Tips for a first-time Black Friday employee?

Hey guys, I just started working at Gamestop as a seasonal, and I'm working tonight and tomorrow. Does anyone have any tips or advice for me? Things that'll make the whole ordeal easier, or that will impress my managers? When I went through the training I just skimmed through the part about the roles during Black Friday and the holiday season, so if anyone can give me a rundown on those, that would be amazing. Thanks in advance!

Yes, remember to bring your riot gear and shield and also make sure you have your custom gamestop tazer handy.

Otherwise just say a silent prayer to whom ever and wish for a peacefull civil time with not to many casualties and injuries.

Well to start you'll probably need a tranquilizer gun.

See if you can get the store to refund your expenses in that area.

Got 'em all painted red and black to match the company colors and the blood of the sheep :)

Just so you know, you won't get any Breaks so be prepare to have 5 hour energy drinks, be nice to the customers, [remember, the customer is always right] know your games, know your consoles, and most importantly, don't be a JERK, treat others with respect as well you like to be treated. Good Luck.

Keep a knife on you?

Get as much sleep/rest as much as possible and eat good food before working.

Good luck :)

If they gave you an employee guide, I suggest you go back and actually read the parts you skimmed through.

Do your job, then go home.

You think the employee handbook have anything about people going insane for a 10-15-20% discount just because its the day after thanksgiving.

But there has to be something serious wrong with people to act like this over a stupid sale.

RIP

@Jacanuk: If there is one and something specifically about Black Friday and Christmas, it likely instructs retail rules and store policy. That information is probably meant to address customer misconduct. Any employee guide would be incomplete without doing so to some degree outside of a utopia.

Watch the south park episode about it, it will tell you all you need to know

A real advice: People WILL be jerks, and you need to keep your cool. We're talking about the most spoiled people you've ever dealt with, they'll be willing to take a shit on your ancestor's graves if they dont get their 15% discount (even if its not your fault). Me and a friend worked at a shoestore in a black friday and I swear she was *this* close to punching some woman in the face because she would not stop calling her idiot for not being able to find a shoe her size.

So yeah, I hope you dont have anger management issues.

After seeing that video, I just realized, I'm about to go with my parents for black Friday shopping. This is not going to be fun :(

Edit: Just came back from the mall. It wasn't actually too bad. My mom did most of the shopping while my dad and me walk around and talked and I got to eat some nice food so it was alright experience by my standards. :)

Quit while you're alive.

Try to survive

After watching that video I would NEVER go to a Black Friday sale, not worth it. If I worked one, I'd ask for a massive bonus or I would quit.

You would ask for a bonus after having a busy day at work, haha. Thats a conversation I would love to hear.

Yeah I know that would never go down well, but Black Friday seems like a tad more than just "another busy week".

Perhaps its vastly different in the US, Its getting bigger here in the UK but I cant say the video in this topic (for example) is representative of the average black friday experience here in England. Busy? yes. Riotesque? not that I have seen.

Then again supposedly English love to queue so perhaps it will never swing as far as the US.

It seems pretty stupid to for physical retailers to offer these deals for such a limited period of time, its asking for trouble trying to pack huge numbers of people into a confined space in a race to secure limited stock.

I get the logistics of offering these types of deal online, distribution networks are designed to cope with the bulk transfer of goods. Shops....not so much.

Yeah I fully agree, retailers are asking for trouble. I don't live in the USA so in my country there is nothing like this video shows, which is why I am shocked at what it depicts and why I said I'd be asking for a bonus or some form of incentive to work it.

Make sure you leave a Will telling your loved ones where you want your trampled body buried. Black Friday is like a battle so Arlington may be an option.

:/

R.....U.....N

Black Friday has actually improved significantly from years past. Walmart actually does it extremely well. Individual lines for the major deals, meaning 1st come first serve in those lines, employees hand out the items. The store is open ahead of time so no rush towards those lines. Deals spread out throughout the night so there isn't a huge single time rush. And tightly regulated lines for each register with employees guiding shoppers to checkouts. Most stores should take this approach. It really limits the chaos.