found one quickly.

What really surprised me, was the 1st person was a man about 50ish with a nice accent and the 2nd was a 16yr old spotty saturday boy who walked slouched and had forgotten what a "t" was.

Noozan

charlotte664 wrote:

The 1st person told me that if it wasn't out then there weren't any left -

This really annoys me :mad: So when they get their deliveries in, does it mean that EVERYTHING goes straight out onto the shop floor and they don't actually have a stockroom? GRR

My brother used to work in a supermarket when he was a student and if a customer asked nicely, he would always go to the stockroom and look for them. If they were rude, he used to go sit and chat to someone in stock room for 5 minutes and then come out and tell the customer there were out of stock . Likewise, if he was on the till and they were pleasant, he would run off up the aisles to fetch them another pack of biscuits/juice/soap etc if it was on BOGOF and the customer hadn't realised.

Xbigman

Modern shops use 'just in time' stock control. Minimal or no stock room, only a few of each item and one or two day new stock delivery times. In most cases if its not on the shelf they don't have it. Sometimes a delivery is sitting in their recieving area and they can find one for you, but its completely pot luck. Places like Comet commonly have no stock of larger items (fridges, washing machines, etc) and you might as well buy online.
Regards



X

sleepy

I used to work in Evans and we only had a tiny stockroom. Normally the stockroom was full of stuff that hadn't sold and was waiting for the sale. When we got new lines in, they would send only a few of each size at the beginning and then a few more of the popular sizes as they sold, so there really wasn't any more in the stockroom. The exception to this was the standard plain T-Shirts, denim and underwear, which we would happily look for if the right size wasn't on the floor. With 3 deliveries a week, there wasn't any great need to have a large stockroom full of stuff.
It's interesting to note that we weren't a small store, we were one of the largest in the company and were two floors high, so even large shops often only have what is out. After all,it doesn't make good business sense to waste space by maintaing a stockroom when it could be used as sales floor.
However, we were encouraged to order items in for customers if we had sold out, and to ring round other shops to see if they had any.

Dormouse

isayoldchap wrote:

You then buy a quantity of the same product.Let's say ten of the same cereals only to have a remark made from the till assistant about your shopping.Is this also mentioned at the training.

This annoys me, too. What's it to them what I am buying? A couple of weeks ago, I did a small shop, including some cakes and a Slimfast shake (only got it because I had a voucher for a free one!). The woman on the till thought she was being hilarious and kept commenting how funny it was buying cakes and Slimfast. One joke -- okay, fair enough, but she went on and on and on... I'm an average size, with no huge hang-ups about my shape, and still got annoyed -- can you imagine what a really self-conscious person would have felt like? :mad:

Jem8472

Having worked in a department store they do tend to use the just in time stock controll (or we called it just to late)

We had some stuff in our stock room but most of the stuff we used to get from a central warehouse and it woudl be here within 7 working days at the most.

Also about talking to people in the stock room, I had this one guy come in he was a really arrogant git (delt with him before) He wanted something that we did not have in stock so I said i could order one. He went off on this rant about having to wait 6 weeks for a bed that costs £3k (becasue we have LOADS of them sitting about, noot that they were made to order!) so he wanted the display model. I said I would have to go and check and he told me to hurry up becasue he was parked on double yellow lines, for some reason I just did not feel like moving too fast.

mrcow

I think in my local ASDA they are training their staff to make small talk to their customers.

Only trouble is that the young lad on the till that served me last week hasn't quite got the hang of it.......he first asked me if I was here for the shopping (I was in ASDA!....no I'm here for the music!) and then he asked me what I was doing later......

....I thought I'd pulled!

BWZN93

Ive worked in a couple of shops before, and generally, the staff know what is kept in the stock room, and what is out. When I working in a clothes shop, I had a very arrogant woman TELL me to go look in the stock room because the size she wanted wasnt there. I told her we had none left (I put the entire stock out only the day before) but she insisted I did.

So I went to the stock room and came back out and told her that there was none left. Sometimes, you just have to trust what the staff say. In my current store, we have very limited back room stocks, but I always know what is coming in the next delivery, so I make sure that I tell the customer when we have the next delivery and if they wish, I will hold one back for them, and take their name and telephone number to call them. I find most people are exceptionally happy with this!

Jo xx

Poppy9

Noozan wrote:

My brother used to work in a supermarket when he was a student and if a customer asked nicely, he would always go to the stockroom and look for them. If they were rude, he used to go sit and chat to someone in stock room for 5 minutes and then come out and tell the customer there were out of stock

Obviously a well managed shop if staff were allowed to sit in the stock room doing nothing So when the shop assistants come on here and tell us they are over worked we'll know better.:rotfl:

zodiac

When I went for trainning with Sainburys we were told to 'talk' to the customer as well as pack, scan, keep an eye out for fake cards etc. We were meant to look for clues in the trolly as to what to talk about. I hated it, not that I mind talking to older people who dont mind talking but younger (between 20 and 30) people who can't be arsed to reply to "and how are you?" I have to say, that I would never commment on something like diet goods or pills or anything.
In Safeways there wasn't any trainning like that but anyone who shops in Safeways would know that
When I worked at Harrods (over xmas I must add- I was an Elf!) we had some 12 hours of trainning, we had someone from Disney come in and tell us the best ways of dealing with children and family units, watched a few videos,(yes even Harrods are not above the old video trainning) my fave has to be the one on people stealing from the shop floor in Harrods - So funny. I won a snow globe for getting a question right (you can buy me really cheaply hehe) so that probley has something to do with enjoying the trainning.