It's a tough balance, I find hardly anyone asks if you need help now, maybe since covid/staff shortages... or I look like I've got no money to spend!

I've worked in sales and I would always greet my customers. I would say, Hi, welcome to JC Penny's, I'm Dawn. How may I assist you?" If they said that they were just looking then I would reply, "Ok, just let me know if I can assist you when you're ready." I prefer to be greeted and it means a lot more if the sales person greets you by name. When they greet you by name especially at a store you frequent it makes you feel like a person not just a dollar sign.Edited 22-Jun-23 01:24am

I seriously need assistance when ever I go into a store, There's nothing I hate more than trying to find assistance.

Leave me alone kindly. I have particular tastes and they waste my time. When I was a teen and had my first jobnin a high-end menswear and suits store, the guys flocked for advice, but they really just wanted a date. My Mgr was so great, bc he'd rescue me all the time and step in to help them so I could go get some real bookkeeping done and not have to feel like I had to accept all the come ons.Edited 21-Jun-23 22:06pm

Eye contact, a warm welcome and something like "good morning, if you need any assistance please feel free to ask.." usually followed by a compliment to the customer to personalise the greeting (that colour scarf really suits you)

It's a balance, a warm friendly greeting, bit not pouncing immediately. As they browse reassurance that if they need anything not to hesitate to ask...

I used to work in retail,Jaycar,Mitre 10 and Hammer hardware years ago and we were taught just to smile and say hello while making eye contact as soon as they entered the store was all you need to do because most times if the customer needs help they will ask for it and if they don't ask and look lost then that's when you approach them with a "are you needing some help there"? or a "Is there something I can help you with"?

Browse until you need help

i am a shocking shopper the last time i went my wife asked me to get one carton of milk and if they have bananas get six first thing she says to me when i get home is why do you have 6 cartons of milk ,they had bananas i say ,yea i need all the help i can get at the door in the aisle where ever i can get it

Would rather browse & then ask for help if I need it. Edited 21-Jun-23 19:33pm

That's true Cynthia. Some shops the customer service just dosen't want to get off their bums! Sitting where they are and asking "You are Right there?" Of course, I am right here, but what are you doing there?" No Greeting Nothing! Funny that some of them do not understand their job! 🤣🙃😉🙂

I like a greeting when I enter the store but prefer to be left alone unless I take an interest in something when I would like to be asked if I require assistance. I dislike having to wander around a store looking for someone to assist me.

A friendly greeting when you enter and then un-invasive monitoring, a good assistant should be able to tell when a customer wants help

If you need help, there is nobody to ask for, if you don’t there is - this almost like Murphy‘s law

I would rather browse first and if needed assistance I would then ask for it.

I would rather not be hounded by shop assistants when I am shopping but prefer them to be at the counter where I can ask for help if I need it.

sooner look first then ask if i need to.

I don't like it when someone comes up to me as soon as I walk in the door. I will ask for assistance is I need it.

I like a good morning or afternoon, and an offer of help

If I’m going to support their business by spending my money instore, I expect a greeting at the very least.

Depends on the store. If it's a shoe or clothing store I appreciate staff asking if I need help and giving me some time to browse without pressure. This way I know sizing etc shouldn't be an issue. A super market I want to get in and out without feeling like I'm being followed. I'll ask for help if I need it.

I personally don't like it.

say hello can I be of help

So long as there is a salesperson to assist when I need them, I do not care about being greeted as I walk into a store.

I'm not sure if it matters to me either way

I think being acknowledged when you walk in is good. After a look around some one should ask if they can help you with anything.

in a shoe shop I think it is required and I really appreciate. Perhaps not so much other stores straight away but just observe for a while.

Having once worked in a dept store, I know that management expects their staff to greet and offer assistance to potential customers as they might lose the sale if the person can't find what they want. It might become annoying, but I am always polite and accept their help or otherwise just tell them I want to browse for a while; this gives the assistant a good reason if their supervisor asks why there is a customer wandering around unassisted. It's no use getting upset when staff are only following a managers directive.

Good morning/afternoon as you walk in the door always puts me in a good mood.

Hello and smile is always welcome.

a hallo and smile are always welcome

it is nice that some one greets you but i like to shop my self

I go into stores to shop, and ask questions about products, not to make friends.

I like to be approached and asked if I need help. Usually I simply smile and say No Thanks, but Thanks for asking and if I need help I will come to you. A smile costs nothing - in fact it helps to keep your facial muscles working - that is, of course, if you haven't had your face pumped full of Botox so that those muscles freeze and, over time, die so that one day no amount of Botox will help and your face will fall in a massive heap of wrinkles! Store Staff have a responsible job to do and are usually Cheerful, Freindly and smiling only to have some people, particularly those male and female louts who have their mobiles stuck to their ears, talking rubbish and simply ignoring the Check-out staff, then waving their phone over the scanner to pay and then walk away without a Thank You, a Smile. As one of my friends on our local supermarket Check-out says when that happens, and it is more often than many of us may realise, she simply says, sotto voce, "Thank you for shopping with us, now go fucoffee!"

I prefer to browse around first before a store assistant comes over

I always acknowledge the people in the store. There's no need to be rude, they are doing a job and I imagine they are pressured to sell, sell, sell under difficult circumstances. If they don't make their target they can lose their job

They need to have enough staff to be able to help you when needed (Myer take note)...but like a decent waiter, they need to have enough sense to leave you alone until then..I HATE it when they employ someone to stand at the front of the store whose only job is to say "hello" and "goodbye" to every customer in turn (Bunnings take note!}...Staff need to know enough to be ABLE to help you too...not call someone else to help you when you ask! (Bunnings also take note) Edited 21-Jun-23 13:58pm

I would rather browse but would appreciate if there was staff around to help of I have a question. Not just staff at the cash register.

Sometimes

A little hello is nice to show that they are available if necessary, but I don't like it when workers hover around me

A brief hello to acknowledge they know i'm in their store and something along the lines of "just let me know if you need any help" before they let me browse at my leisure.

We have had both too, it's like when you need help there is no one around and when you don't there is some one asking you if you do. Maybe we give off a pheromone when this happens that only staff at certain shops can smell a mile off and run in the other direction. Honestly it wouldn't surprise me at all. Most when you do ask for help are okay. We asked for assistance at Big W the other week and the man was great in helping us get what we wanted. We also gave Bunnings our number and the sales lady said she would call us if they found the item that said it was in stock but we never did get any call so I don't think they found it so it must have been sold. Still if you say you're going to call then you should, oh wait that is common curtsey and that is in the extinct section at the library these days the only place it can be found. I do try though to be helpful and grateful for the things I have and know there is always some one worse off than I am in the world.

I prefer to browse for a bit before someone pounces on me!

In big stores these days you have to find the assistant - if you know the layout and go to where you wish to look, finally someone appears to ask you what you want.

Rather browse first then ask for help if I need help

A friendly greeting is nice but let me browse first and then if i want help i will ask for assistance

I like it when people greet me after a few minutes so I have sometime to browse

I would prefer to just walk into a shop/store and then if I needed help, I would ask for assistance.

I find the greeting when you enter a store to be really disingenuous. Some poor schlub has to try and greet, pleasantly by the way, more than 1000 people a day. Happy people, sad people, angry people, great and pleasant people and just plain jerks. I like to explore a new store just in case there are any spur of the moment “must haves.” If I can’t find what I’m looking for, or need some assistance, then a handy polite worker is just perfect. Everybody has a bad day now and then and sometimes they have a good reason to not be at their best. Forget the phone and just try and be pleasant and respectful. You should get the same in return.

I always get a greeting at Kmart but browse by myself until I need help. I was in USA 1980 and went to a hotel to stay. Doorman said “ good evening sir”. He was old enough to be my father as. I was only 32

I walked into one store where the sole assistant was on a personal phone call and showed no attempt to hang up. I was looking for something specific but I voted with my feet.

I like a greeting when I enter but prefer to browse on my own,

I like it when there is a friendly staff who asks you for assistance and then leaves you to browse. If I need her then I will go up to her. It is important for staff to show they care but most of all they are smiling and do not walk about miserably. These types of place that show miserable people I will avoid going there.

I would like to look first then ask for help

It's up to you.

like to be greeted, but left alone till I want to question

If I need help I ask for it

Its a bit difficult because if they approach me when I'm brousing I don't like it but if I am seriously looking and they don't approach me I don't like it.

Of course when I need assistance.

ty Danielle

I have done many sales courses, all have said that the customer should be acknowledged within 10 seconds of entering the store. However this is not hounding them it makes them feel aware that you are there to help some friendly conversation also helps

Being a shop greeter must be a very boring job. I try to brighten their day when they ask "Can I help you?" . My reply is "No thanks. I am only shoplifting" Watch them do a double take..

Greeters? Most of the timer they are security.

It is nice to be greeted when you go into the store but would definitely not like being asked constantly asked if I needed help. If I am unsure about where to find something I will ask.

It depends on the the typical type of day

I am on the fence with this one. It comes down to why and when you are going.

Both are nice depending on what I'm looking for

There is no right or wrong answer to this. What is annoying is both extremes: being ignored or being hounded. What is annoying is how some companies are forcing employees to say hello to everyone (with good intentions but it can get irritating for the customer when they have been asked half a dozen or more times if they are ok or if they need help as some may feel that the employees may think that they are shoplifting or trying to shoplift when the opposite is usually true: that the employees will be told off by management for NOT acknowledging a customer's presence).

Greetings at the door tend to deter shoplifters as they are immediately aware their face has been seen. Walmart discovered that years ago. It works subtlety on the casual or opportunistic thief.

I'm initially independent unless I know specifically I don't know something. So I prefer no immediate contact.

Nice to be aknowleged when I go into the store then can ask if I need assistance

I think that it goes both ways. If you are looking for a certain item, it would help. If you are browsing, then it could be helpful or annoying.

I like having people at the store greeting me when I enter the store and I also like assisted from the workers if I need help on something.

I prefer to be greeted as I enter,if possible. Obviously if assistant is busy then when he/she is finished. I am never rude to these people it's their job to help but if I am just killing time or wanting to have a browse I will tell them. But if I know what I want and am having trouble finding it they have the opportunity to help me.

Nice to be greeted without pressure

I like being acknowledged then being asked for assistance when I am looking at something for a lengthy amount of time. What I don't enjoy is being constantly asked if I need help. I remember one time when I went to Lush, a young greeted me and asked if I needed assistance. I clearly informed her that I was just browsing, but she kept following me around the store and made comments to every item that I picked up. At one point, I couldn't help but laugh, and the girl got really offended.

If I want assistance, I ask for it

If you are just browsing it can be annoying but if you have something in mind it can save you a lot of time

Remember Lecornus Furniture, their employees wore the red jackets and when you entered the store they swarmed you to see if could "help you" then when you finally found something in the massive showroom you couldn't find anyone ... or maybe I was just too short and should see them them ... they were very, very helpful and friendly though once your found them again ... my thoughts though are that so long as these people exist that's one less person not standing in the unemployment queues ... just like others who have disappeared ie Lift Operators in their smart uniforms and people manning the toilets and taking your six pence, even though it was referred to as "spending a penny":,

Browse by myself and ask for assistance when I need it

Its a funny thing that. When I ust want a quiet browse ,I'm constantly asked if I need any assistance, but when I need to ask something there's not a human in sight............Edited 21-Jun-23 06:37am

I worked in retail for over 50 years before my retirement, and will tell you now that the greeting of customers when they enter a store is often a security measure! I generally followed the greeting with "I'll keep my eye out in case you need assistance" so any customer with theft on their agenda would be alerted that you have seen them and are watching.

welcome to walmart😄

it depends. When I'm looking for something specific and I'm running out of time, I'd prefer a store associate to meet me and bring me exactly where this item is. On the other hand, if I'm just browsing I prefer to be left alone

I would love to be greeted politely when I enter a store by some one that knows about the product being sold With supermarkets and the tendency to use computers instead of shop assistance I find them quite cold and confussing

Both. Sometimes help is needed and sometimes it's not. You don't wanna be standing around with a question to be answered but no one is available to help and you don't want o be unnecessarily bothered when you don't have questions.

Lance, you made me smile:)

I don't mind at all when someone greets me and asks if I need help finding something specific. It's easy to smile, say thank you, and if I want help, I tell them what I'm looking for so I don't waste time looking for it. If I'm just killing time, I tell them no, thanks, I'll know if I see it. Unless the employee is busy with someone else at the time you enter, there should always be someone in a shoe store to help you. We're not allowed in the back to find the size we want to try on --- or maybe buy.

When I go shopping I know what I want I do man shopping. On and out

Let me be so I can browse. If I need something, I'll ask. Problem is, sometimes if you need to find someone there is no one around.

Depends on whether or not I’m window shopping or shopping for something in particular

I don't like to be bothered by sales people when I walk in a store. If I need assistance, I will ask. Ever notice when you don't need help they are all over you, but when you actually need help, no one is around?

I like to know where certain items are.

I prefer to be left alone to browse.

Yes

MAKES ME FEEL APPRECIATED, MAKES ME FEEL GOOD.

I would rather be left alone to get what I want and only approach a worker there if I needed help.

I like to browse, but if an associate asks me if I need help, I tell them politely not at the moment, but if I do I will let them know.

Greet me, hug me and whisper in my ear.

I dislike sales people in my space (or Purfume squirters) past a nod , smile or hello . I also dislike those sales people that run or hid or pretend they dont hear you requesting for assistance when your obviously looking for one Edited 21-Jun-23 02:32am