retail sales associate

store manager

sales assistant

sales associate

developer

The Cotton On Group

I worked in an outlet store and it was a great first introduction to fashion retail!

The KPIs are super unrealistic, and if you aren’t comfortable pushing sales, it probably won’t be fun for you at all.

Everyone is casual besides the managers and this makes hours and pay really unreliable. Some weeks you could work five shifts, and the next week only one. It makes keeping up a social life hard because you often don’t have much disposable income and most days I wasn’t working I tried to keep clear in the possibility I might get called in. Like even if I had just worked six days in a row, I would still try to keep the following day free because what if the week after I only got one shift? The pay itself is really good though, and you get penalty rates as well.

If you are hired as a Christmas casual, do not expect to be kept on afterwards. They only hire Christmas casuals because they need all team members in store to work Boxing Day, in addition to extra staff they’re able to call in during the Christmas week itself based on sales. You’re likely to get one shift a week until Christmas, but you’ll probably be confused each time you work because of how little time you spend in the store. But this is an ideal job over Christmas if you’re looking for a second job or are a teenager with little financial needs.

I guess it’s true for most fashion retail, but the girls my store personally hired were all skinny, white Instagram-model types who always wore revealing clothes like yoga pants and crop tops to work everyday. It’s definitely not their or management’s fault, but I always felt pressured into looking a certain way in order to get more hours. At my store, only girls who had a specific body type were ever put in Body department in spite of their actual work ethic. This is a BRILLIANT place to work if you are conventionally attractive, but can create a toxic sense of internalised self-worth if you don’t fit into that box.

Shifts are given based on performance and while it never felt like there was any favouritism, it made work far more stressful than it should have been as if you made one mistake perhaps next week you would be struggling to pay rent.

Don’t expect to work your way up. Senior staff get stuck for years running shift and taking on all these extra responsibilities as casuals as well doing a bunch of unpaid OT to prove themselves, but never end up getting promoted.

My managers were all super nice and understanding, but I think upper management were a nightmare for them.

But overall, this is a fun job and everyone is really friendly. The team always comes together to support each other and get everything done, and I enjoyed working there. Just… don’t get your hopes up about anything.

a typical day at work consists of signing on, greeting customers at the door, asking if you can be of any assistance on the shop floor or change rooms, converse confidently with the customers and make them feel relaxed, creating relationships that will shape their experience in the store.
multi-tasking and rotating between the basic tasks such as change rooms and managing stock theft, signing for deliveries and preparing the items to be put on the shop floor, changing mannequin outfits, relocating stock on the shop floor (visual merchandising) assisting customers with various styles, sizes and colours, processing sales on the register, and cleaning the store (picking up dropped garments, taking the rubbish to the bins, sweeping, vacuuming, washing windows and cleaning mirrors, spot mopping the floor, clearing change rooms and return rack, maintaining the stores appearance by keeping clothing racks neat and in size, colour and style order).
what i've learned working at supre over the last 2+ years has boosted confidence when talking to strangers, i have grown more assured, and less clumsy when offering help, and becoming part of this close-knit franchise i have developed life-long friends and experiences.
my co-workers and i bounce positively off each other, when someone is unsure of how to go about a specific incident it is often we have each other to help us guide one another other in the right direction, whilst maintaining a positive and friendly environment- creating an enjoyable working space.
the hardest part of this job is the uncertainty of maintaining customer satisfaction and beating and continually increasing sales targets.
the most enjoyable part of my job is having satisfied customers compliment me on my assistance and helping them find what they're looking for, as well as knowing my co-workers are there to lend a hand if needed- working together as a team committed to the success of the business.

Supre taught me the true value of good customer service, that it's not just about "work", or looking at the clock wondering if your shift is finished, but good customer service is like therapy: putting yourself in the customer's shoes and then always being willing to go the extra mile to help anyone and everyone that walks in the store. Good customer service is about truly connecting with people so as to understand their needs accurately and then be able to address those needs effortlessly, not in a mechanical/robotic way, but in a fluid way, doing what comes to you naturally and being authentic and being the best you (personally and professionally) so that you can help the client the best way possible.  There is a feeling of true fulfilment when you help a young mother find a very stylish outfit for her first night out with her girls, and when she says "omg, thank you so much!", it's more than just work, it's a rewarding experience and it makes you value what you do so much more knowing how much value you create for others by the service you render and that alone makes you hungry to improve and become the most badass sales assistant ever. One of the things I also really enjoyed at Supre was the culture of self-expression: I really valued the fact that all of us could each take the same set of clothing items and style them in completely different ways that expressed who we are as individuals and we could feel so comfortable in our skin and shine in our own right as like a true girl-boss!! Everyone deserves to work in a place where they feel they belong and where work feels more like play and less like work and you have fun and you're actually passionate about the 'work' you do and know there's a greater cause/purpose to it and that's what Supre showed me.

I have worked under two division brands within this company previously and I can say for certain it's the most disgustingly run organisation with a high turnover rate of employees from both a Managerial position and those who work as casuals.

They do not reward their employees or acknowledge them for their efforts when meeting or exceeding KPI/Sales targets and the constant VM (Visual Merchandise) updates to the stores is a complete hinderance. 

People who say they've enjoyed their time working for this company are kidding themselves. Like most retail workplaces, there are PERSONALITIES and politics - and this overall COG brand is no exception. 

You're guaranteed to:
- Not have genuine support by management (at various levels)
- They operate like a cult and treat casuals like dirt (favouritism with employees - an obvious example for shifts)
- The overall work vibe + environment is fake and demanding from an internal and external point of view

I highly discourage people from applying for Cotton On Group and any of their brand divisions.

Making note of their high turnover rate with staff - it's absolutely abysmal. People don't even last because it's unrewarding and pushy. Lack of consideration completely to support employees and their concerns.

If you're applying for a casual - good luck, shifts are dependent on either business needs, manager favouritism and generally its a bare minimum of 3 hour shifts for an entire week.

If you're a full-time Manager or Assistant M/2IC - the salary is laughable and a complete joke.

Don't rate it, its a fake faux culture that showcases happy and positive vibes although behind the scenes - it's actually a circus.

Considering how much inclusivity, diversity and collaborative team work is mentioned in the training, I was excited to be joining the company. However, the bullying culture quickly became apparent and you were singled out by team if you didn’t “fall into line”. Often times asking for help was met with rolling eyes, frustration and passive aggressive comments. Forget work/life balance and collaboration altogether. Day to day planning is done for you and often changes without any warning. Unless you book annual leave, zero time is allowed off - including for illness, incident outside of work, etc. Numerous team were asked to still “work from home” when calling in sick, often due to burn out.  The negative, gang like mentality of both instore and merchandising teams really made this an unpleasant experience, that I don’t recommend anyone subjects themselves too. The expectations with very minimal training are ridiculous. Initially training interstate was offered and retracted the day before we were due to fly out, that in turn meant rescheduling things in my personal life that ultimately didn’t need to be rescheduled. Travel to remote stores was also in the initial job role, which was then also retracted. Merchandising team blatantly excluded new team members, often not inviting them to social events, eating lunch away from team and talking about team between themselves in front of said team members. When raised with management, team would cover for each others behaviour, further isolating new team. Upon leaving, I was asked to “protect team rapport” and not mention how their behaviour played the biggest part in my reason for resigning. 

The role was not what was originally presented to me and due to the culture, I am now in therapy.

I worked at COG for a handful of years. I enjoy customer service roles and fashion retail and I did enjoy this job for a good couple of years. It's ideally perfect for someone studying in my opinion due to hrs, flexibility and the discount. However, here are some basic facts:
1) The management was below average (and we'd had a few!) and would pit us against each other by choosing obvious favorites. Ego's would form and people would become bossy, etc. All for hrs. Our store was a VERY toxic workplace and I've heard the same from other stores. Myself and quite seriously everyone I worked with has stories of us going home in tear and often at work too. 
2) It isn't fair. You don' get hrs based off your skills or availability, it's straight up favoritism.
3) The targets and KPI'S are usually very un-reachable and the pressure is REAL. I do feel bad for store managers here, the pressure does come from above them - but the way it was handled was always shocking. The day to day tasks though, are not tough. Greet customers, chat, fold, steam, hang, scan. 
4) You will never get promoted, no matter what. Trust me. If one does, they stay in middle mgmt for years and drop out of uni. 
5) The other casuals are amazing. I have made lifelong friends. I am so grateful for the job for bringing me that. 
6) COG pay fairly and the discount is great. This is perfect if you need 10-15 hrs a week and have other things on your horizon and can take on or ignore the bitchiness. 
7) There were weeks when I had 4 hrs and others had easily 30 for no reason other than favoritism. No joke. I reckon a good half the staff could say they were in that boat with me too. It wasn't once or twice, it was easily 6 months. 
8) Best of all, there was a time where managers would literally sit in their office and watch us on cameras for who knows how long.

I’ve been at Cotton on for 3 years and it has been the best job I’ve had retail wise, I’ve made amazing friendships, learnt new things to take me to a senior role if I’m wanting aswell but I had horrible management. It was all favortism, a completely toxic workplace and I was treated horribly, continuously picked on by my 2IC and not treated well at all by my manager, all the favorites got good hours and if I was lucky I got a 5 hour shift a week OR even Fortnight after Christmas peak while everyone was still getting full hour days or multiple 5 hour shifts a week. My managers continuously made me feel as if my work wasn’t good enough, I never got recognition for the good I did, yet all the new people and favorites were treated like absolute gold. Continuously got spoken badly about to other coworkers by my manager and 2IC to the point where I decided to leave because they made me hate my job, made me feel as though I had to walk on eggshells, continuously got anxiety before my shift and would continuously get nit picked on about anything they possibly could find to nit pick me for. It’s a good work environment IF you have the right managers that don’t play favorites, know how to properly manage, treat everyone fairly, give everyone a chance to grow, actually care about the well-being and life of their staff and not just if they’re able to work. I’ve worked at amazing Cotton on stores before where I never ran into this problem of being treated horribly and feeling like an outsider but there are some cotton ons that are like this, the good thing is you can always just transfer to another brand or store if able. 

Gave this company over 7 years of hard, honest work.
Worked public holidays, overtime and any shift they needed me to work. For what?
From day 1 I have never been trained in any role - I hit the ground running and learnt as I went along.
To be constantly harassed and bullied and discriminated against.
Bullies taking pot shots at fellow workers. They know they can get away with it. Formal complaints land on deaf ears. 
Being told to sell out customer orders when it is available but the manager wont let us do our jobs properly.
In online one day I was forced to short sell 200 customer orders. I refused but they ignored me and wondered why the customers rang in complaining. Entering customer orders on system as being sent when they are still being packed - just to meet daily Kpi. The order turn around should be 48 hours - it is closer to 5 days.
The only way to be promoted is to play sport, be related or friends with someone high up, or be a male.
Dumb young new workers being promoted above those with experience and having the nerve to ask those experienced in role to train them. Then they think they can stand around and do nothing but talk to each other.
Managers that are friends or family of company owner. That is the only reason they became managers.
This company is a joke. It made me into a person that I did not like and I was always frustrated with their attitude towards workers. We were a number  and our opinion or work values meant nothing. I am so glad I resigned in the end and am glad to see the back of them. I would NEVER recommend this place to anyone.

I really enjoyed working at the Cotton On Group, it was an easy but rewarding job. I was on the registers a lot, scanning and bagging items and then other times just fixing things up on the shop floor. The only thing that some people might find annoying is you have to ask 3 things to customers at the counter: 
1. if they want a WAP (with any purchase) item for $5, and if they say no, you have to explain features/benefits and try and convince them to buy one
2. if they are a member of cotton on perks and if not, you need to try and sign them up
3. If they want to donate to the cotton on foundation by buying any of the charity items

It's a lot to have to say especially when most customers just say 'no, no, no" and get really agitated when you try to sell them stuff they don't want. Not to mention there is pressure from managers to sell add-ons and a lot of competition between the stores. You do get used to it though. 

Another downside - I was employed as a Christmas Casual, and there were way too many other christmas casuals, meaning there wasn't a lot of shifts to go around. I was only rostered on for about 2 shifts the whole of December. Luckily, I was able to grab extra shifts and take on cover shifts to work more, otherwise it is disgusting how little work we actually get. I was devastated about not being kept on too, considering how hard i worked to achieve the KPIs and always saying yes to extra shifts. So just keep that in mind if you apply there for Christmas.

The management here is just plain poor. They treat employees unfairly and unprofessionally, creating a toxic environment. On top of that, they set impossible KPIs, making it even harder for the employees. The organisation talks a big game about mental health support, but when it comes to actually caring about the well-being of their employees, they fall short. It's a real mess.

The manager consistently displayed unprofessional behaviour by regularly burdening employees with excessive workloads while making minimal contributions themselves. This created a challenging and unfavourable environment for the team.

The manager displayed a concerning double standard, penalising employees for actions that she herself engaged in without consequence.

The employees were consistently under immense pressure to meet their KPIs, and if they didn't hit the targets, they were subjected to unfavourable treatment. This created a highly stressful work environment, and the lack of support only added to the difficulties.

Whenever we sought support from the management, they seemed unresponsive and dismissive. Our concerns were often overlooked, and it made us feel undervalued and ignored. Some recognition and responsiveness from them would have meant a lot to the team.

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