using chinese in retail

[tallcity]

hello, i work in a university bookstore part-time. there are almost 1000 chinese students, so i use Mandarin quite a bit. i was curious about phrases to use, vocabulary, etc, but all the search results were about Shopping in China. any suggestions?

[Demonic_Duck]

Dialogues for shopping in China can be repurposed easily enough. You just need to learn the shop assistant's lines, rather than the customer's.

 

Anyway, here are a few all-purpose phrases:

 

When they arrive: 欢迎光临！

When they're wandering around looking lost: 请问有什么事情我可以帮助您吗？

When they leave: 欢迎下次再来！ or 欢迎下次光临！

[anonymoose]

Or authentic Chinese style: 要什么？

[Demonic_Duck]

That depends if you're going for the all-out customer service charm offensive or not.

[陳德聰]

I think a simple "需要幫助嗎" was what I used to say every day when I worked retail, but you often get "no, thanks" and they just keep wandering around lost. I prefer to actually just eavesdrop and find out what they're looking for first before revealing that I speak Chinese. Just learn "the XYZ section is over there".

[Mindmaxd]

需要帮助吗 is english asking way,需要什么or买点儿什么  is usually used in grocery,there are many kind of things the seller use it to know what kind do you want to buy,In the bookstore there are mainly or just books,so you can say 想买 什么 书 or 需要什么 书，and then you can tell them where is the book in the bookstore.

[Kenny同志]

先生/小姐/同學/兄台/姑娘，你要買什麼書？

 

先生/小姐/同學/兄台/姑娘，不知有什麼可以為你效勞？

[vellocet]

Make sure to follow them around the store, pester them, and lift random products off the shelf and push them into their hands.  It'll make them feel right at home!

[Demonic_Duck]

To be fair, I've never been pestered in a Chinese bookstore. Actually, the employees normally say nothing unless you ask a question, and when you ask them a question they're normally helpful.

[陳德聰]

需要帮助吗 is english asking way

Oh is it? It sounds pretty rude in English to ask this way actually.