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4. Ghosting by sales associates: Sales associates are
The very point of sale in high demand these days due to labor shortages and
The ve
point of sale
ry
the Great Resignation following the outbreak of Covid
19. An aging population, skill shortages and evolving
workplace expectations also make good help hard to
find. Sales associates who walk away, don't look up or
otherwise avoid responding to customers are an even
more troubling trend. Whatever happened to "be right
with you" or "sorry for the wait"?

5. Lack of punctuality: Businesses need to open on
schedule in keeping with posted business hours. Any-
Holiday season's one who has looked up a store's hours of service or
the exact time for opening bids at online ticketing and
blooper reel auction sites will expect merchants to respect them by
being on time. Stephen Hawking once said, "Half the
battle is showing up." So do it. A slow-moving employ-
ee who begrudgingly unlocks a door 10 minutes after
By Dale S. Laszig opening time is not a good look.
he other day, during an interview, a source used 6. Lack of product knowledge: Retailers sell products
the term "service provider," and I heard "surface and services that consumers can buy from anyone,
provider." The phonetic similarities reminded anywhere using phones and laptops. Knowledgeable,
T me of six retail bloopers that happen every holi- friendly staff and merchandise that people can touch
day season and seem quaint by modern standards. Despite and try on are reasons why consumers prefer in-store
our progress toward interoperability and fluid, intuitive to online shopping. Sales associates who don't know
commerce, some merchants are still acting like it's 1995. their products or don't engage with customers hurt a
company's bottom line. Training and mentorship pro-
Here are examples of decidedly retro trends in online, grams can help create engaged associates.
mobile and in-store commerce:
Peak performance needed
1. Too many choices: Personalization at scale is fun-
damental to today's commerce methods, but if a re- For the last five years, holiday spend has accounted for
tailer hasn't had a chance to get to know a customer, 19 percent or more of annual retail sales, according to the
in-store POS is not the place to start. A customer check- National Retail Federation. NRF predicts over $950 billion
ing out during the holiday season would prefer not to in November and December sales this year, according to
see a thousand payment options on a screen, or to be Matthew Shay, NRF president and CEO. "It is not surprising
prompted to answer a survey or give a sales associate to see holiday sales growth returning to pre-pandemic
five stars. That person wants to check out and leave. levels," Shay stated. "Overall household finances remain in
good shape and will continue to support the consumer's
2. Too few choices: Chatbots that recite multiple choice ability to spend."
questions are a staple of today's call centers but do not
always provide enough options. Frustrated callers who NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz observed that annual
search for the right button to push—one that best de- holiday spend is increasing by an average of 3.6 percent.
scribes their issue—can get stuck in an endless loop, or "Consumers remain in the driver's seat and are resilient
worse, get disconnected by systems that have no toler- despite headwinds of inflation, higher gas prices, stringent
ance for matters that don't fit the call-in script. It makes credit conditions and elevated interest rates," he said.
sense to offer an "it's something else" button to avoid
alienating customers. This holiday season, merchants need committed partners,
not just technology. Let's help them eliminate bloopers and
3. Stalking by sales associates: Sales associates occa- become true retail stars.
sionally take courtesy and attentiveness too far by fol-
lowing customers as they browse, repeatedly asking if Dale S. Laszig, senior staff writer at The Green Sheet and founder and
they're ready to buy. Some need to replace the saying, CEO at DSL Direct LLC, is a payments industry journalist and content
"always be closing" with "never be annoying." Online strategist. Connect via email dale@dsldirectllc.com, LinkedIn www.
shoppers may also have privacy concerns when they linkedin.com/in/dalelaszig/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/DSLdirect
see recently-browsed items reappear in their Facebook
and YouTube feeds. Salespeople and ecommerce mer-
chants need to respect individual privacy by giving
customers more breathing room.
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