Team

8 articles · Short, concrete write-ups on how to introduce and use the system — and what we learned about running a shop along the way.

A handwritten sheet of paper taped to a shop's glass door; the dark silhouette of a person, the sunlit street and parked cars are reflected in the glass, and behind the door a shop assistant stands at the counter, with plastic bags full of fruit and vegetables in front and shelves of goods behind

Team

Difficult customers in a small shop: 10 types every shop assistant knows — and how to handle them

Every shop assistant knows them: the museum visitor who has been browsing for twenty minutes, the haggler who wants a discount for buying two, and the volcano demanding to see the manager. We introduce the 10 most common difficult customer types, and for each one give you a phrase that works, a line to draw and a team rule — plus a few tips for getting to the end of the shift with your nerves intact.

17 min read

A worn wooden counter in a bakery: from the left, an older hand in a knitted jumper points at a switched-off tablet standing on the counter, from the right a younger hand in a denim shirt writes in an open brown notebook with a pencil, wooden shelves of bread loaves and paper bags behind, daylight coming in through the window on the left

Team

How much should you pay a shop assistant? Wages, bonuses and what an employee really costs

Wages are one of a small shop's biggest costs, yet most shopkeepers set them by feel. We go through where to start, what an employee really costs on top of the gross wage, how much in wages the shop can carry, whether an extra person at peak time pays off, what is worth a bonus and what isn't, how to keep a good assistant beyond money, and how to talk about pay rises — from the assistant's side too.

17 min read

A card terminal and a few folded banknotes on a worn wooden counter beside an open cash drawer with coins, and in the dim background shelves of wine bottles and jars

Team

Alcohol and tobacco at the till: age checks, asking for ID and how to say no

Selling an age-restricted product is one quick moment at the till, but a mistake can cost a fine or, worse, your licence. Here is the internal rule on who to ask for ID, word-for-word phrases for asking and refusing, the difficult situations, the refusals log and a ten-minute training session.

17 min read

The counter of a small grocery shop with a returned, unopened yoghurt and its receipt on it, the hands of the assistant and the customer on either side of the counter, warm afternoon light through the shop window

Team

Customer complaints at the till: how to handle them so the customer comes back

A complaint at the till is rarely about the product — it is about whether the customer comes back. What to say in the first minute, what never to say, what to do in the six most common cases, and how to learn from them.

17 min read

A handwritten "Staff wanted" sign in the window of a small shop, with the counter and shelves behind it

Team

You can't find a shop assistant: how to hire and keep one in a small shop

Nobody answers the advert, and whoever does arrive moves on two months later. Keeping people, though, is cheaper than looking for them — and it mostly isn't about money.

17 min read

A weekly rota on squared paper on the back wall of a shop, a wall clock beside it and a mug of coffee on the counter

Team

Shift planning in a shop: keeping wage costs from eating the profit

Wages are your second largest outgoing, and it isn't the pay rate that decides them but the rota. Here is how to measure when customers actually come — and how to fit the day around it.

12 min read

An experienced shopkeeper's hand points at a tablet on the counter while a new colleague's hand holds a notebook, bakery shelves behind them

Team

How to train a new shop assistant in 3 days: a 7-step guide

A new colleague doesn't become a good assistant because you told them everything on day one. Seven steps across three days — and the order matters as much as the content.

10 min read

A hand pointing at a countertop touchscreen in a small shop, shelves of goods behind

Team

Training a new employee on the till in five minutes

They don't have to learn the system — just one movement: look, tap, done.

8 min read

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