According to both a University of Florida and Hayes International Study, shoplifting accounts for 30% to 40% of annual retail shrink/losses. It is no wonder that retail stores are putting serious security measures in place to discourage pseudo-customers that come in with sticky fingers, empty sacks or loose coats with hidden inside pockets, determined to walk out with some free merchandise.
I remember the first time I shopped at Sam’s Club. As a member, I was “privileged” to shop there and take advantage of all the benefits of membership. What I didn’t expect was being asked to produce my sales receipt at the door as I left to prove that I had paid for the merchandise in my shopping cart. I had only walked 50 feet from the checkout stand, past displays that had items too large to hoist into my cart without a couple of body-builders in full view of the customer service desk. And yet, I couldn’t be trusted. Besides, the lady at the door took a quick glance at my cart piled high with stuff and couldn’t have verified that each thing was on the long receipt I gave her. After about three seconds she swiped her yellow highlighter down the receipt and wished me a good day.
I’ve become accustomed to Sam’s Club and now Wal-Mart’s practice of asking for a receipt when exiting the store. My husband, on the other hand, experienced a far different anti-customer service this past weekend. He went to Best Buy to look for a camera case and tripod for his new camera. After looking at a couple of camera bags, he told the sales person he was working with that he wanted to go and get his camera out of the car to be sure the bag was the proper size. As he was entering the store with his camera, he was stopped cold by a customer service agent. “I have to put a sticker on that before you enter,” she said. Now that camera is my husband’s baby, and no one was going to put a gooey sticker on the new camera. He explained that it was his, it wasn’t a return item, and he was just going to use it to be sure it was the correct size for a bag he was going to purchase. An exchange of words ensued…he not yielding, she not letting him put one more foot in the store. A manager finally intervened, and escorted my husband to the camera department. When sales person there called out to my husband, he had to verify to the manager that my husband had indeed been telling the truth…he had been shopping previously.
My husband bought a camera bag and tripod from Best Buy, mainly because we had a gift card for the purchase. I supposed “innocent until proven guilty” doesn’t apply to casual shopping. In the eyes of this retail store, my husband was a suspect…not just a customer wanting to be sure the size was right before purchasing. Empowering customer service staff to make decisions in favor of the customer will build trust and respect that will keep them coming back.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, the “AHA!ogist,” is a career/workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for CSJobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/ You can read more of her blogs at csjobsblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt
I remember the first time I shopped at Sam’s Club. As a member, I was “privileged” to shop there and take advantage of all the benefits of membership. What I didn’t expect was being asked to produce my sales receipt at the door as I left to prove that I had paid for the merchandise in my shopping cart. I had only walked 50 feet from the checkout stand, past displays that had items too large to hoist into my cart without a couple of body-builders in full view of the customer service desk. And yet, I couldn’t be trusted. Besides, the lady at the door took a quick glance at my cart piled high with stuff and couldn’t have verified that each thing was on the long receipt I gave her. After about three seconds she swiped her yellow highlighter down the receipt and wished me a good day.
I’ve become accustomed to Sam’s Club and now Wal-Mart’s practice of asking for a receipt when exiting the store. My husband, on the other hand, experienced a far different anti-customer service this past weekend. He went to Best Buy to look for a camera case and tripod for his new camera. After looking at a couple of camera bags, he told the sales person he was working with that he wanted to go and get his camera out of the car to be sure the bag was the proper size. As he was entering the store with his camera, he was stopped cold by a customer service agent. “I have to put a sticker on that before you enter,” she said. Now that camera is my husband’s baby, and no one was going to put a gooey sticker on the new camera. He explained that it was his, it wasn’t a return item, and he was just going to use it to be sure it was the correct size for a bag he was going to purchase. An exchange of words ensued…he not yielding, she not letting him put one more foot in the store. A manager finally intervened, and escorted my husband to the camera department. When sales person there called out to my husband, he had to verify to the manager that my husband had indeed been telling the truth…he had been shopping previously.
My husband bought a camera bag and tripod from Best Buy, mainly because we had a gift card for the purchase. I supposed “innocent until proven guilty” doesn’t apply to casual shopping. In the eyes of this retail store, my husband was a suspect…not just a customer wanting to be sure the size was right before purchasing. Empowering customer service staff to make decisions in favor of the customer will build trust and respect that will keep them coming back.
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, the “AHA!ogist,” is a career/workplace consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for CSJobs.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and creating original gift items available on http://www.etsy.spoolhardy.com/ You can read more of her blogs at csjobsblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt
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