If you didn't already know, I currently work in a very popular clothes shop which I can't name for legal reasons, blah blah. I've worked there for almost a year and I thought that it might be fun (and helpful) to tell you some of my tips and tricks on how to cope with a job in retail...it's harder than you might think..xD
1. First of all, one major part of working in retail is the customers. As nasty or annoy as they can be, they are ultimately the ones who pay your wages. Sometimes it can be very hard to smile when you've been treated like a piece of dirt by a customer but it is kinda necessary, kinda. Personally, if a customer is rude to me or whatever I will still be polite but I will get revenge in other ways. For example insufficiently packing their clothes etc. (I'm such a rebel, I know..)
However not ALL customers are grumpy! Some of them are very very lovely and will chat and be understanding if you have to call a supervisor or whatever. To survive in retail, I would say that it is very important to thrive off of these people because if you focus on the negatives the day will seriously drag!
Another important thing to remember with customers is that they are the same as you. They have problems and sometimes they may be having an awful day and it then becomes your opportunity to either try and make them laugh or be as helpful or quick at serving them as you can be so that they can get back home to eat ice cream and binge watch Netflix.
Moving swiftly on...
2. Another pretty damn big part of working in all jobs really is your colleagues. The best advice for this one is just try and get on with them. It will make your life 1000000000x easier, okay so that might be a bit of an exaggeration..
But basically, you're going to be spending extended periods of time with these people, it will be much more enjoyable if you're not hating each other. Of course there seems to ALWAYS be that one person who you just can't get along with but don't make it your life mission to annoy them because you can bet that they'll get revenge or karma will kick your butt.
Whilst there will always be people who you don't get on with there will always be people who make you laugh and you get on really well with:) One of the main perks of working in a big retail store is that there are lots of different people who I probably wouldn't have met if I didn't start work there and now they've become some of my good friends who I know would stick up for me and my job. They also make the rubbish days a bit more fun and interesting:P
3. This point also relates to the colleague thingy and that is avoid gossipping. When you work with other people who you may not necessarily know very well or at all it is very easy to hear an opinion of someone and then have that singular perspective of them. Anyway back to the point, gossipping just makes working harder to be honest. When rumours start, cliques are created and this can have pretty shitty results . At my job, I've known people be reported to the boss for something that was a total rumour however it led to them losing their job so yeah. Personally, I just stay out of the firing line as much as possible!
4. The final point relates more to your mental (or even physical if you've been stood up for like 7 hours straight) well being. It's important to remember that it's absolutely OK to have a break. Retail working can be incredibly stressful believe it or not. Sometimes when you've got a never-ending queue, grumpy customers or maybe your low on change - it can be tough. Minutes being to feel like hours and if you're unhappy then you will not enjoy your job. So it's alright to take a day off now and then to chill or maybe grab a drink of water if you need it.
Just remember that you are alot stronger than you think but at the end of the day what's more important.. Your mental and physical health? Or reaching the stores budget?!
Anyway there's just a few tips that I've learnt over these last few months, I'm sorry that I haven't been very active recently, but there will be more posts to come!
Hope that you're having a lovely summer, adios x
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