Ittr Money

A few key things are important factors in the attractiveness of retail stores. First, the clothing items must be displayed properly. Presentation is important. Second, pricing must be handled properly. Some stores attract customers with large “low prices” and “sale” signage. Other stores must be more discrete with pricing, as the brands are known to be high end. Third, the sales staff must positively reflect the brands sold and the company as a whole.

In the past few days, I shopped at two malls and visited several clothing retail stores. I had a positive experience at some stores and a negative experience in others.

I had an amazing experience shopping at Nordstrom. The sales staff at Nordstrom appropriately represented the brand and the merchandise. The sales staff was friendly, kind and considerate. The first person that I met was well dressed, well put together and and helpful. I was actually taken aback by her professionalism and fashion sense. She was truly a professional. I’m not sure if Nordstrom sales staff work on commission, but when we couldn’t find what we wanted in her department, she referred us to a different department within Nordstrom and gave up what could have been her sale.

The other associates at Nordstrom were just as helpful. Other sales people approached me, complimented my clothing choices, and helped me find items that I needed. Salespeople were always close by and willing to help. I was beyond impressed.

It was specifically notable that all sales associates were well dressed in Nordstrom quality clothing. They truly represented the Nordstrom brand and made a positive impression on me – so much so that I sent an email to Nordstrom corporate stating that I was impressed with the service that I received.

Nordstrom’s price display strategy is also positive. Unlike Macy’s, where low prices are prominently displayed, prices are written only on price tags, allowing customers to be attracted to the beautiful clothing and accessories, rather than the price of the items. It’s likely that Nordstrom shoppers aren’t particularly worried about their spending, so the quality and look of the clothing, shoes and accessories come first, and customers are willing to come to terms with the price after falling in love with the items.

I had a much more negative experience shopping at Macy’s. While Macy’s isn’t as high-end as Nordstrom, the company does carry some high end brands and has a high-level image to maintain. While the clothing was displayed properly, pricing and sale signs were displayed well and sale items were neatly displayed, the sales staff left something to be desired.

At Macy’s, sale racks were prominently displayed, unlike sale racks at Nordstrom, which were better blended with the full price clothing. This makes sense, as Macy’s customers are probably more price-minded than Nordstrom customers. However, the sale racks were messy and disheveled. ‘Small’ sized items were mixed in with ‘large’ sized items on the ‘medium’ sales rack. It was madness. I understand that this happens, especially in busy stores, but the whole store just seemed to be overcome with madness.

At Nordstrom, salespeople were always stationed at or standing near to sales registers. At Macy’s, registers were often abandoned, and clothing racks were packed in tightly near the registers, making comfortable nearly impossible.

The most notable negative feature of Macy’s was the sales team. The sales team members at Nordstrom just happened to be attractive, but that wasn’t their appeal – it was their charisma, attitude, clothing appearance and the positive way that they carried themselves. At Macy’s, the sales team was a mess. I think they all had to just wear black, but I’m not sure. This, plus their lack of pride their appearance, made them completely unnoteworthy. They didn’t look happy. They weren’t helpful. They didn’t seem to care. (There was one acception – the awesome guy working at the MAC makeup counter.)

One particularly negative experience came when I visited the perfume counter. I arrived and was ignored. Finally, a sales team member asked to help me. I suppose he wasn’t in the designer perfume area, so he referred me to someone else, and got her attention in the process. I asked her a question which she barely answered. I then asked if my coupon was valid on perfume items. She said no. I’m not particularly convinced that this is true. I had other items in my hands for purchase. I asked if I could purchase my other items at her counter. She looked around in a shady way, and said, “you might want to go to the register over by where you got them.” My friend said to her, “Why don’t you just ring us up here.” The woman said, “Well, if you have a coupon, you should go over there. I don’t have coupons.” My friend countered, “We don’t need your coupon. We have one.” The woman said, “My register might not take coupons.” (What?!?) My friend pressed the issue until the woman finally agreed to ring me up. As it turns out, the coupon did work.

My theory on this is that the woman works based on commission. If I bought the perfume with a coupon, she’d lose commission. If she rung me up, it’s worthless, since she won’t get commission. Okay, I understand this, but that doesn’t make it right. When I’m at work, I have no problem helping a coworker out. Sure, I don’t get paid extra for helping a coworker, but it helps to keep my company afloat, and doing so helps me in the long run.

The Macy’s store appearance and sales staff just did not measure up to what I encountered at Nordstrom.

I also visited some independent and smaller stores.

At most individual stores that I visited, the sales staff looked appropriate for each store. For the lower-end stores, the sales associates looked fun and trendy. At the higher-level stores, the sales staff looked like professionals. At White House, Black Market, I was impressed when a sales associate asked for my friend’s name and truly stepped in as an advocate for her. She asked my friend’s name, selected shoes for my friend to try on with the dresses she was considering, checked in on her often (even using her name). She found more clothing options for my friend when she rejected the original choices and even suggested complimentary shoes and jewelry for the dress my friend chose. She clearly explained the return policy and ensured my friend that if she wasn’t 100% satisfied, she should come back and make another selection. While we didn’t find my friend’s dream dress there, we are definitely encouraged to return to try our luck at shopping again.

At White House, Black Market, the dressing rooms were phenomenal. First of all, they were in a separate dressing area, and were divided by curtained stalls. Secondly, each stall was attractive and roomy. This was a strong contrast to my experience at another small store. I understand that spacing can be an issue, but as anyone that’s ever had a small room knows, it’s not about the space you have, it’s how you use it. Shoving two tiny, curtain-only dressing rooms in the very visible back of a store is not the answer. If you drop your pants, you’ll have to drop down and be pretty much exposed to pick them up. This was not okay.

Of course, this wasn’t the only issue. Sizes ran super small, and instead of paying attention to the customers, the sales team just talked among themselves. At least this store wasn’t as bad as the other one where the two unsupervised teenage salesgirls just giggled to each other, and all I remember hearing was one girl repeatedly saying, “Oh, Carlyyyyy!” to her coworker.

This shopping trip taught me a few rules of retail: value your customers or they won’t want to shop, ensure that your sales staff is at least remotely presentable, organize clothes in at least a slightly effective manner and ensure that your sales staff isn’t comprised of elitist jerks. The lady at the Macy’s perfume counter had the “Oh, my gosh, I’m so awesome because I worked with designer perfume” attitude. Okay, I understand that it’s a pretty sweet job as far as retail goes. You deal with people that are willing to, and are looking to, spend money. However, you aren’t better than me. I’m a potential customer. Maybe, if you’d been nicer to me, I’d have considered buying your ridiculously overpriced perfume. However, once I got a whiff of your attitude (pun intended), I was out of there in the same way that I would be if the place smelled like a skunk.

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