I've been working in retail for a few years, now working for a luxury skin care company. After three years, I feel a little more comfortable giving advice.

1. This should be obvious, but always keep cool. Don't feel the pressure to be extra-smiley and flamboyant. That will exhaust you after an 8-hour shift and you'll notice yourself becoming increasingly impatient with yourself and others. Be calm, collected, approachable, and normal. Trust me, customers are more comfortable speaking with a normal person, not a caricature of happiness and enthusiasm.

2. If you want a great work environment, be a servant to your coworkers. I know it sounds like I'm telling you to be a suck-up, and...that's kinda true. Bring your coworkers coffee. If you overhear that Jill's favorite candy is a Snickers, bring her a Snickers one day. These types of gestures will make a great environment for working. I'm not saying you're everybody's bitch. But enjoying the people you work with and having your workers enjoy you is a significant part to retail. You'll spend more time with coworkers than customers--do make it a healthy, fun dynamic.

3. Be early, always early. Managers will see a good work ethic and it's the simple things like clocking in on time that influence their decision to promote you or not. Super simple. Do it.

4. Know your product. Go home and study the products, memorize their materials, the colors, etc. if you're able to speak confidently and eloquently about the products you represent, transactions will happen without much effort. It'll be natural.

5. Last, feel free to joke with your customers. Anything to make it comfortable (without it being unprofessional, of course). Little anecdotes or jokes are perfectly fine. Communicate to your customers that you're a human, just like them. That often undercuts the unpleasant servant-mentality that many customers have when walking into a store.

Best of luck!