Sims in retail store just talk

just wish they would fix it otherwise there is no sense in owning a retail store. however they do ok in restaurant setting mayve that why the waitress/waiter talks to them about thier order

@cashaber   Hello!  I know exactly what you mean and it's terribly frustrating.  Have you tried using the retail option in the More Choices menu?  When I first started having sims own a retail store, I didn't know that option existed.  Whenever I clicked on a customer sim, I would normally get the Greet Customer option but then I rarely got any other retail options just clicking once.  Eventually, I clicked through the More Choices menus until I found the retail option where you can choose things like Offer Suggestions or Discuss Price Range.  Once I started using those options, I noticed the little retail meter above their heads started filling up faster and they were browsing and buying more often.  Something else that helped was assigning employees with the task of interacting with customers.  (EDIT: Answer Questions is the interaction I couldn't remember earlier.)  Perhaps you've already tried these things but I wanted to share just in case because it wasn't immediately obvious to me in the beginning.

@xochiquetzl_xkvn   I usually just completely ignore celebrities (or use a cheat to make them leave).  lol  Retail owners really should be able to greet celebrities just like any other customer.

You need to use the various retail interactions in conversation to encourage them to buy... their interest bar goes up pretty quick if you can keep them happy and intersperse a variety of retail interactions in the conversation.

Yes, but suddenly that option doesn't even exist.  I am not sure if it's related to my Sims actually being celebrities themselves or what, but I open my store and then the only things my werewolves who are currently Notable Newcomers can do is "Ferocious Intimidation" and "Ask Customer to Leave" that's it. Nothing else.

I’m sure this is not gonna be the solution to a lot of people in this thread but it might help someome. I was having a similar problem which made my retail completely non functional.
My lot was filled with sims just talking, picking up stuff, sitting down and doing homework, they didn’t bave the blue bars like if they were browsing the shop and the retail menu did not show up at all! Also, no purchases of course. 

Turns out the problem was mod related, more specifically to the Spawn Refresh mod by Zerbu, I believe some conflict with the shared rental functionality of the mod. The game was only spawning normal sims according to the objects in my lot and no customers. I took it out of the game and now everything works fine 🙂