shift manager

retail manager

contract manager

superviseur

senior brand ambassador

CDS (Club Demonstration Services)

Before the minimum wage increase, CDS was great because they paid well over minimum
Unfortunately, once the minimum wage was increased, the dislikes and nitty gritty parts of the job was no longer compensated by the mere 25 cent over minimum they offered
So many people figured they could get 35 cent less and more job perks or even just more hours and job security elsewhere.
I know of a few people who left after being there for 7+ years. Barely any of the new additions stayed on, many people who came in after I did, left just as quickly. I stayed on for about 6 months.
Standing for 6 hours a day on concrete and worse was that there was no job security 
I only worked as a parttime student during the school months but because of my weekend availability I was always guaranteed 18 hours. During the school year, that's great
Come summer time I realized how much the full-time staff was suffering 
No-one was ever scheduled for 5 days in a row, so barely anyone had 30-hour weeks, meaning they weren't fulltime
If someone gave in their 2-week notice, the manager would immediately cancel all their shifts for those two weeks
When new people were brought on, the rest of the team would suffer because there wouldn't be enough hours
ON top of that you could easily get cancelled when you were expecting to work, meaning there was no security about how much each paycheque would be
The people were pretty nice but there were a group of older ladies that were really close to the manager and would seemingly bad mouth everyone else 
I personally had to beg around to pick up unwanted shifts or shifts for parents with family emergencies or who had to look after their kids on short notice. There were several weeks that I worked 8 days in a row - which sounds like a lot but with a maximum of 6 hours a day - some days being 5, 4 or even just 3 hours, the paycheque after all that hassle did not make it worth it at all.

At Club Demonstration Services (CDS), a typical day at work for a  product demonstrator revolves around engaging with customers in a warehouse club setting like Costco. The day might involve setting up demo stations, preparing samples, and interacting with customers to promote products through live demonstrations and explanations.

What You Learned:
The role typically teaches a lot about customer service, sales techniques, and communication. You also learn about product knowledge, how to engage with diverse customer types, and how to handle rejection or non-engagement tactfully.

Management:
Management at CDS can vary by location, but generally, it focuses on meeting sales targets and ensuring smooth operations during demonstrations. Good managers often provide support, feedback, and scheduling flexibility, while some may be more focused on metrics and productivity.

Workplace Culture:
CDS workplace culture is often fast-paced, centered around customer interaction and teamwork. Since demonstrators work in busy retail environments, the culture tends to promote energy, friendliness, and proactive engagement with customers.

The Hardest Part of the Job:
The most challenging aspect can be standing for long hours, dealing with uninterested or rude customers, and the sometimes repetitive nature of the work. Achieving sales targets or demonstrating less popular products might also pose difficulties.

The Most Enjoyable Part of the Job:
The most enjoyable part is likely the interaction with a variety of people, building customer relationships, and the satisfaction of meeting or exceeding sales goals. Many employees also find the team atmosphere and the opportunity to try out new products enjoyable.

Inadequate Training: New employees are often given minimal training and expected to perform complex tasks without proper guidance. This leads to confusion and mistakes, which could easily be avoided with better training programs.
Poor Management: The management team is unorganized and unresponsive. They fail to provide clear instructions and are often unavailable when needed. Their lack of support makes it difficult to perform effectively.
Lack of Communication: There is a significant communication gap between the management and employees. Important updates and changes are not communicated in a timely manner, leading to a lot of unnecessary stress and misunderstandings.
Unpredictable Schedules: The work schedules are highly unpredictable and often change with little notice. This makes it difficult to maintain a work-life balance and plan personal activities.
Inconsistent Workload: Some days are extremely busy, while others are painfully slow. This inconsistency makes it hard to stay motivated and engaged. On busy days, the workload can be overwhelming without adequate support from the management.
Low Compensation: The pay is not commensurate with the amount of work and stress involved in the job. There are no incentives or benefits that make up for the low wages.
Lack of Career Growth: There are very few opportunities for career advancement or professional growth within the company. This makes it hard to see a future at CDS and contributes to the high turnover rate.

Hours are flexible especially for people with families they need to take care of and students. Doesn't require you to have X amount of shifts a week and shifts are normally 6 hours unless you work roadshow where it's 8-10 hours. Management hires too many people because of people with rigid schedules such as parents who require to spend time with their kids as they finish school. Ideal for immigrants, older adults and students. There's difficulty in maintaining a consistent schedule so you won't work say Tuesdays every week. Hours and shifts fluctuate a lot, you may get 5 shifts a week for a while and some weeks you may have 1-2 shifts. Lack of proper equipment sometimes and takes a while for proper equipment to come in. Some locations are tougher than others.The manager may have superiority complexes and threatens to fire employees if late for 2-3 minutes after expected time after one occurence. Is not under the Costco company but works with Costco so don't expect to get the same benefits as Costco employees. They expect you to use all your sample goods but not use so much that they need to buy more. You are also not allowed to wear any jewelry or visible piercings. I was not told of this at the time of my interview and only found out during my first shift. The uniform is strict where you're not allowed to wear colourful sweaters and only white dress shirts and dress pants. White dress shirts may stain easily so be careful.

My typical day working there involved showing up early to get my station setup so I wouldn't have to be stuck in a rush of employees scrambling to get everything at the last minute.

There was often a morning meeting, and then you'd head out onto the floor to try to find a space to occupy. 

Depending on what you were presenting you could either have a very, long and quiet day, or be up against it because your samples were in high demand. 

You often have a quota of items you are trying to sell, sometimes that quota was larger than the amount of items on the floor. 

There was, at my time a incentive program to hit quotas as every time you did you earned points towards a small amount of money added to your pay for tha period. 

Unfortunately for the worker, your quota also always increases after you hit it - so even the best seller could sell themselves out of bonuses.

It wasn't a physically demanding job, but depending on the sample you could be working very hard to keep up with demand while trying to engage with the members.  

From what I've seen the job has changed a lot after Covid, and the amount of samples on offer stepped mostly away from handling of product to the members.

Experience wise, you got a lot of different skills from the job, largest of most is sales.   My fellow staff members were always nice, and while being an introvert made the occupation difficult it was never the reason I left in the end. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
You can snack on demos on your lunch break 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
I quit four months ago, and it was the best decision I’ve made. This is, without question, the most toxic workplace I’ve ever experienced.
The environment is driven by long-term employees who treat new hires with open hostility. Instead of actual management training staff properly, they dump you on senior employees who continue the same cycle of bullying and dysfunction. Leadership is either absent or unwilling to step in.
You will be yelled at over the smallest, most insignificant mistakes. Put a fork back in the wrong place? Prepare to be screamed at and asked if you have “common sense.” Being talked down to, insulted, and treated like you’re incompetent isn’t rare — it’s routine.
Coworkers argue openly in the office. There are cliques that operate like a high school gossip circle, constantly trash-talking each other while pretending to be professional. It’s immature, embarrassing, and exhausting to be around.
On top of the disrespect, your shifts can be canceled last minute without consideration. There is zero job security and no regard for your time.
If you value your mental health, stability, and basic respect, do not work at this Saint John location. The pay is not worth the chaos.

Great place to meet people in your community and to know them. Unfortunately the workers are not treated very kindly by the customers who are always grabbing the samples or speaking unkindly towards them. There is no protection for the employees only reprimands to remind employees to disregard actions of customers. Pay is very poor and employees are expected to go beyond their duties to keep floors and areas around them clean due to customers that drop or throw their garbage on the floors. We do Costco employees jobs for cheaper wages than they are paid. No incentives to work every weekend which can be the hardest days because of excessive people traffic yet Costco employees are paid more for weekends. A person cannot get full time hours and you can’t live on minimum wages either. No incentive to perform your tiring job standing or to set breaks at reasonable times. Love the job but not the conditions of the environment. Most Costco employees treat us well.

A typical day of getting the table, supplies, and product all set up at the destination. It always starts well if we have all the supplies and even though my manager does try the company says, no. Even though other CDS demo services in other stores have them just ours particularly cannot.

I have learned that Supervisors abuse their status depreciate their coworkers, no words of encouragement and no support. Members make us feel cornered with no means of defense from their rudeness and foulness.
My new manager seems reasonable and fare, nice and respectable as well as one of my Supervisors, none of us have nothing to complain about when it comes to those 2 but one Super 

CDS is is situated in the biggest Costco stores in all of this Province so very cultured usually fall of fun people but there's always that one that has a vendetta.

I honestly cannot say that there is a hard part about this job, it's so simple and direct. Be kind, generous (even though some complain there's too much), and keep the table moving as in, keep the trays rotating people like to eat whether they will buy it or not.

I LOVE the kids, I have the most fun with the kids all the time no matter what I'm doing.

I don't know a single person on this team who doesn't hate this job, meaning the environment is very draining and negative. 

The job of preparing samples and talking to customers is easy; but often customers see you only as a free-food machine and the formula you must follow when talking to them to try to get them to buy it tends only to make this problem worse, but you have to do it unless you want to lose hours or the job. 

Fear is the motivation that is used to get the workers to get the sales they never see a reward from. Whether you've earned the store/brand hundreds or none at all, everyone earns much the same wage unless they've managed to put the hours in for a raise. 

Turnover is high and while the company says it values its employees, you're completely expendable and replaceable. There's nothing positive to work towards and you don't leave feeling as if you've accomplished anything at all. They're also pro-censorship and that's where I really draw the line. 

They do pay a bit more and the shifts can be flexible; you also get free food. Depending on management it can be tolerable but often this is not the case.

This job pays minimum wage and only two days of work (6 hours daily) is guaranteed. Its ideal for students or senior citizens who just want to remain active or get out of the house. The job requires standing for 6 hours consecutively performing product demonstration in order to promote sales. There are no benefits and no scope for growth. The company is in the developmental stages and thus lack proper business structure and effective policies and organization. Based on the fact that compensation is below market standard, they do not attract nor retain the best talent and it shows in the everyday business operation and decision-making. I sometimes wonder the level of education and competency of top management. CDS is not considered an employer of choice and employees are treated as dispensable.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Shift manager 14 salaries reported	$18.75 per hour
Retail manager 5 salaries reported	$45,000 per year
Contract manager 5 salaries reported	$45,000 per year
Superviseur 4 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour
Senior brand ambassador 4 salaries reported	$19.15 per hour

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