The Hēathernet 20oz. to Geekdom

Retail Tales: Odd Buys

(Retail Tales: Hey, I work at Target, one of the largest retailers in the United States. From my viewpoint behind the name tag I see different parts American society coming and going; doing what it loves to do best... consume. I figure: Embrace it, and share my insights. Insights within these posts are my views alone and not that of Target Stores.) 

There are a few Target posts I've been mulling over since become full time at the store but I'v e been resisting. I fear that it will become all I ever blog about and I want to make sure that Target is not my life. Writing, on the other hand, is something I wouldn't mind being my life. That means that I've got to crank out the text more often, Target themed though it may be. We'll start with a fun one.

Top selling items that may surprise you:

There are certain items that people ask for every day that you probably expect, batteries, ink cartridges, converter boxes, and the Wii Fit bundle for example. These are items that you also always need, or, you've seen on the news that they are a hot hub-bub generating item. There are other items that I'm either asked about consistently or that I sell nearly as much as the aforementioned items that may surprise you. The items are listed in the order of my increasing shock and disbelief. Keep in mind that this is not indicative of actual Target sales figures and just my personal experience.

Wii Consoles

The Nintendo Wii debuted in the fall of 2006 after creating quite a stir when it promised to debut a revolutionary new controller. Fear and disappointment almost immediately attempted to settle in for Nintendo fans when the debuted controller looked only slightly more fancy than the remote you might get with your garage door opener. Well the way in which the new controller interacts with the video entertainment was the promised revolution and that was a promise quickly proven to have been kept by mother Mario. You may have read that one of Nintendo's goals was to move the Wii out of the video game arena and into a necessary household appliance like the TV or even fridge. The proof takes shape every time we actually have the thing in stock (which is becoming more and more often) and the guests start flocking to the electronics counter. One of my favorite thrills in retail has been helping open minded elderly couples choose out their next Wii title that they can play when the grandkids come over. (Consequently one of my least favorite practices is selling mundane electronics like portable phones to the technologically close minded.)

Cruddy Kids Movies

Part of this observation will almost certainly expose my movie snobbery. For example, although I would not consider it cruddy by any means, I am not a Shrek fan. Madagascar 2 is Dreamworks latest animated DVD release. When I saw the box loads of the disc I thought the inventory size was preposterous. Turns out a kids movie release sells by the handful. Furthermore, if the price of any kids DVD drops below ten bucks it will probably be at least picked up and ogled  for a trip up to the front check outs. Gobs of them also come back to us, I assume that's when behavior issues force the title off of the final receipt. Speaking of: So much of what I sell are really parent augmentation devices. In car DVD players for peaceful trips to Disney World. Car power outlet adapters for the Nintendo DS to survive power outages. Begrudgingly I sell these products, which I could include a brochure for camp in the purchase.

European Power Adapters

I find myself thinking one thought the most, "Um, hey, I thought we were supposed to be in a recession here." 

Despite the down economy people are still driving sales with big TV purchases, daily discretionary spending, and apparently, European vacations. One of the top questions in electronics I get is if we have adapters for running US applications in Europe. These are stocked in luggage and travel accessories instead of in electronics, so that could lead to the high amount of questions, but I have also had a guest come back to the counter having found the spot empty.

It's one of those items that puts into perspective our shopping, well, perspective. When you make a big or rare purchase like a Wii or a specialized adapter that purchase is special and unique to you... but only to you. Every day at the store there are hundreds of guests just like you who are shopping on their own retail calendar. More often than not those retail calendars overlap. Making that day where you finally get your Wii or make one last trip to prepare for your over seas trip just another day at the store for me.