Walmart greeter

A Wal-Mart greeter or Walmart greeter is a Walmart employee whose role is to wait at the front door of a Wal-Mart store and to offer a warm "hello" to customers who get in.^[1] The role was nationally implemented by Sam Walton in the 1980s.^[1]

The position is considered to be a big part of the company's identity and culture,^[2] as well as one of its most recognized hallmark.^[3]

History

The idea of having dedicated greeters at the front door of a store may have come from an employee of the company, Lois Richard.^[3] She was working in the early 1980s as an invoice clerk at the Wal-Mart store in Crowley, Louisiana.^[3][4] The Walmart store of Crowley, who had opened in 1980, was experiencing a lot of shoplifting and had a significant inventory shrinkage after two years.^[3] The initial idea was to have an employee standing at the door in order to try to decrease shoplifting.^[5] After a shoplifting sting conducted by the local police showed that piles of merchandise could have been taken away, Lois Richard pitched the idea the next day to her manager and it was accepted.^[3][4]

Description

A Walmart greeter stands at the door, wearing a distinctive vest which color could have changed over the year. A Walmart greeter's primary task is to provide a sunny disposition to welcome customers, however one of its associated crucial roles is to cross-check customers' receipts when they leave.^[6]

Bibliography

• Soderquist, Don (2005). "A Friendly Idea". The Wal-Mart Way: The Inside Story of the Success of the World's Largest Company. Thomas Nelson. p. 240. ISBN 978-0785261193. 

References