切爾西·格林伍德

Working in retail is of a rite of passage1 that most people should experience at least once， in my opinion. Sure， its usually a dead-end job requiring mind-numbingly boring tasks， but it teaches a lot of valuable lessons about responsibility， communication， and teamwork.

I got my first retail job in my not-so-early 20s2， during a time when I was trying my hand at a freelance writing career after years of staff positions. I was basically the inventory manager at a high-end womens boutique in a trendy downtown area.

My role was not customer-facing （although I did answer phones） but instead behind-the-scenes： I received shipments from wholesalers， logged merchandise into the system， priced and tagged items， shipped packages， etc. As a highly-organized person with attention to detail and not necessarily the best people skills3， the role was right up my alley4.

And， while I expected the role to lend some structure to my days and put some extra cash in my pocket， I learned a lot more in my year at the boutique than I had ever imagined.

Every boutique is unique

Despite the high prices， boutiques are ideal for those seeking something more original than the offerings of your average fast-fashion5 store. Every boutique has its own totally unique mix of inventory due to the tastes and buying patterns of the owner or buyer.

My boss would find inventory and inspiration in diverse places and travel to fashion trade shows to buy the latest styles. Theres a world of merchandise to choose from， and youll never find two boutiques with the same exact mix of wares.

Be respectful of stores

When you spend enough time in a place， it starts to feel like a second home， and you take a certain amount of pride in it.

So there was nothing more obnoxious6 and disrespectful when customers would mess up displays， leave garbage behind， or heap piles of clothing on the dressing room floor. Or when people would let their kids or pets loose7 in the store. Or when someone would come in right at closing， browse long enough to make us stay open late， and walk out without making a purchase—or giving it a second thought8.

Bottom line： As a customer， youre in someone elses personal space， so try to keep that in mind.

Content is king

The first rule of determining value is to always check the fabric content tag， which is usually sewn into the seam on the bottom right side of a top， dress， jacket， or skirt; on pants， its in the waistband. If something is made of cotton， polyester， or polyurethane （aka “vegan” leather）， I wont pay a lot for it. If its silk， linen， velvet， wool， cashmere， leather or another quality material， that might justify the high price.

Its the little things

Next， take a closer look at the details. A high price tag might be due to detailed embellishments like beading， embroidery， elaborate buttons， hand-stitching， intricate draping， etc. These extras take time， skill， and money and thus increase the cost of an item.

Dont knock the discount

An employee discount is a major perk9 of working in retail， so if youre in the market for a job， be sure to apply at places where you actually like the clothing.

And keep in mind that smaller boutiques might offer better perks than corporate stores10， which follow strict protocols. For example， we were sometimes allowed to purchase items “at cost，” meaning the owner would only charge us what she paid to the wholesaler for an item. Thanks to this， I bought many high-quality items that I wouldnt otherwise have been able to afford and which have become staples in my closet11.

The selling never stops

The saleswomen at my boutique didnt work on commission， so they werent pushy with customers—at least not overtly. One of the main sales techniques I observed is akin to “the devil on your shoulder.” Saleswomen understand that most customers want to purchase something， but they need to be provided with that something and a good reason to buy it.

First， saleswomen will always encourage you to try something on. “Whats the harm？” theyll ask. But they know its one foot in the door12—and that its hard to resist buying something when you see it on yourself and love it.

When you exit the dressing room and step in front of the mirror， next comes the flurry of flattery. They might have you try on some heels （to make you look taller and slimmer） or style you with expensive jewelry or accessories to dazzle you into saying yes to the dress. Sometimes theyll pull out the big guns， like proffering13 shapewear， telling you its the last one left， or bringing out the owner to fawn over your look.

You may be waffling14—perhaps the price is high or the fit is off—but theyll keep telling you what you want to hear until youve convinced yourself to buy it.

我認為，大多數(shù)人至少要在零售店里工作過一次才算真正長大成人。的確，做零售往往枯燥至極，也沒什么前途，但是能教給我們大量有關(guān)責任、溝通和團隊合作的寶貴經(jīng)驗。

二十五六歲時，我獲得了第一份零售工作。那時，我辭去干了多年的職員工作，正在嘗試自由撰稿。我工作的高檔女裝精品店位于市中心時尚地段，我干的大致就是庫存管理員的活兒。

我并不直接和顧客打交道（盡管我的確還負責接聽電話），我做的是幕后工作——接收批發(fā)商寄來的貨物，登記貨物入庫，給商品標價貼價簽，發(fā)送包裹，等等。我是一個非常有條理、關(guān)注細節(jié)的人，但未必十分擅長和人打交道，所以這個崗位正適合我。

一開始，我只希望這份工作能讓我的生活有條理一些，再掙點零花錢，然而在精品時裝店工作的一年里，我學(xué)到的東西比我想象的要多得多。

每家精品時裝店都獨一無二

盡管精品時裝店的價位高，但是如果想要找一些比普通快時尚店里的商品更有獨特性的東西，最好還是去精品店。由于店主或采購員的品味各不相同，采購習(xí)慣也千差萬別，每家精品店都擁有自己獨特的貨品。

我的老板會去不同地方尋找貨源，發(fā)現(xiàn)靈感，他還輾轉(zhuǎn)各地去各種時裝貿(mào)易展購買最新款的服裝。可供選擇的商品太多，你永遠找不到貨物完全相同的兩家精品店。

對每家店鋪都要尊重

在一個地方待久了，那兒就好像是你的另一個家，你多少會有些榮耀感。

因此，最令人反感和無禮的莫過于顧客弄亂擺好的衣服，亂丟垃圾，或者把試過的衣服堆在試衣間地板上;有的顧客放任孩子和寵物在店里亂跑;有的顧客臨近打烊時才來，隨意長時間翻看衣服，店員只能陪到很晚，結(jié)果最后什么也沒買就走了，甚至根本就沒有買的意思。

最根本的一點就是，你要時刻牢記，你是顧客，你是在別人地盤上。

材質(zhì)至關(guān)重要

確定衣服的價值，首先要查看介紹面料的標簽。標簽通常縫在上衣、連衣裙、夾克和短裙右下側(cè)的衣縫里，褲子的標簽一般縫在腰縫里。如果衣服是用棉、滌綸或聚氨酯（又稱人造革）做的，我就不會花重金買它。如果衣服材質(zhì)是絲綢、亞麻、天鵝絨、羊毛、山羊絨、真皮等優(yōu)質(zhì)材料，那么價格高也是情有可原。

細節(jié)決定服裝檔次

接下來再看細節(jié)。如果衣服上有珠串、刺繡、精巧的紐扣、手工縫制或繁復(fù)的流蘇等綴飾，衣服的標價就高。制作這些綴飾需要時間、技術(shù)和金錢，這就抬高了商品的成本。

不要忽視折扣

做零售的一大福利就是可以享受員工折扣。如果你正在找工作，確保你喜歡應(yīng)聘的那家店里的衣服。

還要記住，大型服裝店或連鎖店有嚴格的規(guī)章制度，因此和這些店相比，小型精品店的福利往往更好。比如，我們店里的員工有時可以“按成本價”買東西，也就是說店主只收取她付給批發(fā)商的金額。正因為如此，我買了很多原本買不起的高檔服裝，這些衣服后來成了我衣櫥里的常備單品。

推銷無處不在

我們店里的女員工并不按銷售額拿提成，所以她們不會對顧客死纏爛打，至少不會太出格。我發(fā)現(xiàn)她們常用的一種推銷方法類似于“耳邊念咒語的惡魔”。店員們知道，大多數(shù)顧客都想買點什么，他們需要的是有人給推薦點什么，并且給他們一個正當?shù)馁徫锢碛伞?/p>

首先，她們會一直鼓動你試穿?！霸囋嚐o妨?！彼齻儠f。但她們很清楚這是引導(dǎo)顧客購買的第一步。一旦試穿并發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很喜歡，你就很難抵御購買的欲望。

然后，你從試衣間出來，站在鏡子前面，她們會不停地奉承你。她們會讓你穿上高跟鞋，使你顯得更高更苗條，或者給你搭配一些昂貴的珠寶或配飾，讓你目眩神迷，最后買下這件衣服。有時，她們會使出殺手锏，像贈送塑身內(nèi)衣，或者告訴你只剩最后一件了，又或者請老板來恭維你形象好。

你可能還在猶豫不決，因為價格太高，或者不太合身，但是她們會一直順著你的心思說話，直到你下定決心購買為止。? ? ? □