Corporate Dear Corporate...

[jackandcat]

There is absolutely no excuse for guests to not read signs carefully, and absolutely no excuse to not know to read the signs. When I was 19, opposite side of the country than my family so no mentors, married to someone even more immature than I was and pregnant to boot, I learned fast to read signs to avoid a higher total than I could afford at the cash register. This included reading the bar code and comparing it to the price label to make sure that I was grabbing the right item. If a kid who went from home to military to pregnancy discharge could figure that out as part of budget self preservation, anyone can and should.

The problem here is guests DO come up with excuses all the time. Some guests simply don't possess the degree of maturity, personal responsibility and discernment which you and some others among us have developed. You and I know that in shopping, "the devil is in the details". Not all Americans grasp this, rightly or wrongly. Many guests simply haven't experienced enough tough lessons from the school of hard knocks.

So we have guests who think that BOGO automatically means "buy one get one free". In reality, the term BOGO is "buy one, get one for _______", which could be "buy one, get one for ____% off". The BOGO might only apply to only one of clothing brands, not to all of them.

Other guests who will stubbornly demand the Cartwheel (now Circle) digital coupon deals without actually using the Target App and the specific Cartwheel/Circle digital coupon.

I'd also say "there is absolutely no excuse" for corporate to design some of the sloppy promotional deals which are vague and ambiguous. There have been promos where highly-intelligent guests, or a knowledable Target Guest Advocate TM or TL, cannot easily figure out which particular items are, or are not, eligible for "the deal". We can't blame the guest for this kind of situation. Thankfully, as guest advocates we have some ability to "make it right for the guest" but I still sense that this becomes exasperating for our guests and doesn't improve the overall guest experience. YMMV.

 

[Usiris]

Not all guests read the signs carefully. I think a few guests are more used to shopping at walmart, where they just use a "rollback" with no strings attached instead of providing gift-card bonuses (ours often are a better deal with the giftcard). I have no illusions about walmart, they appear on the surface to have "cheaper" prices on frequently-bought items but walmart is very good at making profits off of less-frequently-bought items. I would not underestimate them, but walmart's approach to pricing is different than target's - not necessarily better than target's but it is simpler for some customers including the mathematically-challenged.

Theres an old joke in user experience design; If you have to explain an element on a webpage, its bad design. Perception is reality. If we force guests to think "am I really getting a deal here" they will start gravitating more toward the easier option (our competitors with just a straight x% off).

Walmart can price lower because they have more leverage; they buy a massive amount more stuff than Target. And they dont put as much into making their stores not look like a garbage dump.



Edit: Its kinda funny, after I wrote this I went to a meeting where they were showing us all the new work they did since March to renovate signing. All I can really say is that new signs should be rolling out by Q1 next year.

 

[Dead and Khaki]

When I have to spend more than five seconds figuring out where to place a 7x11, I know it's going to be a fun week up at the checklanes.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

I'd also say "there is absolutely no excuse" for corporate to design some of the sloppy promotional deals which are vague and ambiguous.

This. If I have problems figuring out sign placement in an area where I do ad set every week, how can I expect it to be clear to guests?
The one that really cracks me up is when a sign says "Sale!" with the same price as always printed on the sign and scanning with the zebra. We need to get those "as advertised" signs back.

 

[happygoth]

Okay but I had a guest today who asked about the buy one get one 50% coffee sale. She wondered why the coffee pods weren't ringing up at the advertised prices. I look through the flyer and it says "ground or whole bean only" and I tell the guest that info. She says, "but the signs are all over the aisle, including the coffee pod section." I make it right and then hightail it to grocery. Sure enough, buy one, get one 50% signs all over the entire aisle, including 2 or 3 in the coffee pod sections.

This isn't just a guest issue, it 's the TM being lazy, not reading and not doing their job.

When I have to spend more than five seconds figuring out where to place a 7x11, I know it's going to be a fun week up at the checklanes.

This is why it sometimes takes me longer to set ad than some others - because I will try like hell to not place a sign over any item that is not part of that sale. In Style I will rearrange racks if I have to just to make sure there are no items that may be similar in description but not part of the sale on a rack that I sign. I'm trying to avoid aggravation for the guest and the front end.

 

[Tessa120]

Okay but I had a guest today who asked about the buy one get one 50% coffee sale. She wondered why the coffee pods weren't ringing up at the advertised prices. I look through the flyer and it says "ground or whole bean only" and I tell the guest that info. She says, "but the signs are all over the aisle, including the coffee pod section." I make it right and then hightail it to grocery. Sure enough, buy one, get one 50% signs all over the entire aisle, including 2 or 3 in the coffee pod sections.

This isn't just a guest issue, it 's the TM being lazy, not reading and not doing their job.

If the signs said beans or ground, then again, there's no excuse for the guest not reading the signs and realizing the sale did not apply. Not confusing if the print was on the sign.

 

[Anelmi]

BUT THE SIGNS WERE NOWHERE NEAR THE PRODUCT!!!

 

[Tessa120]

BUT THE SIGNS WERE NOWHERE NEAR THE PRODUCT!!!

Were they in the same aisle? Then it's reasonable for someone to read it and know it means other items.

 

[can't touch this]

BUT THE SIGNS WERE NOWHERE NEAR THE PRODUCT!!!

true, they're usually chilling in RE baskets in TMSC because nobody had time to set them

 

[BackstockIt]

Dear Corporate,

I truly enjoy working at Target, I have a large family and can only work nights - it has been my escape, until recently.
This new Empty Backroom/No Backstock policy is completely destroying the work environment, among other things. Nothing is getting set, regular and street dated merch. Displays are going into the garbage and merchandise is constantly unlocated. No one can make any sense of what is happening.
Why can’t we backstock?
Why must the shelves be jammed with so much product it is falling on the floor?
Why are prices wrong everywhere?
Why does nothing have to be where it belongs? I mean really, either it has a place to go or it doesnt and we can pull all the prices and say F all the locations - push everything anywhere you damn please.
It’s total chaos.
And the clearance, why is it all going to salvage? I must get asked 10 times a night where the clearance section is. It's at the Goodwill Store.
All levels of TLs repeat the same thing “whelp, nothing to be done about it, corporate wants it this way”. I call BS.
Seriously Corporate? Do you really want it this way?
Because no business wants this. No guest wants this. No one wants this!
Messy over pushed areas don’t sell, are dangerous and are impossible to maintain.
Things in the wrong location, wrong prices everywhere, and mass amounts of unlocated items cause confusion on the floor, for OPU, at the register, and guest services.
The money lost cannot be covered under acceptable loss, I dont believe that for a second.
Counts being wrong screws the entire auto pull system.
I train people to do things right, I tell them safety should be considered all the time and if something does not fit you backstock it. Then they get out on the floor and everyone above me says oh no, we dont care about doing anything right and safety is out the window.
I want to love working here, it's an easy job and these issues are absurd. These are problems that could be easily fixed.
This job does not need to be stressful.

 

[happygoth]

Empty backroom/no backstock? That must be your leadership - we have been told no such thing. If anything, we have too much backstock.

 

[BoxCutter]

Empty backroom/no backstock? That must be your leadership - we have been told no such thing. If anything, we have too much backstock.

We have the same rule in Tech. It comes from the group level.

 

[Usiris]

And the clearance, why is it all going to salvage? I must get asked 10 times a night where the clearance section is. It's at the Goodwill Store.
All levels of TLs repeat the same thing “whelp, nothing to be done about it, corporate wants it this way”. I call BS.
Seriously Corporate? Do you really want it this way?
Because no business wants this. No guest wants this. No one wants this!

Definition of WRITE-OFF

an elimination of an item from the books of account; a reduction in book value of an item (as by way of depreciation); a tax deduction of an amount of depreciation, expense, or loss… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

2b

 

[Tessa120]

Isn't there a limit to the amount of tax deduction you can claim due to such loss? At some point the deduction cap and the charity cap will hit a point where continuing to salvage will actually cause a real loss.

 

[BackstockIt]

Isn't there a limit to the amount of tax deduction you can claim due to such loss? At some point the deduction cap and the charity cap will hit a point where continuing to salvage will actually cause a real loss.

Exactly.
Also, I was told by a GSA that the ‘donations’ to goodwill aren’t actually donations, we apparently sell it all at below clearance prices to them. But I have not confirmed that.

 

[Amanda Cantwell]

Exactly.
Also, I was told by a GSA that the ‘donations’ to goodwill aren’t actually donations, we apparently sell it all at below clearance prices to them. But I have not confirmed that.

I think we sell it in like giant pallets. someone a while ago had a video on YouTube where they bought one

 

[redeye58]

Also, I was told by a GSA that the ‘donations’ to goodwill aren’t actually donations, we apparently sell it all at below clearance prices to them.

This.
The're sold literally pennies on the dollar.
Meanwhile I saw a bunch of small storage bins going into the compactor & there was NOTHING wrong with them, they were simply salvage.
Imagine what they could divert from the landfills by setting aside stuff that TMs could purchase.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

I must get asked 10 times a night where the clearance section is. It's at the Goodwill Store.

😂😂😂

 

[jerseygirl]

Dear Corporate, why fix something that ain’t broke. Self check out update is horrible. 😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬

 

[Dead and Khaki]

Dear Corporate:

PLEASE stop the honking already. Or at least let us opt out of it without having to mute the Zebra entirely. Even guests are complaining. People associate car horns with traffic jams, accidents and assholes. Our nerves are fried to a crisp as it is. Please. Make it stop.

 

[Kartman]

Spot don't GAS about your ideas. Stifle yourself and take care of the guest, dim it!!!

 

[happygoth]

Or just turn down the volume.

 

[seasonaldude]

Or just turn down the volume.

Then you don't hear the alerts you actually need.

 

[Noiinteam]

Speaking of alerts. Saw this today. Don't know how long it's been around. We know have alerts for anything parked in a designated fire lane .

 

[can't touch this]

dear corporate I can't w8 for all registers to go down again all at once...on Black Friday... lmao see ya then