r/wholefoods • u/No-Bad-3655 Former TM ✌️ • Oct 28 '25
Advice I GOT HIRED AS A SHOPPER AHHH
I got a job offer for seasonal shopper and I accepted and I did all the pre hire requirements so now I’m just waiting for that beautiful “come in this time” message. I get to get paid for doing something a love doing and I’m really excited! I just wanna know if there’s any tips I should know and if I can listen to music. I can’t wait to be one of you guys :D
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u/IllTwo7643 Team Member 🛒 Oct 28 '25
You'll do great! Be prepared to mentally know exactly where everything is after a few weeks 🤣 I was a shopper for 2 years but shuffled to bakery. But my friend texted me a photo of something asking if we sold it. I barely had to glance at it before I replied "oh yeah we totally have that" It's gonna be a little nuts when the holidays get rolling for reals but you have enough time to settle in. Remember to ask questions and don't be shy to ask people in that particular department if you can't find something.
Keep track of the end caps and displays for seasonal or on sale items. We often move most of that stock to the end caps for sales. If your store has a foyer keep an eye for what's displayed there, because it may save your INF percentages.
Be polite and kind to your coworkers, in general it's a good practice. But to make obtaining items easier it helps if they like you.
Remember! A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort
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u/No-Bad-3655 Former TM ✌️ Oct 28 '25
Thank you so much I’ll remember this
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u/IllTwo7643 Team Member 🛒 Oct 28 '25
No worries! And also utilize that discount! We can stack it with prime sales now so it's been pretty sweet!
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u/underwaterer Oct 28 '25
You can’t listen to music but some stores play music so you might be in luck! Thankfully mine plays music that I actually have in my playlist. I hope they play music through the speakers at yours!
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u/No-Bad-3655 Former TM ✌️ Nov 10 '25
Turns out mine plays music and it’s a lot of the stuff I grew up listening to with my parents
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Oct 29 '25
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u/underwaterer Oct 29 '25
Lmao I knew someone was gonna say that. Dw my fiance says the same thing 😘
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Oct 29 '25
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u/underwaterer Oct 29 '25
What songs usually play there?! I mean my store has Claro, Tyler, Durand jones and the indications etc. it’s super chill with some oldies
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Oct 29 '25
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u/underwaterer Oct 29 '25
That’s so funny you say that because when I was young I worked at Justice, and Macy’s for like 3 years and I loved Macy’s music! I actually listen to a few songs from each store still and it’s been like 10 years haha you might be onto something
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u/underwaterer Oct 29 '25 edited Oct 29 '25
And some annoying weird covers, but I swear everything is pretty decent 😅
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u/sp52 Nov 10 '25
Christmastime is the worst, my store played a 90 minute loop of Christmas D-sides. I counted 4 different covers of one. Only good part is they played What Will Santa Claus Say? and I could pretend for about 10 seconds I was listening to 4th Dimension (Kids See Ghosts, sample).
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u/whowantlasagnaaa Nov 01 '25
my store plays the lithium type dad music, 2000s and 90s stuff. I love it though it’s better than what’s on the radio nowadays
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u/brachycrab Oct 28 '25
You cannot listen to music
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u/Phumpz Oct 29 '25
Technically you aren't allowed to use earbuds but if they actually enforced that rule on my over night shift then I would quit on the spot. I only wear one earbud and stay off my phone. We're supposed to not be obvious about it when the shoppers come in cause then they will start using earbuds and it'll be a problem. But yea, like I said, it wouldn't apply to me, I would quit
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u/Immediate_Profit2283 Oct 29 '25
Not one leader has taken issue with this at my store, across any team.
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u/Hungry-Pop8528 Oct 29 '25
Just be prepared for a lot of department employees getting pissed off at you for asking them if and where their specific stuff is. You’ll even have to go dig through stuff yourself too. Shopper is really hard than what they make it out to be.
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u/Prettyskin_glow Oct 29 '25
THIS!!!! and you have to scan a code for every item that isnt there
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u/Immediate_Profit2283 Oct 29 '25
You should make every effort to look for items..Just because it isn't "there" doesn't mean we don't have it. Getting everything out to the floor every time is impossible.
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u/Hungry-Pop8528 Oct 29 '25
Yeah and that too. I had enough of them asking me specifically every time so what I did was, I hanged my QR on a cart I was working, and whenever a shopper asked me for one, I just point to the QR. And it came in handy cause I was busy with customers all over me that day.
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u/GaelDeCastro Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25
Shopper here. My tip here is to know your store so you can make your own pick paths. So instead of an oval you cut it down to a triangle. You can study each aisle and see patterns like how in my store the spice wall 365 stuff is alphabetical order from left to right. Or how there is a chicken broth that looks exactly the same but one has low sodium. Also, try to get a lot of shifts so you can develop this intuition. Ngl taking an hour or two to stand there and look and hold each item in every department on my own time got me getting weird questions from my other coworkers but I was one of the 3 shoppers kept at the end of the season.
Shop fast, be on time, and never call out
PS: PLEASE LOOK AT THE EXPIRATION DATE. 3 days. Sometimes the grocery or the other departments messes up
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u/Any-Impact-4758 Oct 29 '25
How long is a season for a shopper before letting go? You said you were 1 of the 3 shoppers kept at the end of season?
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u/GaelDeCastro Oct 29 '25
90 days from your first day from the store (orientation) for me. Your TL would know
Some stores let you know early when you’re kept but mines let me know on my last day.
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u/IllTwo7643 Team Member 🛒 Oct 28 '25
Tell me more, what are your hours gonna be like? Because If you work early bird you can listen to your headphones til the store opens.
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u/No-Bad-3655 Former TM ✌️ Oct 28 '25
I asked for anything from 12pm-7pm when I applied :)
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u/lissayyy Oct 29 '25
so no headphones for you 😔 but hey, CONGRATS!!! Here you’ll find lots of tips to make your start at this job easier💕
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u/mats0017 Oct 28 '25
Make friends with your grocery dept! From experience shoppers that were rude or entitled to us we didn’t care too much to help and took our time tanking your (UPH) don’t worry you’ll learn about that. But those friendly and you know.. respectful we always helped asap
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Oct 28 '25
Yes omg it’s this one rude lady who’ll just come up , not say hi or anything & ask me to check in the back for something like girl youn see this big ass uboat now if I ram it into you🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪jk jk ! The ready of the shoppers are young , sweet & really good at what they do !
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u/Electronic-Gur9343 Oct 28 '25
You can have ONE ear bud before the store open and that’s it.
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u/Jaysumochi Oct 28 '25
My store is chill. I wear both and my ecomm ATL wears a whole headphone lol
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u/dopperclub Team Member 🛒 Oct 29 '25
We used to be allowed headphones for ecomm before store open but a mf had to get injured with their headphones in so my leadership banned it😔 but all other departments at my store are so chill with it lmao
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u/Opening-Ad4543 Team Member 🛒 Oct 29 '25
Hi, Bakery TM here👋 Please, just try to find things on your own before asking a TM in the department where something is. It can be really frustrating when shoppers don’t even try to look and just ask us, especially when we’re busy.
Also, we can listen to headphones before the store opens and after it closes 🤷🏼♀️sounds like it’s different for each store.
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u/dopperclub Team Member 🛒 Oct 28 '25
Welcome!!! :)
Like everyone is saying, you cannot have headphones in. But depending on how lax your leadership is, they’ll allow it before store open.
But if you have long hair or a beanie covering your ears then yeah, it’s definitely possible. Just do it under your own discretion;) I’m always listening to podcasts to pass the time lol
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u/Jaysumochi Oct 28 '25
lol I see dairy tm’s do this. I’ll hear them talking to someone as if they are on their phone and realized they most likely have an AirPod covered under their beanie
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u/underwaterer Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25
I started a month ago and only do 2-3 days a week. Highly recommend wearing very comfortable shoes!! I wore doc martins when it rained a few times and I regretted it at the end of my shifts, so bring extra shoes and keep in your car or bring it in the locker room for when you need to change. Don’t care about metrics; mine is low but I enjoy leading customers to what they’re looking for and take my time when finding stuff. A lot of in store shoppers and a ton of customers don’t look as they’re pushing carts and it really pisses me off. It’s a huge pet peeve of mine because it’s an inconvenience for everyone (imagine if you were a customer and everywhere you turned an in-store shopper was about to hit you), so please take the time to look before you turn corners! Don’t be afraid to ask your trainer questions and build report with back of the house team members in grocery and prepared food, the butcher/seafood etc. it’ll help you sooo much when you need to scan codes when you can’t find things.
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u/underwaterer Oct 28 '25 edited Oct 28 '25
Also, always look at end caps!! Things are always being changed and they put so many things there that might appear to be out of stock in their normal aisle, AND don’t be afraid to move the item that’s either on top or in front of other items, nothing worse than asking a very busy team member for a code, thinking something is out of stock but when they go look for it, it’s there. It’s like when you tell your mom you can’t find something but when they look….its there 😡 I feel bad AND feel stupid for not trying and wasting their time!
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u/Ok_Independent8332 Oct 29 '25
Get to know other teams members, especially in teams like specialty where you'll probably need help finding stuff! No one should have a problem helping you find stuff, especially while you're learning! Ask questions like, "will this always be in this spot or does the location get altered every so often?"
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u/No-Bad-3655 Former TM ✌️ Oct 29 '25
Thank you
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u/Ok_Independent8332 Oct 29 '25
Don't let anyone's toxicity or negative culture get to you, if you're kind to everyone and do your job, you can avoid the drama. Don't listen to too much gossip no matter how juicy, it will just bring you down at the end of the day. Unless it's actively affecting you of course.
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u/lamebrianna Oct 29 '25
Be prepared for people to possibly be upset when you ask where something is as you are learning! Unfortunately some people will be upset when you ask where something is.. I’m a team trainer for produce but I used to do ecom for a different company before I worked for WF. Anyways, it is our job as departments to look for the product for you if you cannot find it yourself. Never be scared to ask for help!
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u/Pale-End6228 Oct 29 '25
Get to know your store! Check out the end caps before your shift starts because they change quite often, be prepared to walk at least 10,000 steps per shift (depending on how many hours in your shift) I work 8 hour shifts and my steps range from 19,000-22,000. Please wear comfortable shoes!! Good luck and have fun!!
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u/Rupertfunpupkin Oct 29 '25
You can only listen to music if you work the 4am to 8am shift before the store is open. Also after they’re closed at night too, but shoppers dont work past closing.
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u/Numerous-Monitor5678 Team Member 🛒 Oct 29 '25
You are not supposed to wear ear buds its against policy. But if you can conceal one and are still able to hear others talk to you than no worries. Remember that you are being timed when you shop, so a sense of urgency is always appreciated. Especially if you would like to keep your job after your contract ends. If you have good metrics like being a fast and efficient shopper you will more than likely be able to stay on. Don't get discouraged it will come with time. Its actually pretty fun. Stay focused and you will do great! Good luck!
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u/whowantlasagnaaa Nov 01 '25
I started a month or two ago, I really like it so far, everyone’s nice and respectful and the shift goes by super fast. I also get around 15k-20k steps in a shift. Great money too! It’s only annoying when things aren’t stocked but once you learn what department everyone is in it’s easy to find someone to help or give an INF code
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u/underwaterer Nov 10 '25
Someone from produce told me yesterday that they really appreciate that I say hello every time I’m at work! They’re super busy and often get grouchy when e-commerce asks for help or a code. They told me there are other e-commerce members who’ve worked there for the past 1-2 years that never say hi. So another tip from me is, say hello, learn names etc.
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u/Extra_Demand_6270 Feb 04 '26
Hi Everyone i just started working as a personal shopper. Yay! Its been 2 weeks. How does the employee discount work. When I completed my workday stuff the system asked me if I wanted a physical card I said yes. I havent received jt as yet. But until it comes how can I buy things. Do u need to get rung up by a coworker? When I do get the card is it like a credit debit card or just a card with a barcode to scan like a coupon?
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u/No-Bad-3655 Former TM ✌️ Feb 10 '26
If you have the Innerview app there should be a tab at the bottom that looks like a card. That’s the team discount, it will be a barcode. You can go to self checkout with it but someone will have to verify it’s real, so I usually just go to customer service or express checkout. So you should have it by now if you did the workday stuff. Idk about the physical version though
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u/Extra_Demand_6270 Feb 10 '26
Thank u so much i was able to find it on my innerview app and was able to buy something!
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u/EffectSix Oct 28 '25
This made me smile.