My top 10 Topshop UK tips
I used to work there so this is stuff i’ve figured out from that. I know that UK posts are few and far between so this is my contribution. It’s my first tips post so sorry if i miss anything out :)
1. There is one guard per store. He usually stays around the front doors for the majority of his shift. He gets two breaks, an hour and another half hour. In most stores there is someone on ‘front’ usually tidying or putting clothes back from the fitting room. They mostly stay at the front of the store. (All employees swap task each hour on the hour, so the person on front may then be on tills for an hour- note this does not affect the security guard). A key point is that people HATE front cover and if the guard is not on his break they will usually go to the toilet, move to the back of the store to chat with other SA’s etc.
2. All SA’s have purple lanyards. This is the only way to tell them apart from members of the public. Some people have them hanging out their back pocket (and not around their neck) so look out for that.
3. Topshop SA’s are the worst, i know because i have been one. They are often chatting to each other and are usually late teens early 20’s. They reallllly do not care about what gets taken from the store or not. It doesn’t affect us in any way shape or form. We still get paid the exact same. This is especially true at the end of the day when everyone wants to leave, they will literally wave you out regardless of what they may or may not suspect. Remember SA’s are not paid to stop criminals, it’s not in their job description. Most do out of the goodness of their soul but no one is gunna chase you down and risk ruining their new shoes.
4. During the day (between the hours of 11 and 3) on a weekday, there will pretty much never be anyone on fitting rooms, yes, unattended fitting rooms. Topshop assumes that at this time ladies of leisure come in and pay for their items. After 3pm (when school is out) there will be people on fitting rooms every hour. The same goes for weekends.
5. When you go into the fitting rooms and an SA is there she will count items, however, if you say you have 5 most SA’s will just take your word for it. If you double hang most SA’s will not notice, if someone is struggling to count a load of items we would just let them in anyway, told you SA’s are shit.
6. It is COMMONPLACE to find tags in changing rooms. Every hour SA’s are expected to check the changing rooms and mark down how many tags were found. This check is never made on the dot every hour, however my store had just had an incident with shoplifting so became quite aggy about it being done. If we find a tag we write it down, let a manager know and nothing happens.
7. Some SA’s check clothes for double tagging when they come back others don’t, I would be on the safe side and return double tagged items to the place on the shop floor that they came from.
8. On weekends when the shop is horrendously busy, the SA on fitting room will be swamped. They are responsible for letting people in and out, counting their clothes each time, checking the fitting rooms, organising clothes brought back…. If you hand them clothes they will just grab them off you. You can simply put your own tag back and get the hell out of there. Take advantage of this if you go lifting on the weekends :))
9. Everything is tagged. All things. Besides knickers but bras are tagged. They are golf tags and require a magnet/ golf detacher. Some items also have ink tags on if they are ‘high value’ but i think its just a mix really. The one thing that topshop are expert at is tagging items. I haven’t tried it but i am 10000% sure that the alarm system cannot detect magnets.
10. High value shoes require you to ask a SA to go out back and get your size. When she comes back she is not allowed to leave you alone with those shoes. She will hover whilst you try them on. If you don’t want them she’ll take them back to the shoe stockroom and if you do, she’ll take them over to the till for you. This is because high priced shoes are not tagged (so they can be tried on comfortably) and therefore cannot be left on the shop floor.
Hope this was useful!!! I have so much Topshop knowledge so feel free to ask me anything!! S/o UK lifters 💋
