adventures in retail land: holidays2010

days 7.8.9... logistics & store operations

2010-12-16T17:23:00.001-08:00

some observations from the week-before-Christmas:

"where are the leather gloves?" ~ "do you have wraps / pashaminas / bigger scarves?" ~ "is this all the __X__ you have?"

I have no previous frame of reference, so I don't know if it is common to run out of popular items -- or to never have had them in the first place -- at this time of year.

I do know that many could have been sold to the many customers who asked for items and then walked away discouraged.
AND I know that my store managers did not ask me what were customers looking for that was not available....

"do you have a gift box? -or- gift bag?"

[no - because no one brought any to the checkout counter & I have no idea how to get them.]
[yes - after I eventually discovered some in the stockroom {yes, I finally ventured in there, too} and brought them to the register myself.]

scheduling of sales associates on the floor is definitely NOT a science

One day there were 5 of us working 2 registers. Just imagine how good are people who get paid on commission at sharing 2 registers, no matter how many customers there are in the store. [And shall I describe to you the many ways that is a disservice to customers? - or would you prefer to avoid the excruciating details?]
Several mornings when I opened, the other scheduled associate(s) 'called in' and did not show up. So I ran 5 registers for several hours. [That works just fine - until there are several customers who need help....]

empty displays. but who is responsible? and who cares?

One week before Christmas - at 4 pm on a day when the store would stay open until midnight - the display table that previously held scarves was essentially empty (sold out).
I called the manager on duty + also asked several co-workers, including the stock support team to find out what needed to happen to fill the display.
Nothing was done for the rest of the day.

I can't help but conclude that overall, it would have been possible to sell more stuff -- if it had been the right stuff available at the right price.

Now, as for selling on commission... let's just say that as far as I am concerned, the minimum wage is what you earn in this job.

day 6. the service model on the floor

2010-12-15T15:16:00.000-08:00

Some things don't work right on the floor:

Faced with tables piled high with marked down merchandise, customers want to check prices of items and calculate the final price after any coupons or discounts.

BUT they must come to a sales associate at a register for that information. The sales associate has to wait for an available register / POS scanner to scan and look up the item. [I have seen many rightfully impatient customers shake their heads over this - and of course they walk away without buying.]

To calculate a final price, the sales associate must either use a calculator to net any discounts or coupons -- or enter the sale into the register / POS to get a final total, and then void the sale ticket.

[Meanwhile, last week I helped a young shopper who brought me the handbag she wanted to buy with her PDA in hand -- to show me that the price on the store's website is $20 less than its store price.]

"Do you have this in another color? ...size? ...more in stock?" - "Is it available somewhere else?"

[How much business must be lost because it is not easy to access this information or to act on it!] The customer needs a sales associate, who can use the POS to look up availability of products (colors, sizes) in the store, across all the stores in the area and in the distribution center. Items in the distribution center can be shipped to a customer.

If there are more in the store, the sales associate can go to the stockroom and find it. [I confess - the stockroom is so daunting that I have avoided it at every opportunity so far! It is a task for the experienced.]

But if the item is in another store.... The ritual is as old as the telephone-in-a-department-store itself: call the operator at the other store. ask for the [insert your department name here] department. hope that someone answers the phone. hope the person does not put you on hold for 10 minutes or forget you altogether. hope the other sales associate can locate the customer's desired item. Ask the other sales associate to put it on hold for your customer at the other location. [If you are paid on commission, try to get the other sales associate to use your employee# on the sale.] And then the customer can go to the other store to pick up her item. [And hope someone can find it for her when she gets there.]

[Meanwhile, every day more & more shoppers on the sales floor are sending photos of possible purchases to friends & family for their feedback & opinions -- and even for purchase decisions.]

The Point of Sale technology on the floor is antiquated. The Inventory logistics is unsophisticated.

There are not enough registers / POS devices. Customers wait in lines to pay and check out. (Or to look up prices and availability).

[Meanwhile every iPhone and Android device can scan or look up an item, access the internet and provide price comparisons and availability at many area stores -- in real time.]

The signature capture pad at one register has a broken stylus (pen). Good news: some industrious associate used scotch tape to piece together something in its place. Bad news: this looks tacky and certainly does not capture a good signature image. When we pointed out the problem to our department manager, he laughed. And it seemed he had no way to do something about it.

[I will confess here that I have a technology & operations background, having worked in IT for most of my career & specifically in manufacturing and retail for many of those years. Without prescribing solutions, I will only say here that the store is missing its customers in the areas of INFORMATION and TECHNOLOGY. And, indeed it is rapidly falling further and further behind them.]

day 4. day 5. running the till v customer service

2010-12-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

the store is open long hours now, in anticipation.... the shoppers are there. sometimes. overall results are ahead of target, so the store management team is basically happy...

EXCEPT for mistakes & omissions...

> the shopper who asked for a gift box and was told 'we don't have any' [instead of directing her to gift wrap or obtaining one for her] turned out to be the wife of a corporate executive.

[* sigh of relief that wasn't my customer *]

> several customers who asked me for products in the newspaper circular when I had no idea where to find them & could not help much.

> who knew I was not permitted to remove an item from the store display, but instead should have called a manager?

> the product merchandiser who left a pile of 25 items with me 'to be marked down' -- but no equipment available to re-tag them - and when the equipment came, no one took time to show me how to use it - so the pile sat for hours.

> and the many customers who want product information... though I have none to give them.

There are tens of 'holiday temps' like me in the store.

By now we can run the POS and perform basic functions (check prices. check-out purchases. accept returns. post payments to a customer's account. re-stock abandoned items. straighten displays. open & close the cash register each day.)

But we aren't much informed & we don't add much value to the shopping experience. And the 'experts' are not always available to refer to.

Sorry, shoppers. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

day 3. scheduling & other inefficiencies

2010-12-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

So I arrived for day #3 feeling slightly-more-competent and confident. at 7:45am, in time for the store opening at 8am. to discover that I was the only person there, covering 5 registers at 3 check out stations.

ok. it's early. things are slow. I can do this.

A few problems for the store, as a result: 1 customer who left unhappy because I did not know where were the pill cases advertised in the paper [I found them on display several hours later, once I had a chance to look]... new high end merchandise to be put on display, but I did not know where to put it & the manager did not have time to assist... another customer looking for a 'hold' item that was nowhere to be found.

And then before 10am, things got busier than I could juggle. Too many customers waiting for help, check-out. someone [me] left the keys for the expensive handbags in the wrong place & caused a few minutes of panic when another sales person did come in. [luckily no serious harm was done]

Ok, then more sales people came to work. Too many. By mid-afternoon we were climbing all over each other, 'sharing' 5 registers between 7-8 sales people. And without enough customers, things got a little competitive [there is a sales commission involved, remember?]. I certainly did NOT sell my 'goal' for the day.

[sigh. I was glad to go home.]

day 2. coupons work

2010-12-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

day 2. clocked in before 7:45 am and the store opened at 8.

last hours of the newspaper coupons ($10 off on $50 purchase / $20 off on $100).

they came, they shopped, they exchanged and they price-checked like mad. the offer expired at 1 pm, and by 2 things were quiet.

what did I learn today?

1. it is a problem when merchandise has no tickets on it whatsoever AND there are no others like it on the shelves.

2. it is good that a sales associate has discretion to handle this problem but with no guidelines, the outcome of that 'handling' is quite unpredictable and the impact is unknown.

3. I can make a few customers very happy.

4. I'm sure my leeway for these things is quite narrow.

day 1 is a blur

2010-12-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

Busy department. Busy registers all day. Barely time to re-stock returns and abandoned purchases. Crowded check-out areas, poorly designed and stocked, contribute to inefficiency.

Pleasant, patient customers. Most love this product (handbags) and love a sale. Others gift shopping with love [its still early, I know].

My colleagues are the spectrum: generous & helpful; selfish & competitive; experienced & temp.

The store is basically well-stocked, although some high end handbook lines seem sparse.

Yesterday was the last day of 25% Off Friends-and-Family Sale. The time went fast and I went home tired.

[Oh, and yes... My first 20 customers did suffer at the POS, but thankfully we survived. I got a LOT of practice -- and, yes, that training did help!]

Training. Its all about the POS... but does it work?

2010-12-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

So... on my training day there were three of us -- a young black woman in her late 20's-ish, a younger white man in a wheelchair, and me (white grandma). Our name tags and employee ID numbers were waiting for us on arrival. A very vivacious HR staffer met us and got us through all the rest of our hiring paperwork and documentation. [Turns out I am even worth tax credits to the department store under the HIRE act.]

Here's the recap of the Basic Knowledge we gained from her in the first hour: where is the employee entrance. how to get into the store before hours. where to park [way in the back, because our customers deserve the best parking spaces]. the loss prevention department has cameras everywhere. don't be afraid to call them if we see something. how to get our employee discount on purchases. how & where to clock in & out. when we get paid [weekly on Friday by direct deposit]. where is the expresso machine demonstrator for free coffee.

And THEN we went to the POS training. POS = Point of Sale. the cash register + scanner + credit card settlement + online product information kiosk + time clock. If the Sales Floor is the home of our customers, the POS is the central focus of a salesperson's relationship with the store. It is my job as a sales associate to "drive" the POS on behalf of the customer. So obviously, as a new associate, I will need to be familiar with everything it does -- and able to use it.

There is a well-developed online training tool that uses a computer and a full POS system. There were 2 workstations available in the training room for the 3 of us. [hmmm. watch where this goes]. The online training is well structured and broken out. There are online 'practice' sessions throughout the material with optional POS tasks, and a big Final Exam requiring POS activities at the end. I believe the training material covers the majority of what I will need to know about using the POS in real life. [to be confirmed in real life - we'll see]. I would strongly suggest that the Final Exam be broken out and administered at the end of each functional segment -- not at the end -- to consolidate building blocks & learning as it goes and to keep everyone most engaged. But it seemed to be basically a sound training package.

ok, BUT.... It was too long to complete it properly in the time available (approximately 3-4 hours). And [remember] we did not have individual workstations.

So VivaciousHR set us up to login separately and then follow the material together. We helped each other and worked through all the content, but without taking time for any practice on the POS. We made it through all the content in about 2.5 hours. And THEN we each had to complete the Final Exam.

I went first. The team coached and helped and eventually I completed all the practical tests successfully. [Trust me, you do not want to be one of my first 20 customers at the POS in real life. My apologies in advance!]. My two training partners then each had their own workstation and we coached and helped each other as they, too, also successfully passed the Final Exam. So, after 4.5 hours of training, we are Ready to Go.

That's it. Stand back. As soon as I get the schedule, I will be helping you on the sales floor.
Handbags on First Floor.
c'mon down!

I am a customer

2010-11-29T08:26:00.000-08:00

"How do you like to be treated as a customer?" HDM asked me, when we met.

I will tell you what I did not tell HDM. I am not a shopper. I am the one who parks outside the most remote entrance to the one store I am interested in visiting at the mall. I dart in and out as quickly as I can.

Now... when I do shop, I spend. I look for quality and value. I have a style. *My daughter told me I do, so its true.* I am selective but decisive when I see what I want.

So, in answer to his question:: I like to be left alone to shop. [Be non-intrusive.] Until I need help, and then I want you to be there. [Be available.] And I want you to be knowledgeable and competent. Simple.

And...

How do YOU like to be treated as a customer?

why?

2010-11-24T11:16:00.001-08:00

If you want to see the shopping experience through other eyes...

Or... if you want an inside view of what is happening daily throughout this shopping season...

Then follow me here. We will venture into the frenzy together.

begin

2010-11-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

I am an unemployed CxO, VP and consultant. That -- and a token -- will get you on a bus in this economy, so...

I applied for a seasonal job selling on the floor of a major department store.

I applied online. I simplified my background to focus on all the customer support and cranky client experience I have had. I included references to the POS systems I have tested and supported, without describing my role. And I promised I could be available any time, any day over the coming weeks.

Within 2 working days, I received an e-mail, inviting me to schedule an interview at the store. And after a pleasant 15 minute interview on a Sunday, the HR representative invited me to come back the next day for another interview with the handbag department manager.

The young and very responsible handbag department manager (we will call him 'HDM') came up to meet with me 'as soon as he finished with a customer'. He carries a phone that rang at least 4 times during our 20 minutes together and he answered every call. He was courteous, highly accountable... and always 'on'.

Would I be able to work crazy hours? [the store will be open to midnight for the two weeks leading up to Christmas]
Have I ever worked on commission before? [this job pays a 2% commission -or- a minimum hourly amount]
How do I like to be treated as a customer? [that will be a future subject]

And so, after 15 minutes HDM was pleased to offer me a seasonal position in Handbags. I accepted and was scheduled for a 4-5 hour training session next week, after Thanksgiving. The countdown begins.

If there was any question about the nature of the job and its stresses, my brief meeting with HDM clarified everything. This job is 'all demands, all the time'. There is no room for salespeople to be tired or tense or cranky. And it pays as little as possible.

Now the only question is: am I up to this challenge? Can I keep up with the pro's? And will people be drawn into the store and its merchandise enough to buy things -- in spite of my rookie retail skills?

BBL. My training starts on December 2.