Entry level role decent to get your foot in the door in retail but not good long term. The good thingsThe customers were pleasant. I enjoyed styling customers and making them feel content with their purchases. The positive feedback received from customers was a rewarding component in the role.
Merchandising the store was a fun way to showcase personal skills and there is lots of supporting documents and help from the VM team.
Helping team mates that were stuck, or inexperienced get confident was also rewarding. Learning about core business practices was interesting to me.
The staff discount is generous but there are limitations on how you can use it. Commission structure is ok when company targets are attainable, otherwise it’s not guaranteed.
The challengesUpper management show clear favouritism with managers, personal relationships get in the way which affects overall fairness & staff morale within the company.
Stores are often understaffed, leaving one person to handle large volumes of heavy stock boxes with minimal support and space. I often had to change mannequins & large window displays solo in an unreasonable amount of time, creating serious safety concerns.
The culture is unprofessional with frequent gossip & catty behaviour. Constant micromanagement through emails & WhatsApp, resulting in poor work–life balance.
Pay is very low for the workload, and wage practices are of concern. Staff are often left without proper overtime compensation. Speaking up leads to negative treatment.
Managers often work during lunch breaks & after hours just to keep up with work demands unpaid. They set unrealistic work standards for their team. Working here was overall unpleasant, during my time I felt undervalued for my time and effort.