Retail-Iation: Serious and Humorous Observations on Bad Shopping Behavior

By Donna R. Summerlin

Spending twenty-five years in a retail environment teaches you a lot of things about shopping behavior. It also leads to a lot of pent up frustration over bad shopping habits.

Donna R. Summerlin vents about the behavior store employees encounter on a daily basis in a critique that is serious, funny, and instructional. Instead of continuing to shop like normal, its time to examine your own behavior and that of your peers.

Summerlin offers insights on how store employees cope with bad shopping behaviors; ways to overcome hostility, both as a shopper and employee; tips to help you remember the importance of good manners; and observations regarding outrageous behavior that will make you examine your own shopping habits.

Gain an insiders perspective on the true nature of the retail business, and laugh along the way. Written for shoppers, store employees, and those seeking to get into the retail business, RETAIL-iation uncovers the unacceptable behavior that goes on every day, and more importantly, it provides a plan to fix it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462013869

Donna R. Summerlin

Donna R. Summerlin spent twenty-five years working in the retail business. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belmont College, now called Belmont University. She lives in North Carolina with her dog, Charley.

Book preview

Contents

Social Shopping Behavior

The Nature of the Beast

Your Eyes Are Bigger than

Your Budget: Employees End Up Paying for That

Out of Order

Cash Management 101

Blinded by the Light

Blinded by the Light?

You Can Find a Line in the Dark

The Gender Gap in Shopping

Can You Hear Me Now?

Wow… Free Day Care

Sorry, We’re Closed

Memorable Moments:

Where’s Amnesia When You

Need It?

The Oscar for Best Dramatic Performance

The Runner-Up Performance

BYOB

A Thing of the Past

More Memorable Moments

Where’s a Referee When You Need One?

Call Someone Who Cares

A Life Sentence

The Finish Line

Social Shopping Behavior

Retail had never entered my mind as a career choice; many choices had, but never retail. When I graduated from college, I found myself searching for a job in my field of choice; however, after a while, my goal changed. Ultimately I knew what I had to do: get a job—and fast. Strangely enough, just as when a personal relationship you are not searching for happens to you, a relationship with retail happened to me. I enjoyed it, and I was good at it. The world of retail became my world—as far as careers go, anyway. I found it to be rewarding at the end of each and every day; however, as the years went by, I discovered that the relationship was turning into a bad affair. The attraction that bore such a strong foundation had sadly turned into a love-hate relationship. You may find this hard to believe, but, believe it or not, it was not the hard work, the long hours, or even the enormous corporate demands that ultimately brought an end to this long-time affair. It was you—the shopper—that eventually brought it to its closure. Having said that, I