What's the deal with Lush?

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I don't shop there, never have, but I have taken my DD there for the odd birthday party so I have always thought the target market was tweens. My DD has just turned 11 and was given a £30 Lush voucher. I took her to our local shop yesterday to spend it. The shop was almost empty as the football match hadn't quite ended yet. I thought my DD could spend her time perusing the items and then making her choices. Except as soon as we walked in we were approached by a sales assistant who appeared to be on speed and didn't stop talking for the next 5 minutes. We thanked him for his sales pitch assistance and said we were going to have a browse and then decide. He said that was fine so we continued looking at the products when quite literally 30 seconds later another sales assistant hounded us, it cannot be described any other way, and did not stop talking at us for the next 10 minutes. I honestly don't know why I didn't find any assertiveness in me and asked her to give us 5 minutes to look at the products in peace. I felt stressed out and my DD went quiet. In the end my DD ended up spending half her money on two products I am not sure she even wanted. I have not experienced such an aggressive sales technique in a really long time. I was also shocked by their prices. Perhaps I got this wrong but I feel their products are quite expensive for what I thought was their target market?

And one more thing. My DD had her voucher in her new purse in her new handbag, and I encouraged her to go to the till and do the transaction by herself. Except the sales assistant kept talking to me, and she didn't shut up, and she even asked if we wanted to give money to charity. I had to answer on behalf of my DD who was the one paying, so I said NO, and then she asked my DD if she wanted to receive the receipt by email. WTF is wrong with this shop??

Email receipts are so they can put you on their email list, it's not to save paper. They do all try to do it now.

Yes they seem to all do them email thing now.
I bought something yesterday in Hobbs, the first thing the assistance said when I handed her the trousers was “what’s your email?”

I said “No, I just want to pay thank you”.

The Body Shop are on a par with their trapping you as soon as you walk in.
I like Lush, I love the smell.
Though I do try to avoid it at the weekends

Same. I like their ethos and some of their products but it's just too much. It actually outs me off spending money there because I end up feeling hassled and leave.

Proudthrilledhappy Lush were an excellent company to work for when i was at university in the early noughties, genuinely caring, heaps of free stuff, lovely work mates and environment.
You do have to do the over the top patter but it is more like genuing evangelical enthusiasm for the brand. They certainly aren't a tweenie brand though a market who spends £11 a pop on LOL dolls would think nothing of Lush prices and i have never found bathbombs which match Lush's ones for scent/longevity/skin softening. Infact i looked into making some when DD reached Peak Lush last year (aged 3!) and it wasn't financially worth the trouble. Some of their products are a bit well, crap but others are unbeatable.
As a brand they are well aware they are Marmite but many people are hooked and love the stuff.
On top of this the staff at our local (Arndale Centre, Manchester) store are so lovely with DD who recoups the 'product premium' by making the staff let her test half a dozen products per visit

When you get over enthusiastic shop staff I just don’t make eye contact, don’t answer their questions, just smile and respond with I’m just looking thanks and a quick smile and then walk away. I don’t find Lush too bad but the assistants in JoJo Maman Bebe are awful, they follow you round the shop commenting on anything you even glance at and asking loads of questions about your baby, it’s all so obviously a sales technique and I’m just not a chatty person so I hate it, I’ve even pretended I didn’t hear them in there and just walked away.

PS. All you need to do is say 'I know what i'm after thankyou!' or similar politely and you'll be left alone . I've never known any other brand be so helpful or generous with free samples should you wish to try before you commit to buying. I miss my 50% staff discount!

I've always said that when the kids were at school I'd love a part time job in LUSH but I think I'm too old and crusty for their usual target range of employees.

So you still love them despite their ageism?

Titsalinabumsquash not at all. They are the opposite of judgy type fuckers Jeez i sound like their PR person

I can categorically say I have never received an email outside of my receipt from anywhere I’ve given it to.

I used to work there and I agree that the way the staff approach customers is absolutely hideous. My manager used to tell us that all customers wanted to be approached and if they refused it was because we hadnt found the right way to approach them. Right... Most of the sales assistants in my experience hate doing it and are just trying to keep the managers of their backs. Ive worked in two stores and management can be toxic. Think permanent sales assistants suffering with anxiety because management are so pushy and cant accept that some customers dont want to be demoed on or talked at. God help you if your a Christmas temp wanting to be kept on... I would tell you to email and complain but they will never change their sales pitch. They really believe that their sales technique is wonderful.

My DD is 12 and loves chatting with the sales assistants in Lush. She always comes out with a freebie. Over the years I can remember some chicken type Easter bathbomb, a jelly snowman, pink flamingo bubble thing and a deodorant bar. I think there’s been more. Sometimes it’s worth just listening to them and she likes having a wee play with the products in the bowls they have out 😃

I think a lot does depend on the store.
My DD (16) wanted some cleanser , one of the staff took ages showing her the various ones, he applied a cleanser, two exfolliants and a mask to her wrist/back of hand to demonstrate the texture and what would be better for her skin.
No high pressure , all her questions answered and it was a busy shop (Lakeside)

I've bought Henna(for me) and Kalamzaoo (for DS) again no pressure , all questions answered.

But I was pounced on in our new local store buying Christmas bath bombs, no time to browse , no gaps in the speil, it was very much "I'll take these to the till" and I left with my purchase. (Haven't been back in that one)

Email receipt?
Don't be fooled. Not another way to help you but another way to help them keep tabs on what you are spending. Also to send you tons of junk mail selling their products. No way.

Awful shop.

Nearly 30 years ago when they first were in business they were mail order only and called 'Cosmetics to Go'.
One of the first companies that offered next day delivery. For those too young to know, you could often wait up to 28 days for mail order deliveries back then so next day was a huge treat. They had good ethics and were fun to deal with.

Now they're too pushy, they mither for email addresses and the shops smell awful.

I never go there anymore because the staff are using aggressive pushy techniques to sell shit and I find it irritating. The products are mediocre at best. I also hate their pseudo-friendly trick, in which it says on the product which individual made it in the factory. Like lovingly handmade by Bob, and there's Bob's drawn cartoon portrait next to it. Puke. I really don't give a shit if it was made by a human, an alien or a machine.

I've never had junk mail either, I have to actively search them.

I'm not giving Mark Constantine any more of my money. I used to be on the Lush Forum about 15 years ago and it basically imploded after a revamp, when their marketing person told us we were "failing to live up to Lush's expectations of customers" because there was negative feedback. You can't even tell them you're just looking because they ask things like "What shampoo do you use for your curly hair?" or "Do you like vanilla?" etc. Awful company.

Honestly, previous employee here, you should never feel pushed. Some of the sales assistants can be too much, management call them up on it, but the whole premise is a 5* customer experience.
Sales assistants will demo products on the customer, sit them down for consultations etc. You shouldn't feel pressured.

I can guarantee if you go back to store, speak to a member of management and explain your DD felt pressured into buying something she didn't want, you can exchange it for something she would actually want.

The charity thing gets done at many other places too, the amount of times tkmaxx would get a quid out of me at xmas...

Love love love lush.

Hate being mithered in any shop, and although friendly I let them know I'm ok with browsing.

Was at Trafford other day and had a lovely half an hour in there, got greeted but no mithering.

Dream cream has cured my sons eczema and I love there soaps

I used to work there and didn't approach or pester customers. I used to say hi and let them know I was happy to answer any questions about the products.
Guess who had the highest footfall conversion rate without having to pester people .

Lush probably still have mystery shoppers which is why staff are meant to approach every customer. But good staff can spot a mystery shopper a mile off and get good scores by playing along with it. Mystery shoppers don't act anything like a normal customer.

I’ve been having lding my breath going past since the 90s , but then I got a tween daughter and ventured in for Christmas stocking stuff and you are not wrong op.
The sales assistants are drama students on coke I swear. No one else has that much bounce.

@megletthesecond I sometimes do mystery shopping and I’ve experienced some horrendous customer service so I’m sure they didn’t know I was doing it!

pushpops I get the whole charity thing, I just wish she had just given my 11 YO DD a break, realise this was a big thing for her and just let her enjoy the experience by feeling all grown up and completing the transaction. But maybe they have to ask regardless...

Love Lush. When I had customer service training (completely unrelated role!!) Lush was listed as having the highest satisfaction rate for customer service, they have quite a "unique" style. They're a bit insufferable when you don't want to approached, but I always find them friendly and great with my kids.