It's their job; I'm sure they wouldn't bother helping you if they wouldn't have to. I'm in retail, and I'd like nothing more than to sit around chatting with my coworkers while we wait for customers to approach us when they need us. Salespeople are obliged to greet and attempt to help everyone that comes into the store, especially with the economy at a standstill. They (we) get a lot of crap from our bosses if customers aren't attended to constantly. Oh, and salespeople are expected to get customers to sign up for those card things.
If it makes you really uncomfortable to be attended to, just tell them you're just browsing, not looking for anything in particular AND will call them if you need them. Make it clear that you're doing fine on by yourself and you will probably be left alone; be firmer if the salesperson is pushy. As for the card, you can just refuse it.
Well said. I am a manager, and it's my job to ensure my staff are approaching customers, and re-approaching those taking their time to look around. My company in particular has a philosophy where we don't try to push product on you, but rather we want to ignite a conversation. It can be about product, it can be about sports (our area of expertise) or even about the weather. (Asking closed-ended questions like "can I help you find anything?" is frowned upon.) Obviously it doesn't work with everybody, but our main goal is to make people feel comfortable in the store and be willing to come back, even if they don't buy anything then and there.
We also have secret shoppers for times when I am not around. I'm lucky in the sense that I have a good staff. In 3 years of managing, I've never had a bad report come back. *knocks on wood*
And yes, we have the points program too. There are some out there that are of little value, but there are some where I don't understand anybody refusing. If you can take as long as you want to spend a certain amount in that store and end up getting a $50 gift card for it, why not?
I understand that some people don't want our attention. That said, there is the other side of the coin, where a couple comes in, starts looking through a rack and I can hear the woman say "I can't find the larges"... so I approach and ask if they need help finding a size and she tells me that she's "just browsing". Obviously I couldn't call her a b!tch, but I damn sure felt like it. It was her tough luck that the size of shirt she wanted was in overstock in the back. I could have gotten one for her, but she apparently wasn't looking for it.