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I can see two sides to this.. actually three. The first one is that I've seen several magazines and news articles recommending customers to find a good salesperson and seek them out each time they shop, to solidify a good 'relationship' so as to get better service* and possibly even better deals than usual. Honestly though, those articles always forget to remind the customer not to be sucky in order to get that sort of reaction from retail workers. 
*I had a customer that I adored and this was how he found me. He had had a series of strokes that left him unable to speak clearly or even write, in a wheelchair and honestly, rather frustrated that no one could help him find his books. I don't really know why or how but I understood him and things just clicked after that, he always asked for me when he came in after that.
The second side would be as a few have stated, lonely people seeking out human interaction in the only way that they can get it. Now, if I'd had the time to spend just talking to customers that wanted to talk, if I didn't already have every second of every minute of every hour on my timecard accounted for and then some, I'd have been more than happy to accommodate these folks. Unfortunately, my boss didn't pay me to shoot the breeze. Farrrr from it.
The last side is the unfortunate one where these people just don't have the built in radar to know that they're interrupting work, and worse, have an overdeveloped sense of 'it's all about me', that refuses to allow them to get a clue or empathize. All one can do in that case is to firmly say, "if there's anything else I can do for you, let me or another sales associate know", smile, and disengage by walking away, even if your work is still in that aisle. If you don't leave, they won't get it. And yes, you might have to go all the way to the backroom.
*I had a customer that I adored and this was how he found me. He had had a series of strokes that left him unable to speak clearly or even write, in a wheelchair and honestly, rather frustrated that no one could help him find his books. I don't really know why or how but I understood him and things just clicked after that, he always asked for me when he came in after that.
The second side would be as a few have stated, lonely people seeking out human interaction in the only way that they can get it. Now, if I'd had the time to spend just talking to customers that wanted to talk, if I didn't already have every second of every minute of every hour on my timecard accounted for and then some, I'd have been more than happy to accommodate these folks. Unfortunately, my boss didn't pay me to shoot the breeze. Farrrr from it.
The last side is the unfortunate one where these people just don't have the built in radar to know that they're interrupting work, and worse, have an overdeveloped sense of 'it's all about me', that refuses to allow them to get a clue or empathize. All one can do in that case is to firmly say, "if there's anything else I can do for you, let me or another sales associate know", smile, and disengage by walking away, even if your work is still in that aisle. If you don't leave, they won't get it. And yes, you might have to go all the way to the backroom.
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