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Q: How is your shopping experience different in China?
Do you feel pressured to buy items by shop assistants in many aisles when shopping ? These stores employ so many workers just to "hang out" in the aisles to "help" shoppers with their shopping especially in the "high end aisles" and I guess it is good customer service but in Canada and other Western countries, one would never see so many shop assistants and often, the only contact one has with a store employee is the cashier (and the cashier may only say hi to you if she is having a good day; lol). I know the wages are low here and it is normal in China to have these floor assistants but I am a shopper who likes to be "left alone" when shopping; one may think that these workers get commission for sales in their aisles; lol..............how is your shopping experience and do you feel pressured to buy? Are you a ''leave me alone" shopper, do you just ignore them and pretend to be deaf, do you say "I am okay, just browsing" or do you ask them "where can I find condoms?" or do you ask them out to dinner?...they may run away to their mamas if you say the last two; LOL
They are quite annoying. I think they should be at least told by their managers not to bother the foreigners. Most foreigners are browsers, not talkers. It's not so bad in supermarkets because there is a lot of space to run into where you can hide, but in clothes and footwear shops it's unbearable. I suppose in China it's classed as good customer service, but in the UK it would be bad customer service. "Welcome to out store" and the constant explaining of products when you even so much as touch an item...needs to stop.
earplugs playing relaxing music seems to block them out for me. it is really nice with lots of staff, but I find that they will rarely move away from their own shelf to help you find anything other than what they are promoting
For me I find it easier in China to shop than in an Australian Shopping Centre
and this is why
in Australia I get accosted by every stall that is set up in the lanes between the stores
everything from skin care to charities to Gym equipment.
In China if they start to follow me around the store I see how many laps I can make them do before they give up.
I am definitely a leave-me-alone shopper and sometimes it annoys me a lot when a shop assistant constantly follows me around or asks me what I want. Some take the hint and leave me alone while others sometimes ask "OK, maybe I can find what you're looking for? We have X, Y, etc..."
Sometimes even headphones don't work... I've had one experience where the assistant just kept following me around and every time I touched something she'd have a remark even after I said I was just looking.
