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Yesterday afternoon I headed into town to do some shopping.
First I went to the MAC shop to get some new foundation (again). I got a shock when it was rung up: £22!! (It's $26 in the US.) No wonder no one I know here wears MAC. I'll be remembering to stock up in the States in future. It's a good thing I didn't buy anything else. MAC stores are dangerous; I start going "oooh, pretty colours!" Luckily (for my wallet), I tend to be under-confident about picking colours. I'm reasonably good with picking lipstick but I'm less good with eye makeup. I could ask for help, and sometimes I do, but the trouble is that they tend to look at you and make assumptions about what style you'll want. In my case they tend to assume "understated and natural". Which is fine most of the time but is difficult when you do want something more dramatic. They tend to interpret "more dramatic" as "visible".
From there, I went bag shopping. I failed to find one that met all the requisites (style, size, budget). I think the piece de resistance was seeing something potentially suitable in Topshop and then seeing the price tag: £145!
I still miss shopping in the States. First, as a 4th generation New Yorker and scion of a family of shoppers, I know where to buy everything. Second, the service really is better (much of the time). I just had to sigh when a union made fun of M&S hiring a US sales guru. They just don't get it. Having products people want to buy matters, but that's not the only thing. Good sales techniques can make people buy and buy more. This is particularly important as choice increases. In my experience, when there is too much choice, people become overwhelmed and often buy nothing. This is why the very-helpful sales tactics in some US stores work so well.
Contrast the UK and US.
UK: Do you have this in a 10?
Sales assistant fetches the item, end of interaction.
(or worse, sales assistant gives you a blank look. This is also the Macy's sales technique, and might explain their declining sales.)
US: Do you have this in a 10?
Sales assistant fetches item, and 3 other items she thinks might suit. None are quite right? Get some more. And so on until the customer is satisfied. Not only do you get a sale, you get a customer who will come back. (This is why I love shopping at Nordstrom.)
Or the pre-emptive tactic: Ask customer what they need, point to suitable item, go from there.
Linda Grant had a good article in the Guardian about the comparative shopping experience: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1448690,00.html
Of course, shopping in New York can suck. But there's always a good chance that it won't.
We make fun of consumer capitalism here, but I see plenty of Brits shopping when I go back--and they don't just enjoy the prices.
First I went to the MAC shop to get some new foundation (again). I got a shock when it was rung up: £22!! (It's $26 in the US.) No wonder no one I know here wears MAC. I'll be remembering to stock up in the States in future. It's a good thing I didn't buy anything else. MAC stores are dangerous; I start going "oooh, pretty colours!" Luckily (for my wallet), I tend to be under-confident about picking colours. I'm reasonably good with picking lipstick but I'm less good with eye makeup. I could ask for help, and sometimes I do, but the trouble is that they tend to look at you and make assumptions about what style you'll want. In my case they tend to assume "understated and natural". Which is fine most of the time but is difficult when you do want something more dramatic. They tend to interpret "more dramatic" as "visible".
From there, I went bag shopping. I failed to find one that met all the requisites (style, size, budget). I think the piece de resistance was seeing something potentially suitable in Topshop and then seeing the price tag: £145!
I still miss shopping in the States. First, as a 4th generation New Yorker and scion of a family of shoppers, I know where to buy everything. Second, the service really is better (much of the time). I just had to sigh when a union made fun of M&S hiring a US sales guru. They just don't get it. Having products people want to buy matters, but that's not the only thing. Good sales techniques can make people buy and buy more. This is particularly important as choice increases. In my experience, when there is too much choice, people become overwhelmed and often buy nothing. This is why the very-helpful sales tactics in some US stores work so well.
Contrast the UK and US.
UK: Do you have this in a 10?
Sales assistant fetches the item, end of interaction.
(or worse, sales assistant gives you a blank look. This is also the Macy's sales technique, and might explain their declining sales.)
US: Do you have this in a 10?
Sales assistant fetches item, and 3 other items she thinks might suit. None are quite right? Get some more. And so on until the customer is satisfied. Not only do you get a sale, you get a customer who will come back. (This is why I love shopping at Nordstrom.)
Or the pre-emptive tactic: Ask customer what they need, point to suitable item, go from there.
Linda Grant had a good article in the Guardian about the comparative shopping experience: http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1448690,00.html
Of course, shopping in New York can suck. But there's always a good chance that it won't.
We make fun of consumer capitalism here, but I see plenty of Brits shopping when I go back--and they don't just enjoy the prices.
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