Today, in the produce aisle of a newly opened supermarket, some clerk asked my husband if he was finding everything alright. Is a supermarket the kind of place where you need directions?
by 
Sheriff Raff -Answerhag
ANSWERS: 17
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If it's a large enough supermarket, it's entirely possible.
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This is a newly coined phrase that marketing focus groups have determined should be asked to a customer based on surveys. It does sound better to me than "Can I Help You?". I have found that many retail stores are requiring their employees to ask this question if for no other reason to pass a secret shopper visit.
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omg yes! i work at a grocery store and i have tons of people asking me for stuff because they cant find it. and some people are just too lazy to look for things themselves.
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Just courtesy. Plus, his manager was probably watching him. :p
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I usually do. The practice of having clerks make contact with customers as they browse attempts to meet two needs: It tries to create a sense that the store's employees care about the customers, and it alerts potential shoplifters that the store's personnel are aware of their presence. Personally, I'd rather be left alone to wander aimlessly until I either find what I'm looking for or give up and ask. I can't stand being hassled while I'm shopping.
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I am assuming it's not a large chain market. I wish there were more employees like that, even if they 'have' to be. Today I went shopping for a new set of dinnerware. It was me, holding a heavy set of dishes trying to balance it, gracefully and carefully, on my daughters stroller. I asked a male employee where the closest register was and he pointed in a general direction. A girl that was talking to him said "why don't you help her carry that?" I couldn't believe that he had to be told that a man should help a lady with a baby carry something heavy. Then the lady at the register asked if I needed help bringing it to the car. The same guy, who I then figured was a manager, tried to call someone else to help me. He wound up taking it to my car for me and I was sappy grateful. I don't want to be harassed by 100 people over and over, but a general 'how can I help you' or 'are you finding everything alright' 'do you need help carrying that' would be greatly appreciated.
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Absolutely! How else would you know that they moved the protein shakes from the organic and breakfast bar section to way over by the pharmacy! Really, they are moving stuff around my store all the time.
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Hell yeah! I was looking for Marshmallow Puff and couldn't find it!!! Nobody asked me if I needed help either...your husband was lucky!
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YEs, especially if it's a new one or really large. Each market displays things as they think best and often they really pick weird places. I found one store that had canned pumpkin in the baking section, not in the canned fruit and veggie section. Some put toothpicks in the picnic and paper supplies and some place it with household things.
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Sure! Especially if I'm looking at my shopping list and at the produce with a horrendously confused look on my face. Sometimes I'm planning on making a recipe that calls for some vegetable I have never HEARD of, much less seen. That's when the produce manager comes to my rescue. "Oh! THAT's Escarole!"
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It's a bit demeaning to say this, but part of the reason that the clerk asked your husband if he needed help MAY have been because he is male. Stereotypically, it is women who do the grocery shopping for the family. So the clerk may have assumed that your husband was unfamiliar with the store. There is also the cultural stereotype about men refusing to ask for directions....:-D...
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Yes at the nicer higher end stores, or on Grand Openings they extend the courtesy of asking if you are finding everything.
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Definitely. Each store is different. Also, the associates are usually required to ask.
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Yes. My supermarket was just remodeled and it took me twice as long to find everything. I wish someone would have been close by to ask me if I needed anything - I would have loved some direction as to which aisle things are in now.
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Oh yes, especially if it is new.
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Not at all. It's sheer silliness honestly. Clerks aren't supposed to speak to the customers unless spoken to since they are on the lower rung of the employment caste system. Didn't you know that? I bet he was finding things with his knowledge of how every supermarket is set up. Where's the turnip aisle?
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Apparently it is. People can never find the soup or the bread in my store. I couldn't tell you how many times people stopped me to ask where something is when they are standing next to it.
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