Holiday shopping tips from a retail employee perspective

It’s that time of year when shopping becomes a hassle. After working over five years in retail, I have seen it all, and I’m sure there’s more to come. Many shoppers want to get in and out, others want to browse, and then there are those who want to fight.

During this holiday season, please keep in mind that retail employees are there to do a job. There are rules they must follow. Despite popular belief there is not always a magical button that can fix your problem.

There are times when an item is out of stock. Most stores cannot hold items during this time of year, so everything is first-come-first-serve.

I have seen six Black Fridays. I know the shoppers who are kind, from the ones who don’t even look at you as you hand them their change. Here are a few tips you should consider when shopping this holiday season:

•Please do not talk or text on your cell phone. Whenever shoppers do this to me, I feel like they think I’m not important enough for their attention. It is rude, plain and simple. It only takes three minutes on average (depending on how much you’re buying) to check out. The text can wait.

•When a cashier offers you a credit card, please do not deny it before they even finish talking. Most retail stores require cashiers to get credit cards. It is part of their job, so they must ask. Listen to their spiel, then say, “no thanks.”

•Do not yell at the cashiers. It is not their fault that the WiiU is out of stock or that the item was in the wrong place. Ask for a price check or ask if the cashier can check other stores. Yelling gets you nowhere.

•When doing a return, understand that there are rules the cashier must follow. Most stores offer receipt look-ups, which save a lot of hassle. Always hold onto your receipt. If you do not have your receipt understand that you may not be able to do the return or get a full refund.

•Always get a gift receipt for gifts. It makes the return process 100 times easier.

•Do not leave carts in parking spaces. This is annoying for shoppers and cart attendants. The cart corals are there to protect cars from getting hit by stray carts. Most stores have multiple cart corals placed so that shoppers do not have to walk too far to put their cart away.

•Of course there are times when cashiers make mistakes, but this is part of being human. Even computers make mistakes. If there is a mistake on your receipt point it out to the cashier and they will be more than happy to fix it for you.

So keep these tips in mind as you’re shopping these next few weeks. Shoppers are there to get products; the employees are there to make a living.