Tonight I did a shop as a candy store. There was no problem with the employees, I feel they did the best they could under the circumstances. I was in the store for about 25 minutes and only saw 2 employees. One at the register with a very long line and one manning the entire store. The store was VERY busy; at one time I counted 15 customers in the store. I was not given a tour, not offered a basket or a sample. Not because the employee ignored me, but there were just way to many customers for her to handle. There are a lot of questions that, when answered, will come across like the employee did not do a good job. I know I can explain the situation in the final comments but I am concerned questions such as "Was the associate pleasant and polite throughout your entire interaction?" when we had NO interaction and there is just a YES and NO box to select.

Any suggestions or comments are appreciated!

Did the shop require a purchase? If so, there must have been an interaction with the employee who was your cashier. Did the report ask how many employees were on duty and how many customers were in the store? Those two numbers should make it very obvious that the employees were busy and did not have a lot of time to spend being attentive to individual customers. I would just do the best you can with the report and add comments if you are able to.

If you purchased something, you had some interaction with the staff. I agree with AustinMom. They ask about the number of SA and customers for a reason. When faced with a situation like that, I usually ask something from the cashier, so I could extend the interaction. For instance, I would ask the hours of the store or something else. Otherwise, I would just report how efficient the processing of the sale or how the staff coordinated their tasks to handle such a crowd.

Even if you didn't have any interaction with one of the employees, surely you could see if she was smiling and being courteous with other customers? And you're right, you can always use comments section to give credit where credit is due. You could also tell if she was "moving with urgency", being helpful, etc.

Thanks for the reply AustinMom. Yes, it did require a purchase and I had a quick interaction with her. Based on what I observed of the girl that was working the sales floor is that should would have followed what is expected of her if the store was fully staffed for the volume of customers. I didn't want to take up her time when she had 'real' customers to assist. The report does not ask how many employees were on duty but I think you are right I can just explain it in the comments area. Appreciate the advice... pretty new at this and just want to make sure I am reporting how I should!

I am not sure which candy store you are referring to but most jobs I have done ask that the shopper approach a salesperson if they are not approached after a specific amount of time. In this case if there was someone out on the sales floor and the instructions say you should have an interaction then this is not taking up her time when there were "real" customers for her to attend to. You are a real customer from the point of view of the report. Your interaction does not have to be a long one. If you can still access the instructions I would check and see if the interaction is required in this way and if it is make sure to note in your report that you were in the store for 25 minutes and due to the crowd you were not able to make contact with the floor sales person as they were constantly busy. Then describe the interactions you saw with other customers. You might also want to send an email to the scheduler about the situation if in fact you were asked to make an interaction. If not, then it sounds like you are good to go.

@kacolarusso wrote:

Thanks for the reply AustinMom. Yes, it did require a purchase and I had a quick interaction with her. Based on what I observed of the girl that was working the sales floor is that should would have followed what is expected of her if the store was fully staffed for the volume of customers. I didn't want to take up her time when she had 'real' customers to assist. The report does not ask how many employees were on duty but I think you are right I can just explain it in the comments area. Appreciate the advice... pretty new at this and just want to make sure I am reporting how I should!

Sounds like you're off to a great start! Congrats!

Use those narrative opportunities. I understand the hesitation, but remember, we're supposed to objectively report what we see and what our experience was. I had a shop recently that was similar to this. I used the narrative to explain that the staff were very focused on doing their jobs to keep the lines moving. I reiterated what was answered in the questions about the number of staff and the number of customers in the building as well. That's the most I could do since I was just to report what I saw and what my interaction was like, and when I did that, I did the same thing and noted the staff was very focused on completing their tasks.

If you were making a purchase, you were a "real customer" and are entitled to ask questions, the same as you would, if you were not shopping the store

That is a long time to be in a candy store but sometimes those lines do get really long. A quick question is an interaction and does not take up too much of the salespersons time. I would have gotten in line right away and would have asked a question as the associate passed by and then had my interaction with the cashier. Time is money and while waiting in line I could do all my observations of the store and watched how the associate interacted with the customers.

I suspect that this is Woman Bird candy shop. There is a minimum requirement of being in the store for either 15 or 20 minutes, and my problem has been that I was the only customer there and one or two sales people, and it was hard to stay for the required time, especially when they were not offering any samples. Frankly, I would welcome your problem, but of course the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

For the life of me I cannot think of a woman bird candy store but am having fun trying to guess. I have done naked lady shops where it does get pretty embarrassing browsing for a long time in an empty store. Since you are new to shopping my advice is remember to do all you are asked to do no matter what so you get paid.

I don't get the Woman Bird reference, but I've done one with these guidelines for Beyond Hello. Kind of a rare chain, though. Most of the time I'm offered a tour, and really for the kind of store it is, the level of service is a bit obscene in the direction of nice.

I get the feeling they understand that sometimes things get too busy for every single person to receive some kind of personalized service, though. Answer it as best you can and just be crazy detailed on the narrative, and they should be more than happy with you, plus not at all cross with their staff.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2015 07:48PM by Fastjack.

I rarely get the 'common' phrases used to disguise shops, including this one. I actually thought I recognized the shop from the first post, but I can't figure out the connection to the nickname being used in the most recent comments. Clueless!

@pony123lucy wrote:

For the life of me I cannot think of a woman bird candy store but am having fun trying to guess. I have done naked lady shops where it does get pretty embarrassing browsing for a long time in an empty store. Since you are new to shopping my advice is remember to do all you are asked to do no matter what so you get paid.

I have done the woman bird candy (think of expensive chocolates) and I keep the associates busy with questions, if there are no other customers there. I need to kill 15-20 minutes

I hate the shops where one has to spend 20 minutes to decide what vehicle product to buy when there are hardly any other customers. If there are lots of customers, that is good. You could 'huff and puff' to get waited on....I guess, just like real.

Thanks so much everyone for all of the comments...they really help out a new shopper. I don't always get the clues of companies either but this shop was probably the same one that fastjack was referring to. I gave as much detail as I possibly could so crossing my fingers that they are OK with it.

@kacolarusso wrote:

.................................Yes, it did require a purchase and I had a quick interaction with her. .............. Appreciate the advice... pretty new at this and just want to make sure I am reporting how I should!

Approach your narrative from beginning to end------->'"When I entered the store I observed 2 employees. They were dressed in the Retail branded uniform. The employees had on a name tag. One employee was behind the register waiting on customers. The other employee was on the sale floor assisting customers. There were at least 20 customers in the store when I arrived. I walked around the store observing the sale floor associate. The Floor associate assisted the many customers finding the merchandise they were looking to purchase. The merchandise was fully stocked on the shelves. It was neat compared to the amount of customers looking for different items. The floor associate was pleasant and friendly. The floor associate had to go to the backroom to get merchandise for some customers.
After awhile I got in line. There was only one line and one register open. There was 10 people ahead of myself. I observed the Cashier while waiting in line. The Cashier was friendly and pleasant with each customer. When it was my turn, I approach the retail counter. The Cashier smiled and asked if I had found everything. The cashier scanned my items. The items was placed in a bag. I gave the cashier the money. The Cashier placed my change and receipt in my hand. The Cashier said have a pleasant evening and please come shop with us again. I left the store." This would be what my narrative would sound like

So, YES, the Sales associate was polite and pleasant during my real interaction. I am always a real customer. Especially, if the shop requires me to make a purchase

In some reports, NO answers require the most narratives. If you did not get a tour explain why the Floor associate was unable to do so, side on the side of the busy customers experience. Taking my money is not the only way to get a interaction with an employee. Keep doing what you are doing.

The naked lady and the bird lady chocolates are good around the holidays.

Finally got the Naked Lady reference...but only because I did that one yesterday or I never would have figured it out! I managed to spend 25 fun minutes in that little store. I think of it as the lady on a horse.

The Woman Bird candy chain has only 60 locations across Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. So, unless you live in one of those states, you are very unlikely to know what chain is being discussed. Woman Bird makes really great chocolates and other confections. I would put the candy on par with the California candy store chain also founded by a woman and now owned by Warren Buffet.