Biggest basic tips for SL.....
know what the brands mean.....
Xhilaration is "juniors trend",
Mossimo Supply Co is "juniors everyday",
Mossimo Black is misses and somewhat workwear,
Merona is women's. C9 is performance obv.
Liz Lange is maternity
same-ish for mens minus Xhil. know that you don't carry "dickies" or other work brands, what should be in season (is it coat time, or bathing suit time? you only have pajama sets seasonally, that kind of thing)
For kids and infants/toddlers.....basically learn what size range goes with who. infants is from xyz1-xyz2, boys is X, girls is Z, etc. is it school uniform time, where are your "licensed" items (ie yes, we have hello kitty, no we don't have.....idk....warner bros, etc) and that they have their own sections for socks, underwear etc.
this will help to direct guests to the right places, and also if you have to zone, reshop or push over there. and know what's in season. that should cover most of all basics.
intimates - i mean, just don't do that to yourself....but....good to know where the "blocks" are as that should get you through;
socks/tights/pantyhose are "here",
FOTL/hanes/packaged undergarments are "here"
Xhil bras/panties (junior trend) are "here"
Gilligan & O'Malley (compare these to being Mossimo Black here) are there
Control Garmets
"Support" bras
Specialty (nursing, or like....the boxed stick-on, no-see bras, etc)
if you know the lay of the land that should get you by, call a SL tm for specifics (i usually find they know about as much as i can guess anyway)
it's like the hardlines equivalent of knowing that lightbulbs are in c23, and that it's right after the lock aisle, but before blankets, that kind of thing. having the landmarks, so to say. if you chip away at knowing that stuff - starting out from broadest and working your way up to more, that seems to alleviate the pain of being in SL when its not your area. like...i for example still don't know the T-size range, and where toddlers cuts off and becomes big kids. but that would be the next thing i need to know to get through softlines.