Fact: Every store
has a customer profile and makes its goodies with that profile in mind. They know
who buys most of their stuff – age, sex, single v partnered?, with kids? medium
income? And a whole lot more about spending patterns due to loyalty programs.
Make sure
you are shopping at stores which cater for your profile. Otherwise you are
banging your head against a wall.
Case in
point:
Posted
today on the Country Road Facebook page, from a reader:
“Would have loved the orange dress but I went and had a
look at it today and it was even shorter than I thought it would be! None of
the other dresses are that flattering on the average middle aged woman who is
self conscious about her arms, and doesn't want to show the world what she has
had for breakfast every time she sits down.”
The
customer profile at Country Road
The above
profiles are even more distinct from Trenery, Sussan, Sportscraft, Blue
Illusion and Veronika Maine
And distinct
again to the profiles at temt, Forever New or Supre,
A lot of
the differences are age driven although style is also a driver to the extent it
varies with age.
I am not
saying a “middle aged woman” cant shop at temt or Forever New or Country Road
The brands
in the middle section (above) cater for an older group. Their cuts & lengths
accommodate a 30 yo or a 40 yo body & not a 16 yo figure. I am not suggesting they sell neck to knees
clothing, but I think you understand what I am getting at.
Find the
brands that work for you & stop battling at the brands that don’t cater for
your profile.
* Just
because a store offers it, doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
* Just because
you shopped there for the last 5 years, doesn’t mean it’s right for you now.
* Just because
all your friends shop there, doesn’t mean it’s the place for you to shop.
The biggest hint that your in the wrong store is that you are griping about. Its not you, its the store. There's plenty of stores to go around and when you find the right ones, you will stop griping.
The biggest hint that your in the wrong store is that you are griping about. Its not you, its the store. There's plenty of stores to go around and when you find the right ones, you will stop griping.
PS: Did you
notice that I haven’t mentioned anything about body shapes here? So not only
do you have to contend with “store style” personalities, you also have to deal
with getting the best fit depending on whether you are an apple, pear, busty,
columns or hourglass, petite or tall. Hmmmmm.
I don’t
want to overwhelm you – I just want to you be realistic about how its not easy
to buy off the rack (without alterations), but EVERYONE is facing the same
issue. The only ones consistently looking good are the ones who set aside some
of their budget for alterations. And you can bet your bottom dollar the well dressed ones are shopping in the stores that suit their personal profile.
You are so right! I find that you do have to shop around because a favorite shop can sometimes have a very 'off' season. TGGS
ReplyDeleteHi Valerie, this all makes sense of course. As you know, I posted a comment to CR related to this, because I am a bit frustrated with their provisions as time goes by. I guess you could argue I could just move on, but a) why shouldn't they be called on the shift and realise that customers notice; b) I have been a 'loyal' customer (VIP) for years (ie spend a lot of $), and I do like a lot of their clothes and still buy a lot so would like to imagine that my opinion counts a bit (maybe deluded there): and c) re Trenery, I realise that CR created it as a 'scaffold' from the CR brand, but unfortunately for me I mainly dislike it and find it way too big for me as well as too boring most of the time. Even though CR has seemed to become 'younger' over time (& I haven't lol), their clothes do fit me well (at the bottom size end), so I would love to be able to shop there and be happy :). Thanks for your blog, I enjoy reading it. Bronwyn
ReplyDeletePS, I wish I were 30 something ;(
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