Alexia Davis

Responsibilities

At JAX, some of my responsibilities include the tasks common for someone who works as a sales associate. This includes running the register, signing people up for a rewards membership, putting freight away, helping customers finding items, and more. With my internship, additional responsibilities include special orders, enhancing the training list, and creating mock order sheets for specific items. Ordering is what I did the most. It would entail looking at current inventory, the previous order sheet, point of sale for the items, and the new catalogue. With this information, I would create an order I see as a fit, and then create a final order that my manager and I will do together.

Accomplishments

Although this does not entirely line up with my product development emphasis, one of the things I am highly interested in is ordering. Thus, being able to have the responsibility of ordering items for an upcoming season was my greatest accomplishment. Since JAX sells more than just apparel and footwear, I learned a lot about other items when ordering. For example, bats. Bats have what is called a drop, so I got to learn about baseball/tee-ball/softball specific bats, as well as the various sizes. Being able to learn about new items fills me with even more knowledge that I would otherwise not learn. Also, doing orders helps me analyze data and understand more about the process of preparing for seasons months away.

Learning experience

One of the greatest lessons I learned was the importance of knowing your products. Most of the customers that come through JAX are filled with questions and are not afraid to turn to those who work there. This occurs especially in footwear. Therefore, while working at JAX, an ongoing mission was to research the brands JAX provides and continue learning about them. That way, I can be of best help to the customers. If I can help provide the information they need, that will elevate their experience even more. Other important lessons include taking initiative and being alert. There will always be customers who won’t ask for help until you take the initiative to help them. This helps build a connection, as well as help push sales. Also, in an environment that is constantly receiving new items, being alert to your surroundings helps. One must know where things are moved to, and where items should be placed. This may seem small, but once small mistakes occur of misplacing items, that adds up, takes time away, and could prevent a potential sale.

What advice would you give?

As I am sure most of AMD majors are aware, the retail and apparel industry is vast. However, many of us already have our eyes set on a specific niche of apparel, accessories, and more. It is good to know what we want to do and what we want to work with. Yet, when looking for an internship or job, don’t shy away from those that don’t appeal to you right away. Learning what you want to do is just as important as learning what you don’t want to do. But one can’t learn this until they tackle a position that involves tasks that don’t quite appeal to them. Everyone should challenge themselves and open up to opportunities they wouldn’t normally be interested in. These internships and/or jobs don’t need to be permanent, so just make sure to tackle whatever opportunity comes your way.