Vitamin World Reviews

Pros

The job was fair. The people were easy to get along with but some employees gossiped too much. But the pay was good.

Cons

Downsides were that you have to work long hours around holidays but that is to be expected in retail jobs.

Pros

I loved helping people and using my knowledge to help customers

Cons

no raise in almost 2 years

Pros

Discounts on all products in store

Cons

Upper management doesnt support front line at all

Pros

Benefits are good, very flexible with scheduling, good discount

Cons

No room for advancement, upper management are incompetent and are not very supportive of team efforts, pay is partially commission based on brand sales.

Advice to Senior Management

Be more positive and supportive of store teams. Listen to them with an open mind as they are the one's on the sales floor on a day to day basis.

Pros

If you are lucky enough to work at a busy location-no limit on commission plus hourly pay.

Cons

Non stop changing of whats important....sometimes its Average Dollar Sale- make sure you sell grandma $40 even though she wants a bottle of calcium for $2.99! Keep your average at $40 but we gave all your customers coupons for 40% off their purchase....super. You beat last year budget by 5% this month? Great...next month we decided you need to beat LY by 20%! That's fair, good luck on a bonus! That other stores only have to beat LY by 2% though. Sometimes I felt horrible for myself or my fellow managers...how about beat LY by xx% and you bonus...more %?Bigger bonus. Oh and lets not forget they took away raises...give yourself a raise...by selling more...

Advice to Senior Management

District Managers need to be more present while training a new store manager or put the manager with a very knowledgeable trainer for at least a month. Without enough product knowledge and training on the "steps" it is impossible to effectively train a staff when you reach your store. Also, conversion is better than ADS as a measuring stick on customer service but if you are measuring "selling skills" then ADS.

Pros

great benefits, education in the vitamin health field. terrific customers, love to help customer improve ther health

Cons

hours, changing of duties and job expectations constantly. doing triple the amount of work to get to same result. pay to low to hire any quality employees

Advice to Senior Management

you can't run a great business with very unhappy employees. change your focus to the original reason people take vitamins and the profit will be there.

Pros

I had an amazing store manager and learned A LOT about the products. You get the supplements cheap for being an employee. The job is pretty much a piece of cake once you learn the vitamin world commitment and actually practice it.

Cons

The main thing that sucks is how corporate is constantly down your throat about how much money the store SHOULD be making...it's quite annoying when all you really want to do is help the customer. Plus, on their mystery shops there is SOOOO much that you have to do to get a 100%, some of which aren't even part of the VW commitment

Advice to Senior Management

Who ever is in upper level management should have to be a sales associate for at least one year because it is important to understand that your subordinates sometimes cannot accomplish a ridiculous sales goal. For example: on a slow day, or when customers come in specifically for one item and want to get the hell up outta there. Usually they don't want to hear our sales pitch..

Pros

-Formed some great customer relationships
-Increased knowledge of natural health remedies
-Decent discount on regular priced items
-Some great coworkers
-Commission can help pay the bills, if you're lucky enough to have a good sale

Cons

-Outrageous sales expectations (average sale, UPT, Sales Per Labor Hour)
-Low volume store
-The company gives out coupons galore, which makes it nearly impossible to get a higher sale...times are hard, everyone wants to save THE MOST money they possibly can
-Work independently, which can drive you nuts when times are slow and sitting down is frowned upon
-Negativity always coming from corporate level...one should prepare themselves to always hear negative feedback and have your employment threatened constantly.
-Customer service is no longer as important as the amount of money you can put into corporate's pocket
-Associates are trained very minutely on product knowledge, and more on how to manipulate a customer into buying more items

I'll stop there. Basically, unless you're very sales oriented, this would not be the job for you.

Advice to Senior Management

Cherish good employees. Be thankful for those who come to work everyday, consistently. Associates are trying to do their best. It's not that they don't care about trying to increase sales, but they're also trying to keep the customer happy by not going so far as shoving products down their throats. Corporate should have to switch places with the associates for awhile, so they might realize that the sales techniques they promote are doing more harm than good.

Pros

Only a 40 hour week for a store manager is a plus - really 39.5. If you have a good staff the operations of the business is not usually too hard either. You could possibly learn a good bit about supplements - your own health could benefit.

Cons

Low pay as a store manager. The expectations are that you will have at least a $32 average sale (the company average is supposedly $37 which is the goal). The newest directive is to terminate a new employee who does not have at least a $30 average in the first 30 days, or $32 in the first 60 days of employment. A tall order for a new employee!!! Store managers will now be written up and terminated along with associates for poor mystery shop results (your associate could get you fired - if they are part time and really dont care for thier own job!). The sales aspect is fine for a job that pays $60 and up but the pressure and work involved to get the "average sale" where they want it is far too great for at BEST $40-$2 a year. Most managers will see $32-$35 a year It is about pushing products on your customers regardless of thier needs or health condition. To make it fun the company puts out 40% to 50% off coupons on a regular basis in addition to $ off "bonus rebates" that can be used together. You can get a $40 bottle of supplements for $7... And this will happen several times a day. Good luck with that average - and keeping your job...I buy my supplements from a competitor because I dont want to hurt another employee with a sale of under $35. Does that make sense? Many sales are turned away when possible because the customer does not want to spend at least $30. I estimate the company looses almost MILLION dollars a year this way (over 400 stores turning away two $3 sales a day minimum).

Advice to Senior Management

Pay attention to sales goals and let go of the average sale thing. It is hurting you far worse than you can immagine. Do any of you have several hundred thousand a year to throw away? I have also never seen so much turnover - not even in fast food! I see store managers hired who are leaving in just a couple of weeks. Old timers are those who have been around 6 months. How can you grow a business like that? It takes months to learn the product well enough to be effective at selling it. You have DM's burning people out at a rapid clip. At least in the Washington DC area... Stop with the "beatings will continue until morale improves" approach!

Pros

The pay was decent for my experience at the time, 35K plus monthly bonus depending on your stores performance. You don't need a college degree or previous store management experience, but I was previously an assistant manager for 2-3 years. You're selling vitamins and supplements which do legitimately help some people. Benefits were average and included medical, dental, vision, and 401K.

Cons

The work/life ratio is horrible in any retail management position. Constantly having to cover for your store or others working well over your 40 hours a week. "Iron man" shifts are normal. Depending on location, management is incompetent. If you have a solid staff around you, it's not that bad but one bad apple usually spoils the bunch as in my case.

Advice to Senior Management

My advice would be to hire people based and their quality and not rush just to get a position filled. They definitely need to watch over their district managers closely. The DM's have too much power and upper management seems to put too much trust in them.