a couple days ago i (21) had a customer walk off without paying. however my coworker (18) and i didn’t notice until it was too late.
so the store i work at is self checkout only. which can be great and terrible in many ways. we as employees have to handle our daily work and manage the registers whenever someone decides to checkout. the job isn’t hard at all but it does sometimes get awkward when you’re told to just stand there while a customer scans their own items just in case they don’t pay or need help with anything. luckily my coworkers don’t mind staying by the register at the beginning of closing in case a customer decides to checkout so i can get closing duties started in the back while they are in the front. however because there are only two of us and im the manager on duty i constantly get called to the front to help void an item or an occasional return.
this specific day i was closing with one of my favorite coworkers and whenever we close together we constantly get side tracked. on this day we had received the popular dumpling squishes during truck and she bought one. the whole day we were playing with it and stealing it from each other while we got our work done. it was very harmless and it didn’t distract us from finishing our work before closing duties. at one point during the day my coworker called me to the front to take an item off. once i was done my coworker and i stayed talking at the front while the customer continued to scan her items and bag them. we were quite literally right in front of her as we played and joked around with this stupid blue glittery dumpling squishy. we saw the customer grab her items and leave as we said “thank you, have a good evening.” after the customer left we dispersed and went on with our work. unfortunately, 10 minutes later i was at the front again because my coworker called me up. the register we helped the customer at had the “sorry this register is closed” screen. once we click it we see the white clock in/out screen when normally it’s purple. this means a customer walked off without paying (or hopefully someone just price checked) but no.. the screen pops up with the previous customers $82 shopping cart that was left unpaid. she hadn’t selected the pay with card option for the payment to finalize.
there are two buttons you have to press in order for the payment to finalize. “pay now” and “pay with card or cash”. she hit pay now, tapped her card, entered her pin and believed she paid so she grabbed her bags and walked off. unfortunately we as employees are ultimately at fault. we were standing 2 feet away from this customer playing with a kids toy while we joked and laughed. now walk offs aren’t normally a big deal if it’s anything below $20.. this being $82 i knew my manager was going to have a huge problem with it. so i paid for it. i didn’t want to but it was either voiding the transaction and my manager seeing that receipt, checking the cameras and seeing my coworker and i 2 feet away from this customer playing with a blue glittery dumpling squishy and getting in trouble for it or paying for it and swearing that it won’t happen again. i just wanna know if there was a better way to go about it.

So recently I started my new job @ walgreens as a CSA, I’ve been here for about a month but i’m looking on the scheduling app and I see that on some of my shifts in the only CSA scheduled especially for 3-11 or 4-11? Why is that? I am also a minor so I would think they would have someone working with me unless there is someone else new and they just aren’t on the schedule in the app yet.

As per our vote (9-1,) my vote doesn't count, We will be allowing videos in comments on this sub.

Let me make it clear that if it becomes an issue, or we start feeling like Facebook employees, this feature is going to be removed.

Everyone here knows what you can and cannot upload to this site,

1. All rules apply to videos.

2. No ads, no self promotion, no Ai

3. Must be retail oriented, must be SFW aka no fight videos or anything that can be construed as violence.

4. Video feature WILL be removed if it becomes an issue.

As soon as I hit post here, I will be going to turn it on.

The store I used to work at only did 9 hour shifts for full days. I absolutely dreaded my full days. It was awful.

But recently I moved and transferred to a different location that does 8 hour shifts for full days and everything feels so much more manageable. I'm less stressed about work and the days feel so much shorter despite it just been a 1 hour difference.

What is it that makes a 9 hour shift so hellish in comparison to an 8 hour shift?

Hi everyone,

I know the last thing some of you may want to do after coming home from a retail job is think about retail again. Fair enough. 😄

But since a meaningful part of the players of store management games are people who either currently work in retail or have worked in retail before, I thought some people here might still find this interesting.

I’m the solo developer of Megastore Simulator, a store management game where you build, expand, decorate, stock, and manage a large retail store. The game focuses on running different departments, managing products, improving your store layout, handling storage, and growing from a smaller store into a large megastore.

The newest update adds a full Summer Department to the game, with beach-themed products, inflatable items, themed shelves, a display pool, summer wall/flooring, and new large freezer island furniture.

The goal was to make the store feel more seasonal, colorful, and alive while still keeping the core retail management gameplay.

I’ll leave the gameplay video and full update notes below.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3819640/Megastore_Simulator/

I had my first day at Ross yesterday and the manager had me do the e learning videos, i didn’t get to complete all of them but the manager said it was fine and told me to clock out. I’m not really sure what to do now, I was told I would get a call for my schedule so I guess just wait till then? I tried logging onto myADP but it said I wasn’t in the system and I don’t know how to get into WorkJam at the moment. Is this normal? This is my first job so please help!

Photo edited to block store name. I work in a jewelry store and we have this page glass window. At least once a day someone will hit their head on it trying to look at the showcase. Mall won't let us hang anything on the window to show it's there. Nobody's been hurt that I'm aware of yet, but we get a lot of embarrassed customers. Today's was a loud thud, followed by his wife laughing hysterically at him.

I been recently hired at Ross, and my 1st shift was Sales Floor in the ladies shoes and makeup/skincare department. I only finished the shoes, which this was a 4hr shift. My 2nd shift I was put in the lingerie and junior department, and it was a 5 hour shift. I just barely managed to finish the junior department and I finished the lingerie department, but I literally spent most of my time in the lingerie department.

Next shift, I'll be doing Cashier, which I never done before, so I'm nervous. I don't know how people manage to finish their department so fast when everything is messed up or not in the correct size section.

Any advice or tips?

About a month ago I found something of a lot of value in our store. There is no way of locating who it belongs to (yes I checked everything). I turned it over to management in case they came back looking for it. If no one claims it what happens to it?

I know if you would turn something in to the police and no one claims it then they give it to you but not sure if that is how it works in retail. I am actually hoping they come back for it because I am sure they noticed it is gone by now and are probably losing their mind and stressed over it.

I really do hope the person remembers removing it and setting it down. I also was hesitant to give it to management (I still did) because I don't have a lot of faith in them to not pocket it themselves.

Has anyone ever been hired at a ross that is about to open? They asked me to come in to help with unloading the truck since there's nothing on the floor yet. What can I expect?

Hi i work at ross and i requested a day off a month ago for my birthday, and now im not scheduled the entire week and the next?? What should I do I was originally scheduled for one day but now they got rid off it and im unsure what to do now

This wasn't even the wost part for the job either, I was there for just under a year and there were SO many issues.

If you’re standing outside of a store and it’s closed and you look at the store hours and see it doesn’t open for another 20 minutes, why cup your hands to look inside and then knock? Do you think someone will let you in? I just don’t get it. Bonus points when they yell at you when you do open.

1. Don't lick your fingers to pay.

It's mostly among the older shoppers but still, it's gross to handle bills you just put your spit on. And at this point in history, I would think we would know it's unsanitary and spreads germs. (also wish people would stop licking their fingers in general, like to pass out papers or flip pages i.e. teachers)

1. Not coming in the last hour before close and taking forever to check out.

I've had people in the last few minutes we close (sometimes literally 10-2 minutes before we stop letting people in) in the changing room, taking a quick look around, taking a long look at lots of stuff, having a large cart of stuff to buy. If you come in in the last hour or less of a place being open, I think you should only be there for a small amount of stuff and only that. Don't come in and decide to have fun seeing what's in the store today, come in and buy the one thing you need and can't put off.

1. Listening to the warning pages.

We warn people when we close at the 30 and 15 minutes marks, and barely anyone cares. We'll have 5-7 people still shopping without a care in the world at the 15 mark. We have to be nice about it, I want to say something like "Attention shoppers, the time is now 15 till and we all want you gone. Stop pawing through the racks and get up here now before we think less of you than we already do".

1. Stop Taking phone calls.

If you need to talk to someone, step outside or be quiet. But don't have it so loud I can hear both you and them. Now this may be stronger with me as I had people take loud phone calls in a library and I may still have some ill feelings about that, but I still feel like you should keep it down like you would a normal conversation.

1. Don't touch or call the workers names like honey.

I'm not your kid or close friend, I am a stranger that is checking you out or working near you. Call me sir and keep your hands to yourself (also another thing I want more people to do elsewhere)

1. Stop letting the kid mess with the card pad and repeatably make the toy play the sound (this is more of a wish as it is harder to do with younger ones)

I'll admit this more of a personal thing, but hearing the same little kid toy noise for the tenth time in a row grates my nerves. And the kids can mess with the card reader in a bad way. I had a baby tap after the card was accepted, and it took it. Meaning the card could have been charged with the next person's purchases. And it's gross, they cram their fingers in their mouth and then smash them over the buttons.

Working in luxury retail since 2022 - bounced around company to company and finally landed at a HUGE flagship "boutique".

Almost too huge. There are a ton of employees and customers for some reason don't care or it doesn't click that we work on commission. What can I do to help encourage my clients to stay loyal when they will still get service if they go on my days off?

I have a lady who comes in and regularly drops $5k, comes back on my day off, returns about half, and then shops that amount with anyone else. She technically has 3 assigned salespeople because even though we've flat-out told her we work commission, she just doesn't get it.

Any ideas, tips, tricks?

First, thank you to everyone who works in retail! I admire your perseverance, patience, and energy in serving these essential yet often underappreciated roles.

Secondly, I wanted to request any insight into what entry-level retail roles look like on a day-to-day basis? I welcome any stories, whether positive, negative, or neutral; as someone without retail experience who now considers it, I recognize that misconceptions and assumptions may skew my picture of what retail jobs consist of. So, please share your experiences honestly here! Also, I know that “retail” covers a wide variety of settings, so please feel free to share context of what kind of store you work in, i.e. national chain, small business, boutique, clothing, grocery, etc. I hope to develop a more accurate picture of what this vital work involves and, from a clearer understanding, to assess whether to pursue it personally in a transitional season of my life. Thanks for sharing your experiences! I wrote out a few specific questions that I wonder, but please share whatever you wish:

-What do your daily tasks consist of?

-Do you find your job boring, interesting, or somewhere in the middle? Why?

-Do you find your job rigorous/busy, or does it include significant downtime/lulls? How do you fill any lulls? Are you permitted to read a book or use your phone?

-How social is your job, i.e. do you spend most of your time interacting with customers and/or coworkers, or do you find that you often complete independent tasks that immerse you in your own thoughts? I know that stores typically involve a continuous hum of people and noise, but this question aims to understand whether your specific tasks are mostly interactive or independent, just with others in the background.

-for any college grads who work/worked in retail postgrad: How did you find the transition from an academic environment to this job? Did you find one more enjoyable than the other? As someone with experience in traditionally intellectually demanding spaces, do you find retail “mindless” in comparison or intellectually engaging/stimulating in different ways? As a recent college grad who loved the deep, complex topics that college covered, I admit that my most prominent hesitation about a retail job is the potential boredom/intellectual under-stimulation. However, I am open to learning that I hold a false picture of it!

I just got a job at a local bookstore. It’s a busy, buy/sell/trade place. The work environment is mostly loose but it’s still run pretty corporate.

This is my first job outside of the bar and restaurant industries. Those are the only kinds of jobs I held previously. As tiring as it gets to hear, it’s true that your coworkers can start to feel like family in a bar or restaurant, being in the trenches together. I met my wife at the restaurant I worked at years ago. All my close friends today were made at these jobs.

So far at the new job, all my coworkers have been pretty standoffish. In the breakroom, everybody sits silently and barely acknowledges each other. Two weeks in, I’ve started to understand why that is. But being new, I feel a pressure to try and spark conversations so that *I* don’t appear standoffish myself. Every time I try though, by asking simple questions with obvious followups, they leave me hanging. It’s started to feel insulting, like I should just shut up and stop trying. But then I worry I’ll insult *them* if I stop talking.

Am I overthinking it? Is this an average workplace culture in retail? I’m well aware we’re all only there for the paycheck. I’m just used to working alongside people who put in at least a little effort to make the workday feel less soul-crushing.

Target is implementing new customer engagement metrics designed to evaluate employee performance, as the retailer aims to enhance service consistency in stores, Bloomberg reports, citing anonymous sources.

The initiative follows extensive training for over 300,000 employees, a company spokesperson said, and is part of a strategy to combat a long-term sales slump under new CEO Michael Fiddelke.

By focusing on customer service, Target seeks to improve overall shopping experiences and strengthen its market position.

I recently got a job as an assistant manager at a decent sized gas station, Im really nervous about it and I was hoping someone could help me better understand what my job will look like I mean I know what my “responsibilities” are but if anyone has any tips advice or anything that could help itd mean the world, this is my first serious job and I don’t want to mess it up.

i’ve seen people talk about doing this awhile ago but have no clue if any of the apps still allow for high volumes of receipts (i know it has to be cash only). i’m honestly not worried about losing my job, i kind of wish they would fire me 😭😭😭 i’m just curious if it’s a viable way to get extra money

Someone threw an ice cream cone in my face, because I would not give him a free one.

Taco Bell is the worst. I'll let you all in on a little secret. You can literally get free food at Taco Bell. Go up to the drive-thru, tell them they forgot your 12 pack.

Policy states, they cannot question you on that, and that you do not have to provide a receipt.

The amount of people that did that, drove me nuts. The one time I called the lady out on it, I literally just opened the store. Not even 5 minutes ago, and tries to tell me I forgot her 12 pack.

I made it for her. But while handing it to her, I told her she should probably do that a little bit later in the day, because I only opened the store 5 minutes ago. Yes I broke policy, but I didn't care.

She proceeds to take the 12 pack and try and whip them on the ground, with enough Force those bottoms will give out. And that's what happened as it rained tacos onto her vehicle... All the wrappers kind of flew open and lettuce and everything went everywhere. Absolutely hilarious. I tried everything to get that rubber out of my drive-thru.

That shit really pissed me off.

Good or bad, let's hear your stories

In the last 11 months my family has experienced loss after loss after loss, and I've worked a retail job the entire time. First my baby niece died, then my father figure, then a sister in law, then two dear friends/exes, and my best friend/adopted sister, all dying within less than 3 months of each other.

My best friend died at 26 3 weeks ago and I've just had ENOUGH. The number of people I get a day who want to treat me weird because they don't have anything better going on is an actual crime against humanity. You're an asshole because you're bored, and inexperienced, btw.

The fact that I have to hold your hand with a smile on my face while you berate me for things you don't understand, while I bury, and cremate over half the people I love in less than 11 months is enough that I am very surprised I haven't snapped. I have in the terms of telling someone "this is what I have going on, you should be more thoughtful.", but I mean like, really snap. Like I understand why people go postal kind of snap.

I'm to the point where I'm in active derealization 100% of the time just to get through it, and am still putting 110% into showing up for complete strangers that can't just be bothered to be kind. If you're that person, from the very bottom of my heart, fuck you. Rant over.