Before I worked in retail, I would often hear employees say things that I had no idea what they meant. There's so many words and phrases that retail associates say that would leave everyone else scratching their heads. Here I've come up with a list of 8 things retail associates say that would be considered jargon (language spoken by a specific group of people):
1. SPS: An associate of the store designated as the "security" who oversees that everything is going safely, and keeping an eye on suspicious activity.
example of it's use: "The SPS will keep an eye on your purchased items while you run to your car."
It is a fixed word.
2. Code 50: This means (as an associate) having an SPS check your belongings before you can leave.
example: "Can I get a Code 50?"
It is a fixed word.
3. Run the racks: To put back all of the clothes to the shelves that people have tried on at the fitting room.
example: "Will you run the racks for me? They're getting kind of full."
It can be changed slightly; you can say "Running the racks" or simply "Run a rack", but it always has to have some form of the verb "to run"and the word "rack".
4. Shrinkage: This describes how much stock the company should have and the amount they actually have, usually because of theft or some error.
example: "Take a look at this shrinkage report for this month. Looks like we're getting better."
It is a fixed word.
5. MOS: Merchandise that cannot be sold, due to damage or safety hazard. I think it stands for "merchandise off shelf", but I'm not 100% positive...
example: "Put this in the MOS box. Someone could cut themselves."
It is a fixed word.
6. Markdown: The clearance price of an item after it has been reduced from it's original price.
example: "Can you check to see if this item is a markdown?"
It can be said as "marked down" or "mark it down", but most commonly it's just "markdown".
7. SKU number: A number for each piece of merchandise in the store that is put into the system so they can identify it and look up the price if they need to.
example: "They cut the price off but they left the SKU number on. We can look up the price in the system."
It is a fixed word.
8. Endcap: The shelves for displaying items located at the end of the aisle.
example: "We're trying to make this endcap look nice so people will buy more items."
It is a fixed word.
These words can be learned by everyone just like any other words, but for the majority of the time they are used only by retail associates to maintain a sense of community. Most of the time these retail jargon words are quicker to say and are easy to remember, which makes us more efficient and better able to communicate effectively.
