Business Insider France has decided to give Sephora employees a chance to talk about customer behaviours they have to deal with on a daily basis that grinds their gears. They spoke to various active employees of the brand, including 23-year-old Fanny—an intern in a sales outlet for a luxury brand, and Cassandra, 28, who has been working in Sephora for almost three years.
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Forget to treat employees with respect
According to the employees, it irks them when customers forget to be polite in the store. Even something as simple as saying hello or goodbye makes all the difference. Fanny said:
Saying hello is not complicated. We are not dogs after all.
Cassandra explains that when it comes to being polite and treating employees with respect, some customers have forgotten basic manners. She told Business Insider:
We get some pretty harsh words, about our work in particular, that we are incompetent for example.
Dig through product storage drawers
If you’ve been to a Sephora store, you know that they use drawers at the bottom of the display to stock their items and products. These drawers are normally only used by authorised employees, but it turns out that some customers don’t mind making themselves at home in the store. Cassandra recalled:
When I worked in a shop in Paris, I saw this a lot, especially from American customers who are used to self-service.
Visit the store to spritz some perfume on
One of the employees confirmed that a select few customers come in on a regular basis to spray on some perfume and they leave the shop without buying anything—that’s a huge no no. Fanny agreed:
Some customers come, put on perfume and leave.
Expect to pay less for quality products
Employees revealed that it’s also hard to work with customers who are not willing to pay well for quality products. While Sephora has their own-brand products that are relatively cheaper, they also have mid-range and luxury brands on sale. Customers often come in wanting the best of the best but step back when they see the price tag, so employees suggest that they do their research beforehand.
Use testers on the skin or mouth
The testers in the shop were not hygienic before the pandemic, and now it's ten times worse but employees have witnessed customers doing it nevertheless. An employee said:
Applying lipstick with the tester in the shop, or mascara in front of the mirror, I find it really dirty at the moment.
Ask for free samples
The Sephora website may say that you can get up to five free samples on your purchase, but it comes with a condition. You’ll get more free samples depending on how much money you spend, but some customers walk into the store feeling like they’re entitled to getting as much as they can. Cassandra mentioned:
Even before saying hello at the checkout, they already ask for samples!
Fanny added:
Some customers want a lot of samples when they've only bought a product for 10 euros, it's complicated. And apparently, going round the consultants to get even more is definitely frowned upon!
