Two thirds of retail workers admit to lying to cover up lack of product knowledge
Almost two thirds (63 per cent) of retail workers have admitted to lying to cover up their lack of product knowledge with almost half (47 per cent) believing they do not know enough about the products they are expected to sell, according to research from digital retail experience and technology company Red Ant.
Of those surveyed more than half (58 per cent) of frontline retail staff said they were given less than two hours’ training before being expected to sell goods. Half (50 per cent) said their lack of product knowledge had left them embarrassed, with 46 per cent admitting to being shy or nervous when dealing with customers. Three quarters (74 per cent) of respondents said they felt their employers could be doing more to assist their product knowledge, with 31 per cent claiming that having a tablet with them on the shop floor would help provide more in-depth product information.
According to the research the three most popular ways retail workers have dodged customer enquiries include, directing customers to a colleague or another store (73 per cent), lying about a product or pretending to know more about it (63 per cent), and leaving the shop floor unattended (48 per cent).
The survey also revealed that this lack of product knowledge is affecting customer faith, with 67 per cent of consumers noticing the lack of product knowledge displayed by retail staff and 40 per cent of customers deliberately going online to avoid poorly informed retail staff.
Of the findings Red Ant CEO, Dan Mortimer, commented: “When I visit a shop, I know I can find all the product information I need in a matter of seconds just by pulling out my iPhone. But I also know that, if I ask a retail worker the same question, the likelihood is they’ll ask me to hang around for a few minutes while they visit the till-point or ask another member of staff for the answer.
“Many retailers are failing to spot this problem – it’s not necessarily about giving consumers the tools to access the information themselves, it’s about using technology to enable employees to provide a more valuable, enjoyable experience and keep customers coming back for more. Smart digital retail experiences matter as much in store as they do online. It is vital retailers learn how to use digital to optimise offline experiences, as happy employees lead to happy customers and a better looking bottom line.”
Top 10 tactics used by retail workers to avoid serving customers:
1. Find another member of staff who knows more about the product
2. Lie about the product to make it sound like I know what I’m talking about
3. Make up an excuse to leave them alone on the shop floor
4. Hide in the store room
5. Go to the toilet
6. Pretend to feel ill
7. Deliberately ignore them and serve a different customer instead
8. Tell them the product they’re interested in isn’t in stock
9. Pretend to be busy doing something else
10. Suggest they visit another store instead
Content created with:
Red Ant
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