...or acts like it. At the Ettusias cosmetics counter at Taipei 101 mall, the solo salesgirl offers make-overs, insists we sample all the shades, wipes off everything with tissue, then sneaks freebies into our bulging bags as we leave.

'If you like it, come back again,' she chirps.

At Taiwan's largest bookstore Page One, we roll out our service test - ask for an obscure title, get it hunted down, then send it back for a more pristine copy.

Still, the smile and sing-song 'Shaodeng xia' ('A moment please') response never wavers.

At Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store, the sales staff display Japanese-style teamwork with an astute, rather than automaton, twist.

Pick up a sneaker and your other hand is stuffed with socks to try them on with.

'Looks great with jeans. So comfortable my last customer bought eight pairs.' The affirmations trip off one attendant's tongue. Another falls to her knees to check the fit. 'Too loose? We can pad it up for free,' she offers.

It helps that an estimated 80 per cent of the Taiwanese workforce under 30 have college or higher education. The rest have senior high school certificates.

About half of a salesman's starting pay of about NT$40,000 (S$2,000) comes from commissions. During store promotions, commissions can double or triple.

Behind the scenes, there are about 30 non-profit consumer rights groups that lobby for better service.

Lawyer Jason Lee, chairman of the 25-year-old Consumer's Foundation, conducts about 1,000 classes each year for companies on how to treat customers right.

His latest focus is on after sales service: how customers - even the troublesome ones - should be treated after the sale is made and commission pocketed.

But the real reason service - or rather, salesmanship - is so evolved in Taipei is its people's unbridled entrepreneurialism.

Most Taiwanese subscribe to the old Chinese adage that it is better to be the head of a chicken, than the tail of an ox. Translation: Better to be boss of a small company, than an employee of a large one.

There are over a million small and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan, many sole proprietorships hoping to grow up into an Acer.

Nearly a third of Taiwan's 9.8-million-strong labour force is self-employed. A good number run their own 24-hour convenience stores - there are at least 8,000 across Taiwan, the bulk of them 7-Elevens.

On any given night, there are 66 night markets all over Taipei, with rows of vendors selling everything from oyster mee sua to sunglasses.

By day, just outside each of the island's 70 department stores and malls, a gaggle of itinerant hawkers selling overruns from American brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister will gather and just as quickly disband when the police chase them away.

They are known as the retail trade's 'xiao didi' (little brothers) that leech traffic off malls and cater mainly to women in the habit of 'toukong' (stealing shopping time during their lunch hour).

Together with underpass shopping, they also break the tedium of evening walks to the MRT station.

No wonder Taipei is known as the 'emporium without end'.

Its multiple retail formats are kept going by the Taiwanese consumer's fondness for scoring a good deal and value, especially of the hypermart variety. Carrefour's first international venture opened here in 1989 and has since grown to over 30 outlets. Makro, Tesco, Cosco and Geant are all here in full force.

But despite voracious domestic demand, what holds Taiwan back is its relatively late start in the ongoing regional retail race.

Ms Chin Chung, chairman of the Retailers Association of Chinese Taipei and president of the top-grossing department store chain Sogo Taipei, pulls no punches: 'The government doesn't pay enough attention to retail tourism because Taiwan's economic strength has always been export manufacturing.

'It can't move on from its success in 3C manufacturing - computers, consumer electronics and communications equipment - to the service mindset.'

Only of late has the awareness sunk in that Taiwan needs tourists to prop up the domestic retail market for it to grow. 'We can't keep closing our doors and expecting to do business,' says Ms Chin, formerly a minister without portfolio.

About four years ago, the Taipei City Government began learning from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia how to conduct shopping festivals. It launched its inaugural Taipei Shop And Shine festival last August.

Mr Kang Bing-Cheng, the tourism commission's executive director, is now working hard at diverting its estimated three million annual arrivals - mostly Japanese, Hongkongers and Americans who come on factory visits - towards Taiwan's street snacks, scenery and shops instead.

He is making up for lost time by putting in place money changers, air freight, hotel delivery services and tourist discount booklets to cater to foreign shoppers. Coming soon are best service and window display competitions to get retailers up to scratch.

There are vague plans for a spruce-up of the weathered, grey, boxy office blocks that form Taipei's Orchard Road, Chung Hsiao East Road.

But even in its posh new steel-and-glass Hsin Yi business district, with malls like Taipei 101, New York New York and Warner Village, some stores have unsophisticated, overcrowded displays.

The window displays, even for brands like Louis Vuitton at Taipei 101, tend to be crammed with one of every kind of merchandise, instead of the solitary, well-lit item that creates an aura of exclusivity.

One problem, says Ms Chin, is that Taipei's approach to retail remains very much manufacturing-biased and transaction-driven. It is all about sales and turnover.

The government has begun to help boost the textile industry, but needs to focus more on intangible stuff like building brands for the long run.

'We've only just realised that to create an exciting, sustainable retail sector, we need more indigenous offerings with an Eastern flavour, rather than just an international representation of brands,' she says.

To do that, she says, Taiwan needs to grow its current crop of about 20 exportable fashion and lifestyle brands, such as Shiatzy Chen, Stephanie Dou and Working House.

Mr Dennis Hsu, 45, president of lifestyle store chain Working House, which introduced fashion themes like baroque and pop art to home furnishings, agrees.

He started his business in a 500 sq ft trading office 12 years ago and has expanded it to 150 branches all over Taiwan today. He says he has never minded that 'the government doesn't do much and everything is done by us retailers'.

But he resents the fact that eight out of 10 brands in Taiwan these days are foreign-owned. 'Ikea, Giordano, Nautica, no matter how big these brands are here, they are still franchises, which means the money still goes out. And we'll always be working for others,' he groans.

And that, to the Taiwanese, is anathema.

WHERE TO GO

• Taipei 101, 45 Shihfu Road, Hsin Yi District
  The tallest building in the world with its 101 storeys and observatory has edged out Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall as the city's most iconic building these days. It boasts upmarket shops - like Lagerfeld, Miu Miu, Tara Jamon and Kenzo - and sleek mid-air walkways connecting it and surrounding buildings like New York New York, Warner Village and World Trade Centre. A must-visit for tourists, especially during bad weather.

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• Shilin Night Market, Chung Shan North Road, near Jiantan MRT station
  Taipei is not known as the gourmet capital of Asia for nothing. Eat your way through its biggest and oldest night market cheek by jowl with the locals. The maze of stalls sell everything from scarves to sports shoes to sour plums.
   
  Well worth trying are its world-famous XXXL fried chicken slabs, squid stew, clam omelettes, knife-sliced noodles, pork kidney soup and chilli sauce dumplings.
   
  The carnival atmosphere includes games like trying to catch a goldfish (the prize) using a tissue paper net and shooting plastic cans with air rifles.

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• Hsimenting, 116 Han Chung Street
  Once you exit Hsimen MRT station, follow the neon lights. This popular students' hangout screams youth, low prices and counter-culture fashion. Trendy cafes, tattoo parlours and shops selling a jungle of phone accessories, bovver boots, cult clothing and skateboards boom the latest dance or hip hop track.
   
  It is also home to the Eslite Hsimenting mall, carrying brands like Roots, Shoex and Bauhaus. The entertainment district is also a well-known cruising area for older gay men, whom the Taiwanese call guai shushu or guai yeye (which literally translates to strange uncle or strange grandfather).

EXPERT SAYS

'Taipei is the land of enterprising CEOs. Besides the boss, everyone down the line is thinking of how to grow the business. Its sales staff understand the power of the cross-sell. Decided on that blouse? They will suggest skirts, belts, shoes or bags to go with it. They are willing to let you try on as many products as you want, in the hope of enticing you to buy more. Its shoppers, too, are hungry for great finds and best prices. But one downside is that retailers lack central coordination because the authorities, stuck in a manufacturing groove, lack the marketing know-how and imagination to support them.' -- Dr Lynda Wee