why do retail staff complain about "no staff"

Astitchintime I have found the same problem with M&S very few staff to help and no wonder shop lifting is on the increase

Bosses only see the wage bill, they try to get by with a little staff as possible. I worked in supermarkets for a lot of years and I will say they are very greedy. You complain, they pass it on to their staff but don't employ any more people, Asda for example their policy is' All staff have to work to 110% ' so that says it all

I'm not surprised more people buy on line now as shop service is so bad, I hung on as long as I could but then sadly had to join them and rarely use a store now, it's easier to have a delivery and return if doesn't fit than serch for an item for hours in a shopping centre with no help and long queues. A vicious circle and the way of the world these days. In supermarkets I refuse to selfcheckout and shop less often because of queues which makes the queues longer as we buy more each time, it's a crazy world these days.

I have worked in retail on and off over the years. I currently work in a small newsagents. The big supermarkets don't do stocking at night because of the extra costs. So it is normal daytime staff that get lumbered with it. Unfortunately it is the staff on the floor that bare the brunt of grumpy customer complaints. A smile goes a long way

My daughter was in a self service M&S trying to buy groceries. The tills were constantly failing but there was only one member of staff who was working on the Returns desk. My daughter wrote a well thought out letter to management and they didn't reply!

HousePlantQueen

nanna8

Staff are expensive but supermarkets make huge profits and can easily afford to pay for them, especially young ones on lower wages. No excuses, just money making . If there is a problem with shoplifting pay staff to stop it at the door or check everyone’s receipt like KMart and Costco do here.

I agree. Small shops may be on slim margins, but the big supermarkets certainly are not.

They’re still on slim margins, they just sell an awful lot more than small shops. The markup % on food is low.

I agree, margins are slim. Those profits not only have to pay wages and other overheads such as rent, business rates, insurance and fuel amongst other things, they also have to service debt and pay a dividend to shareholders without whose investment large companies would soon be in trouble.

Barleyfields

Here is an invitation to you come along to a Sainsburys,Tesco or ITV AGM's this coming year and you can speak to any of the Chairman or CEO's.ITV and Sainsbury hold there meetings in London and Tesco at Welwyn

On what basis might I speak to the Chairman or CEO of any of these companies?

Physical shops can’t compete with online shops so they have minimum staff because the overhead of paying staff is one of the highest costs of any business. That’s all there is to it. One can argue that it was better without online shopping however that’s not really true, it was just different