I’ve been asked to participate in a brainstorming session at my company this week, and without getting into who I work for specifically, I thought I might solicit input from my readers, as you’re a clever bunch.
It’s certainly no secret that retailers are struggling in this economic climate. Once a voracious shopper myself, I’ve put the kibosh on my spending; I haven’t shopped online or B&M for months. And while I am proud of myself, I also find it worrisome that I am contributing to a shift in consumer behavior that relates directly to my livelihood.
I’ve pulled together some questions that might help guide me toward some valuable ideas for my meeting. Please feel free to answer any of the questions in the comments or contribute with any additional bright ideas.
- How has your shopping for non-essentials trended in the past year?
- What is the last thing you’ve purchased and from where? Online or B&M?
- What was the catalyst for your last purchase? Was it an impulsive purchase? A planned/researched purchase? Were you guided into a store by a promotion?
- How successful are promotions at guiding you to purchase?
- What kind of promotions do you feel are most successful? Percentage sales, gift with purchase, purchase with purchase, buy one/two get one, etc.?
- How often are you persuaded to buy by co-branded promotions? For example, receiving a Mario Batali cookbook when purchasing his branded cookware.
- How often are you driven to purchase impulse product? This would be product at the cash wrap or register. What would you say the price-threshold is for these purchases?
- How persuasive are window displays or front-of-the-store displays in getting you into a store? Are you put off by messy displays? Is any message provided in the window (i.e. Sale or “It’s Mother’s Day”) more persuasive than displays?
- How often are you persuaded to purchase via a promotion up-sold by a store employee? What is your threshold for this kind of communication? By this I mean, how often can a store employee approach you to inform you of “sales” or promotions before you want to snap his/her neck?
- What do you feel is lacking in visual merchandising programs at retailers in general? Across the board, all products.
Thanks dearhearts!
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve definitely slowed down my spending– still trying to catch up after 3 months laid off and now making less than I did before. I think my last impulse buy was Saturday. I stopped into Target for a couple of essentials and saw that a few things that would fit the description of “things I’ve been wanting” for a while– both were $5, a bin for the dogs’ toys, and a mat for in front of the kitchen door. Big splurge, eh? I’m about to order some J.Crew flip flops b/c it’s 20% off two or more and I need to replace my beloved pair of J.Crew flips that I made the mistake of painting in.
I am most drawn to sales, these days, and I’m trying not to buy things unless they are replacing something that needs to be replaced or filling a definite need. (Dresses for summer in my hot Southern city are a definite need.) I tend to only do the gift-with-purchase route if it’s cosmetics– Clinique can always sucker me in with GWP. I love a BOGO deal though– that’s what I’m doing with the J.Crew flips.
As far as impulse buys, I have a $10 threshhold. I would impulse buy a lipgloss but not an outfit.
And as far as being told about sales/promotions go, I’d generally rather read a sign than be told about it– though I worked in retail, was forced to try and push things at the register, hated every minute of it, and have much sympathy for my retail peeps.
I am very put off by messy displays more than anything. When I walk into a store and there is chaos, I walk right out. I can’t handle it. I am drawn into stores when I see a significant sale sign (more percentage-wise for me).
My non-essentials shopping has pretty much gone down to zero recently, I need all the money I can save for tuition! The last thing I purchased was today, a lipstick from Nordstrom. Pricey, but totally worth it, since I wear some kind of lipstick everyday. I bought it in person since colors always look so different online, and makeup is important to try on. I guess buying it was kind of a cross between impulse and planned, I knew I needed some more makeup, but I didn’t plan on buying it today or in Nordstrom…I was just at the YSL counter getting a gift for a friend. Sadly, it was not on sale.
Promotions don’t really encourage me to buy stuff just because my mother never shopped sales when I was younger, so I never really was enticed by sales and promotions. I mean, today, I usually won’t buy stuff the first time I see in order to make sure I really want it, but if something I like happens to be on sale, the chances of me taking it home THAT day are much higher. Co-branded promotions, like all promotions, don’t really have an effect on me. Usually I want to buy something to begin with, it’s just a matter of when.
I rarely impulse add things onto my total, unless it’s something really cheap, like under $20. But even then, it has to be something that is a REALLY great deal and I can justify buying. For example, Jcrew always has cute stuff at the registers…I’ve bought a keychain for $6.99 impulsively, but there is no way I would pay $16.50 for a bejeweled hair elastic, no matter how cute it is. Those things stretch out in two seconds!!!
I’m really attracted to simple displays with good clothes and a nice, unique background. Nothing too splashy that screams SALE! because to me, that screams CHAOS WITHIN! I guess think JCrew again (can you tell I love this store??) with a few mannequins in simple clothes, a suitcase or something, and a solid colored background with maps. I have a really analytical mind and I like clean lines and order so I can think. I have to be able to imagine myself in the clothes that I see and I can’t do that when there are words and decorations coming at me in all directions.
I worked retail through high school and still do in the summertime now that I’ve been in college for a few years, and it’s annoying to have to push promotions on customers, so I never care if someone mentions it to me. However, I can’t stand agents who persist and try and convince me to get a credit card when I’ve politely declined them multiple times…chances are I won’t change my mind!
Food and wine are seriously my only purchases these days, and my last non-food purchase was a gift for the husband as a combined Christmas/Valentine’s Day gift, purchased online at Banana Republic. I purchased a number of tees and a pair of boxers because there was a great promo–buy 3, get 25% off of “essentials” online–and the prices went down dramatically, and these are items he uses.
As for the rest of your questions:
–Co-branding would really depend on the product/category. To use your example, I wouldn’t be inclined to buy a Mario Batali dutch oven because a copy of Molto Italiano was included, because I already own a better dutch oven and said cookbook. But if I was shopping for a good casserole and the bonus was something I didn’t have, (and maybe didn’t have a strong desire for) but would be a nice-to-have? I’d be all over it, to be sure.
–Successful promos that make me spend: The X for $X is something that the husband and I both like when it comes to small things, like yogurts or canned soup that go for 10 for $10. Percentage off’s are nice, but unless it’s something I buy anyway, it’s not going to draw me in as much.
–Impulse buys: as a market researcher, I’m pretty good about this–but a DVD that I’ve been looking for that is 10 bucks or less will draw me in if I’m at Target.
–Displays are nice, but they aren’t deal-breakers or deal-makers, as I like to see a nice window display, but even the best one can’t convince me to spend my money. Frankly, I would rather be in a clean store with simple displays than elaborate displays in a messy store.
–Upsells: OK, as someone who had to do this when I worked in copy centers and had to sell up on paper on printing orders, I have found that I’ve been the most successful upsells start with listening to the customer. If, for example, someone from the local visitor’s bureau was making full-color reports that were double-sided, I’d convince them to go with a heavier paper to prevent bleed-through and to make it look more professional. And if they were printing photos, I’d happily use a piece of good glossy paper to show how much better a print of that would look–but it was always trying to give the customer what they wanted. My supervisor was brilliant at this.
Hope this helps!
I’m definitely buying less for myself, however I notice I am buying more gifts for other people because I know everyone is having a hard time and I figure they are not splurging on themselves. For that reason I think holiday and gift promotions are good. I am mainly shopping online because I feel I can comparison shop better. I am also consciously trying to buy from individual artists/entrepreneurs, feeling like that is more in line with how the economy is going — bartering, making your own way, arts and crafts, DIY.
I respond more to percentage sales — two fors or buy one get one free makes me feel manipulated into buying more than I want to.
Because I am not going out with the idea to shop, a window display advertising a huge sale or reminding me to buy a gift for someone would make me walk in the door.
Upsells make me leave the store with nothing. Once is educational, more than that is likely to result in a loss of sale.
I can’t say I notice visual displays very often. I tend to look for information. I’m definitely responding more now to things that are functional, clean, pared down, necessary. Not into the escapist luxury thing at all at the moment. I feel like acknowledging the economy makes me buy more frequently, if that makes any sense.
Yeah I just bought a DVD too actually for ten bucks — things that are targeted as “staying in,” somehow saving money by not going to the movie theater, etc. that’s what I mean by acknowledging the economy in the marketing.
I have to agree with Laura about the chaos in a store. If the aisles are small, the displays are too grandiose, the racks too disheveled to search through, I can’t handle it. I would like shopping to be more calm, relaxing. And with relaxing, those Insane One-Day-Sales that stores have equal a no-go for me.
I know you can’t really help this but if stores offered their items at a lower price for a longer period of time, I think that would help people. It may even look like items are just getting cheaper when instead, it’s just a ridiculous one day sale stretched over three or four weeks.
The economy hadn’t really had any affect, until just recently, on my spending. In fact, up until about January I was definitely spending more than usual, but almost exclusively on sale items because there have been so many great sales. My internship is over, and my parents- small business owners- aren’t doing well and I just took out my first student loan (I’m graduating in 2 months so needless to say I’ve been very lucky so far).
Along with some of the others, J.Crew is my favorite place to shop, and also happens to be my boyfriends favorite. One of the reasons we go there a lot is bcause we never feel pressured by the sales people. I can’t recall the last time I was greeted with a promotion/special. I definitely prefer this as opposed to ‘we’re having a __ special today’. When I worked retail I hated having to push those types of things because I felt like I was pressuring the customers into purchasing things they didn’t want/need.
I usually have something in mind when I go shopping, and X or $X definitely doesn’t sell me. I’d say I’m more of a %-off shopper. I don’t like buying multipes- it feels like I”m being too greedy, but if something is X% off and I really like it, it’s got a better chance of coming home with me.
Also, I don’t do much online shopping. I actually don’t like it at all. However, I do research prices/reviews online before buying most things.
As for displays, I definitely prefer clean, neat, and somewhat minimal. A store with a messy display means I’m going to have to sift through racks/tables to find things- something I hate doing.
Sales signs in windows of my favorite stores always make me upset. Anthropologie always has a great sale section, and lots of people don’t frequent the store because it has typically high prices, but when they put a sale sign up in the window it’s a mad house! But I guess that’s me wanting the sales for myself :)
I hardly ever make impulse purchases at the counter. I’d say the last time was at J.Crew when they had a bracelet for $2.95. But, if it’s over, say, $8, it’ll never happen.
I think a pared down window is a good visual for shoppers. If they see over-the-top windows and displays, it will just seem to luxurious and they’ll think that the retailer is not considering the context of the times. I think that even those who aren’t experiencing tough financial times are still feeling the pressure to pull back and not spend so extravagantly.
Well I’m actually buying more this year, this is a combo of: I’m making a tiny bit more money and got a roommate which has saved me a ton and (more importantly) merchandise has been deeply discounted.
Most of what I buy is not on impulse.
I actually respond really well to email promotions, I almost always click through to the website and shop around. Plus even if I’m not interested I’m always forwarding them to friends and family that I think would be interested. I only really like promotions that involve sales, not buy one get one, because I really don’t buy lots of items at once so it seems like a waste. As to in-store promotions being pushed on me it rarely ever works but I’ve never felt harassed a simple no thank you usually works.
Oh! also, I HATE overstuffed racks.
1. I have definitely tried to curb my non-essential shopping specially for smaller products such as cosmetics and shoes. I have realized that I have enough already and purchasing more is not beneficial to me at this time.
2. Technically the last thing I purchased was food from TJs. Merchandising wise it was a clutch from Target, a new metal bottle and a tank top
3. The catalyst for the the tank top and bottle was a sale at Old Navy. It was a complete impulse. The clutch was actually something that I have been wanting because I have been going out a lot and was tired of caring a purse. I didn’t research my purchase. I happened to have been walking and saw the clutch on an end cap
4. Pretty successful. I like a good deal
5. For me the best promotions are percentage off followed by BOGO. The percentage off has to be a decent amount for me. I usually won’t go in for a 10-20% off promotion specially depending on the original price point of the store
6. In all honesty, I am not really persuaded by co-branding. This is mostly because I usually find that the item they are offering with the purchase is just not worth it specially in comparison to the price you have to pay. If the items were both something that I really really wanted then maybe but I have yet to come across a co-branding that I like
7. I would say that 9 out of 10 times I ignore the impulse product. If I do pick something up its probably under $3.
8. Signs in a window display are defintiely helpful. I like being alerted to a good sale or deal. I like window displays first off for their art direction. A really well designed window display can get me to stop in my tracks. A window display can get me in a store usually if I like an item in the display or if the display gives me a good sense of the theme of the rest of the merchandise in the store (specially at places like Forever21 that turn over merchandise so quickly)
9. I’m off and on with store employees. If they casually point out say a table display with a sale item or when I walk in and they inform me that certain items are having a special deal then we are good and I check it out. Really persistent sales people make me crazy. I know its their job but I like my space. The worst is when they offering something like a credit card deal and they just will not take no for an answer
10. I really think that the main thing lacking is originality. I feel like a lot of places and companies are starting to all look the same. I always appreciate a fresh idea specially if it is a trend item. Sometimes to I feel like the visual just needs to be cleaned up. Its like they throw so much into a small area to try to get your attention. Sometimes I just want to see the simple cotton dress on the mannequin and not the three scarves, jacket, hat, layered necklaces etc. Basic does not have to be bad
i feel like i should email this to you but here goes anyway:
1. i’ve *thought* a lot more about shopping over the last year. esp. for clothes and other items like makeup and accessories. do i need this? would i rather spend the money on something else like food or booze? i wouldn’t say i’ve spent less, however. my job isn’t going anywhere. the boss has cut back a few benefits (IRA contributions and time off) but the firm is strong and able to pay me into the future.
2. i bought a crap ton (like 7) t-shirts from gap.com this week. they are part of my work uniform and needed.
3. i’m always on the lookout for gap t-shirts on sale. i tend to wear the “neutral with a pop of color” thing to work and gap t-shirts serve as my “pop of color” (in addition to jewelry, bags and shoes). i was packing for a trip to hawaii (a whole ‘nother money/finance story) and realized i was getting low so i reordered. had i not seen the “favorite tees” on sale i would have gone without.
4. promotions work fairly well on me. but i hate getting emails about sales and clicking through only to find the sale is not as deep as promised.
5. promotions have to be worth it. i’m most likely to click through emails that promise free shipping if it’s a web-store. percentage or buy-one-get-one sales will get me in to a store.
6. if the cost of the original was at cost or below i would buy to get the co-promotion “gift”. but i guess i should have said from the start that i rarely buy full price.
7. i rarely buy things at cash wrap. i’ll poke around at jewelry or other accessories but, again, if it’s not on sale i’ll rarely buy. it would have to be a really good sale, say 2 for 1 or $5 for one pair of earrings.
8. i love a good window display and a “sale” sign will always get me in the door. my biggest pet peeve is window displays that don’t match the interior. if the window has a jacket that i can’t find in my size or a “60% off” sign that doesn’t pan out, i’m pissed. i also hate messy stores as mentioned above.
9. rarely will i fall for the up-sale. i’m tough like that. i go in for what i need and unless a salesperson can read what i have in my hand and suggest accordingly i rarely buy more than i need (good times or bad).
10. as i said in #8, visual merchandising is great but if you don’t have the stock to back it up you’ve lost me.
As I currently work in retail, I’m afraid I don’t have much objective perspective to offer you. I can say that as someone in their early 20s, with 8 years of retail experience, no longer in college, and with some disposable income; I am a complete sucker for BOGOs. I know the theory behind it, and I know that I probably don’t need item number 2. But when I’m in the store, I want it, and I usually will leave with the half off item. I honestly think that accessories and basics are the way to draw customers in. They don’t have tons of cash to buy a random top that will only go with one pair of pants, but they can probably justify a bright scarf that will make a few basic outfits pop. Don’t know if any of that was helpful or if it can even be implemented for your brand, but I thought I’d share just the same.
I no longer shop online because I have had to get rid of all of my credit cards and close my bank account due to debt and lack of a job. The last items that I have purchased (courtesy of mom) were new clothes for work. I had to get a new work wardrobe, as business casual and my normal wardrobe do not mix. Most of the time I shop at Target. When I WAS shopping often, sales definitely were incentive to buy. I cannot turn down a good deal. The ones that persuade me the most are percentage off or buy one/get one kind of things.
I would like to contribute more, but since I no longer shop, I can’t really be of more help. Lately, all my disposable income is spent on alcoholic beverages because if I spent it on clothes I would have no more social life.
The last thing I got was a secondhand trench. It was an impulse by because I was in the neighborhood. Promotions are rarely effective in getting me in the door; I only use them if I already shop with a certain retailer or I need whatever the promotion is for anyway. Ditto with adding on items at the cashwrap– the only things I’ve bought at the register have been practical items that are easy to forget, i.e. lint rollers, or emergency items like an umbrella or a pair of gloves on a day that was unexpectedly rainy or cool. My price threshold for those things is $5 or less. Eye-catching window displays are effective at getting me in the store, as are signs announcing good discounts (50% or more). I’m I’m fine with store employees approaching me and notifying me of things as long as they aren’t persistent and as long as I’m not stopped by everyone on the floor. I can be sucked in by interesting designer collaborations, though. I’m not immune to marketing, no matter how my post sounds. :)
Oooh, ditto what Lizbang said, too, about accessories.
1. I am a grad student, so I can’t say that my spending has changed much because it’s basically always been very little. Heating costs in this city did mean that I reduced things like nonsense clothes/shoes/books shopping, but that was a change I made before the economic crisis because I began to have a hundred bucks less per month during the winter.
2. Target, in person, a swiffer wet jet refill. Sadly, I considered this $3.49 a splurge.
3. It wasn’t an impulse, but I did consider foregoing this purchase. However, I discovered that I could not refill the previous container.
4. If I need cereal (or item X, whatever), I will buy the sale one if I like it okay, even if it’s not my favorite. For more expensive items, I wait for sales or talk myself out of it most of the time.
5. Percentage, hands down.
6. Probably never?
7. At Target, rarely (although once probably every 2 or 3 months I fall victim to the $5.50 DVD rack). At a bookstore, I have been known to buy blank books or cards when they are on super sale once in a blue moon. Limit is $6.
8. I go to the same stores over and over again, so I am not really affected by the quality. Maybe if it was really terrible, messy or something, I’d skip it though.
9. I am from the NYC area. I don’t think I’ve ever changed my spending based on a sales person’s promotion with the exception of one time when everything in Banana Republic was 30% off. If they talk to me more than once, I am put off. My mom usually doesn’t even answer to “how are you”, so this is where I’m coming from.
10. I don’t have anything particularly edifying on this one, but I hate when stores are dark. Pittsburgh Macy’s 11th floor, I’m looking at you.
When RNSpy said trench, I quite literally pictured a line in the ground… took me a minute.
I am definitely shopping less, partly due to the mood and because I have been at my job long enough now to have a good base wardrobe.
That being said, I have noticed that I only go to the few shops that I have had good luck in. They are all local small shops and I definitely look closer when I see sale signs (% off as I do not want to consume excessively (this is an effort some days)). I dislike malls and don’t feel comfortable in many of the chain shops, I want to support small designers etc.
Writing this seems snotty, but it is how I am shopping now.
1.
i’ve definitely put more thought into all my purchases- there were a few things that were “necessary” and take that with a grain of salt because of course are black boots a necessity? no. but i guess i just mean basics that i always own. but a lot more thought and pros and cons- can i live a bit longer without them, do i need them more than i need new jeans, etc- before buying anything.
2.
merchandise-wise, a pair of tall high heeled black boots from zappos.com.
3.
it was very very VERY researched. i went to a bunch of places and stalked zappos, piperlime, endless. there are tons of black boots of course, but i waited until further into the season to try to get the prices down. and i didn’t just settle on the first cute pair that i found. i had very specifications that i wanted to met, otherwise i didn’t want to spend the money. (ok i realize this makes me sound pretty anal, but i’m not always like that!)
4.
the only promotions that usually work for me are from like j crew or the gap, if you have their card, they send you coupons for 20$ off a 50$ purchase or something. but to be honest, they never actually bring me into the store because they send them so often that i never feel like i have to go soon to get the promotion. i always know another one will come next month. it’s more that i feel happy when i actually remember to bring it with me. when places have buy one get one or even buy two get the third free with jewelry i can be taken in sometimes though.
5.
not persuaded at all, i don’t think i’ve ever bought anything because of co-branding.
6.
the only impulse purchases i ever make are sale jewelry (i mean, super sale) and dvds. like at target, they always have under 10$ dvds and i’m a sucker for them. but my threshold is 10$. anything under 10 i’d consider.
7.
i’m definitely put off by mess- i love tj max and marshall’s, but i’ll only go first thing in the morning when it isn’t horribly trashed. and even still, i have to be in the right mood. that sort of clutter really frustrates me. i can be persuaded pretty easily by window displays- seeing how to wear certain things together and that sort of thing but i don’t know how much the signage matters to me- mother’s day sale, etc.
7.
i have a pretty high threshold for employees because i used to work retail also. i let them give their speech, and hey sometimes it’s good to know that all denim is half off. even if i’ve heard it from three other employees, i just smile and say thank you.
8.
i don’t know what exactly is lacking but i think for the most part it’s all the same. how’s that for a vague unhelpful answer? i think anthropologie is one of the best stores visually- their displays are always unique and fun and incorporate more than just clothing and home-goods.