The Abundance of Sales Assistance for Shoppers in Korea

Aside from the 'elbow' culture of getting on and off the bus or subway and walking down the street, Koreans are generally very friendly people. They will kindly welcome you into their shop or restaurant, and most will stop at nothing to turn you into a satisfied customer.

In the USA, I was always on my own when looking for something in a store, whether it was a large, national chain or a very small shop. Even if I wanted or needed help with something, there was never anyone around to ask. But in Korea, I can count on the presence of someone to help me in every department of every store, no matter the size. There will be a person there ready to help me, whether I want it or not.

I like the idea of shopping around, checking things out on my own, asking a question if I need to, and then either purchasing a product or going to find it elsewhere. Korea won't let me do this. The other night, I walked into a beauty store to look for a product to put on my lashes to make them grow longer and more full. I know that this type of product is common, so I decided I would go in each beauty store I came across while I was downtown and check out their product for this particular need, and see what I found. The first store I went in was innisfree, and it was just a bit larger than my apartment.

I walked in and was immediately greeted by two saleswomen, one who looked as though she really wanted to help. So I pointed to my eyelashes and spent the next 2 minutes or so playing charades, trying to get her to understand what I was looking for. After understanding, she showed me the product they carried. I looked at it, looked at the package, asked her if she was sure that's what it was (the package was entirely in Korean), she demonstrated the product to me and told me when I was to use it. But I still wanted to keep looking, as this was the first store I set foot in. Then we had the following conversation:  

Me: Kamsahabnida.
Saleswoman: You buy?
Me: No, I want to keep looking.
Saleswoman: (Points to package) grow! (meaning that the product will help my lashes grow)
Me: Nae. But I'll keep looking.
Saleswoman: (Points to package again. She's concerned she understood me wrong. She says something in Korean.)
Me: (I point to the package.) Nae. (Point outside.) I want to keep looking.
Saleswoman: Twenty two thousand.
Me: I'll keep looking.
Saleswoman: You want?
Me: I'll. Keep. Looking.

By now, I can tell the sales woman is concerned that she's been showing me something I'm not interested in. So what did I do? I bought the product. It is what I was looking for, after all, but I also wanted to check out what other stores had. However, after having the split-second image of the same scene playing out over and over again in every other store I entered, I decided to purchase the product from innisfree.

It is the same all over Korea. Home Plus has sales assistants stationed in every department to help you find what you're looking for. If you say you're looking for shoes, and they show you shoes, and you let your face show that you like the item (which I do all the time), they'll wonder why you're not buying the item. I'm not sure if everyone here works on commission, but it's really starting to drive me crazy. I just want to shop and look around and see what's what without the feeling of being pressured to buy something, just because I can't speak the language and they want to make the foreigner happy.

See all the assistants in their red aprons?

While I do appreciate the level of service that Koreans provide to foreigners and the number of sales assistants stores have on hand, especially compared to the lack of service assistants in stores back home, I think it's time to learn some new phrases. 'Just looking' is at the top of my list. Maybe I'll go to the GIC this week and ask them to pair me with a language exchange partner who can teach me some survival Korean.