13 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Retail Store Employees

If you’ve ever wondered how you managed to spend twice as much as you planned, you may want to consider the shrewd retail employees you’re up against. Here's what we discovered talking to the men and women who ring you up.

1. THEY HAVE JEDI MIND TRICKS.

Retail employees—particularly when it comes to big-ticket items—are trained to steer conversations in ways that have you saying, “I have to have this.”

“You have to be a step ahead in the conversation,” says Larry, a former store supervisor at a northeast Best Buy. “It’s about getting them to admit what they want and controlling the answers you want out of them. It’s a big mind game.” Once you begin to nod your head and agree that a $500 sound system is a better value than the one marked for $1000—and if you came in wanting the $300 option, that's still a sales upgrade—their job is done. “But the second the customer takes over and leads you, you begin to lose the sale.”

2. NICE GETS THE BEST PRICE

Gone are the days when customers can haggle over prices for most goods—but that doesn’t mean everyone gets the same deal. Polite, mannered customers are “200 percent” more likely to walk out the door with a great deal than someone throwing a tantrum, Larry says. “It’s not that we can necessarily adjust prices, but in terms of getting a call when a sale is on, or someone going the extra mile, you get more bees with honey.”

3. … BUT RUDE SALESPEOPLE MIGHT HAVE YOU SPENDING MORE.

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A recent study from the University of British Columbia revealed that shoppers looking at high-end items might actually be more likely to buy when staff play hard to get. Marketing Professor Darren Dahl discovered that rude or “snobby” salespeople made people want to share their exclusivity by purchasing luxury goods.

4. THEY HATE IN-LINE SHOPPERS.

“The indecisive customers are the worst,” says Kay, an employee for a major discount apparel chain. “ still shopping while in line, and telling the cashier to add and remove stuff.” If you haven’t settled on your selection by the time you arrive at the register, expect to be put on the not-nice list.

5. SHOPPING AROUND 5 P.M. MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA.

While this can vary from store to store, the 5 to 6 p.m. window might be the worst time to try and get some real help. “This is during shift changes, which may result in closed tills and more part-time associates helping customers,” Kay says. “The full-timers may care more, as the job is more of a career.” Instead, try shopping closer to opening, when employees are heavily caffeinated.

6. THEY MIGHT PROFILE YOU.

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Despite the fact that no retailer would ever recommend judging a customer based on appearance, salespeople do it anyway. “It happens,” Larry says. “You can rush to judgment, thinking because someone is wearing ratty clothes, all they want is a cable.” But that can backfire: Once, a customer stopped in to Larry’s Best Buy unshaven and covered in paint and filth. “He spent twenty grand. He was painting the room he was going to put his new television in.”

7. THEY KIND OF WANT YOU TO LEAVE A MESS.

While the image of the forlorn apparel employee picking up after the wreckage of a clothes-tossing crowd gets a lot of play, the reality is that stores need you to make a mess: Touching items is a key component of making the move from contemplation to purchase. Holding up that sweater—even if you discard it in a heap—is better than not touching it at all. (This is also why many apparel displays are on flat tables: They want you to put your stuff down so you have two hands to fondle that shirt.)

8. THERE MIGHT BE POO IN THE CHANGING ROOMS.

Many retail Redditors have expressed frustration at the apparent confusion some customers have regarding changing rooms and restrooms. Horror stories abound of salespeople entering clothing areas and finding fecal matter. Why do customers treat the rooms like bus stop stalls? “I cannot comprehend,” one worker said,” why anyone would want to do this.”

9. THE CLEARANCE AREA IS A PURPOSEFUL DISASTER.

If you’ve ever given up trying to make sense of the hurricane that is the clearance section, you’re doing exactly what they want. Stores often leave the clearance area in disarray in order to draw customers back to the neat, organized displays featuring current (and regularly priced) merchandise.

10. BRUSHING BUTTS IS BAD FOR BUSINESS.

In his examination of shopping habits, Why We Buy, retail advisor Paco Underhill observed that customers examining a display in a congested area of a store were likely to experience a “butt brush”—an unintentional collision of backsides as other customers squeezed through. After a couple of brushes, they’d move on without picking out an item, apparently discouraged by the physical contact. Stores that relocated the displays to avoid the scrapes saw sales go up.

11. THEY DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO SELL YOU ON THE MOST EXPENSIVE THING.

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Depending on the deal the retailer has with a manufacturer, that $700 television might not net as much profit margin as a $600 television—so don’t be surprised if you get down-sold rather than up-sold. And don’t think a premium brand is necessarily in their sights. According to Larry, one major electronics manufacturer was so demanding about displays and inventory management that sales reps preferred not to even deal with their products. “There was almost no margin and we didn’t believe in the product,” he says. “You could get more for less.”

12. THEY MIGHT NOT USE COMMAS IN THEIR PRICES.

Looking at an expensive television or high-end outfit? It’s likely to be priced at $1999 rather than $1,999 because the latter would take longer to say. Researchers have discovered that more syllables in a price tag means a customer may see it as being more expensive—even if it’s simply printed differently.

13. IT’S EASIER IF YOU JUST LET THEM TALK.

Customers, Larry says, are frequently impatient and just want salespeople to get through their canned pleas for store credit, product demos, or add-ons. The problem: They’re not doing it because they like hearing themselves talk. “Someone in the store told them they had to. It’s going to happen one way or another, so if you just listen, it’ll go faster.” If you’re in a weekend rush, well, join the club. “In the end, they don’t want to be there selling a television at 7:30 on a Saturday, either.”

Additional Sources:
Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping.