What's a 'Missy'?

I was in conversation with a female buddy of mine earlier today and we started comparing notes regarding the way that most apparel retailers name their different women's clothing departments. Our conclusion - most retailers are desperately out of touch with the female mindset.

For a start, who wants to be thought of as a 'missy'? It reminds me of an old black and white movie in which a crusty grandfather says to his granddaughter 'you mind yourself little missy'. Or words to that effect. It makes no sense whatsoever, and rather than encouraging women into the department, we find ourselves sidling in and hoping no one sees us.

A more sensible name for this 'average sized' department would be 'womens', however this label now seems to have been handed to plus sized women. But they aren't happy either. Research has shown that women who do wear larger sizes don't want to be segregated off into a dark corner of the store with a large fluorescent arrow pointing down that says 'fat women shop here'. I mean good grief! Most women, whatever their size want the same range of quality styles and designs that are well made and comfortable. Old Navy is an example of a store that has very cleverly pursued a strategy of not deviding up juniors, womens/missy and womens/plus size. They have a range of styles that you can get in everything from an XS to an XXL. Good thinking Old Navy. No one has to slink off to a dusty corner this way.

Okay, so back to the department naming discussion. The department name 'juniors' is also horribly inappropriate. Most teenagers and young twenties that I have come across are dying to be seen as mature and grown up. They don't want to think of themselves as a 'junior', and why should they? Their male equivalents don't have to shop in a 'juniors' department. In fact, speaking of which 'junior' seems more appropriate to young boys than to young girls - wasn't there a young boy in a Leave it to Beaver type movie that was called Junior. Perfect - let the guys have the name. We give it up with pleasure.

So what's my solution? Copy Old Navy. Have different collections in the store represent different fashion needs - corporate, party, casual etc. - but leave our relative sizes out of the equation. We all want to shop together, just like we do everything else together - regardless of our size.

The One Item Sale!

I was driving along the road on Saturday morning and I saw a sign outside a home that I was approaching. It had all the characteristics of a Garage Sale sign but when I got closer I saw that it said 'Lazy-Boy Recliner' for Sale. Hmmm....I thought - the one item garage sale. Which got me thinking about the whole science of choice. I realized that if there had been many items for sale I might have stopped to have a browse, and I might have bought the Lazy-Boy. However, since there was no choice and no opportunity to browse, I had little desire to stop. I am inclined to believe that although many articles have been written in the past few years about the fact that consumers are now faced with an over-abundance of choice, that in reality we rather like it. At Factor 9 - my marketing to women group - we have identified one of the factors that affects a woman's product and brand choices as what we call 'the find'. This is all about our desire to not just buy an item, but actually go through the process of searching out just the right thing. Many people finding this searching part of the process quite exhilarating, and if we are denied this part of the overall process because there isn't a large enough selection to choose from, we will often decide to buy elsewhere. So I personally, am not convinced that there can be too much choice, especially for women. As long as the products and brands have a clear brand identity and are laid out in a way that is pleasing to the eye, I tend to have the belief that 'the more choice the better.'

The Science of Returns!

Having just returned from the holidays, the issue of 'returns' is fairly top of mind. Not that it dominates every waking moment, but just that it is capable of putting a damper on an otherwise rather fun time of year. Not having actually worked directly for a major retailer, I have no hard data to back this up, but my guess is that handling returned merchandise is fairly near the bottom of most stores' priority list, since their main focus is getting merchandise out of the store rather than taking it back.

However, I believe that when it comes to really making a retail brand appealing to women, far more emphasis should be placed on making returns an easy and stress-free experience. Women are far more likely to take note when a store 'solves a problem' for her without making it difficult, than they are when they are in the process of making a regular transaction.

One of the retailers that I had to make returns to over the holidays made me stand in line twice. Firstly, I had to stand in the freezing cold foyer of the store while they logged my merchandise into a mini computer and created a sticker to put on the things I was bringing back. It took ages and there was a near uprising in the line caused by the universal sense of frustration at the antiquated process. Once one had dragged oneself through this initial line, one then had to stand in another line at customer service. The whole thing nearly put me off ever going back to the store for anything.

Retailers take note - making it easier to bring stuff back, makes women more likely to buy more stuff next time!

The Shopping Trolley Stare Down!

I am a huge fan of Target - like the rest of the world - and rarely have a bad word to say about them. However, on Saturday with only 12 days to go before Christmas, I witnessed something quite surprising. On going into the store with my family we found a crowd of people all standing around waiting for a shopping trolley - there weren't any left inside the store. At the same time there were a few of the Target employees standing around watching us! I could almost read their minds - 'why don't those lazy people go outside and get a trolley?' 'It isn't my job to bring in the shopping trolleys so there isn't anything I can do about this'. It probably wasn't their job to do it but how happy would all of those potentially loyal customers have been if a couple of employees had rushed outside to help bring in some trolleys. We would have been impressed that they were willing to step outside the parameters of their normal jobs to help us out on a day where most of us were already stressed out and tired in the Pre-Christmas rush.

What this experience convinced me of is that the type of service that demonstrates a store's or an individual's willingness to go above and beyond is often the service that makes the deepest and longest impression on the customer.

Perhaps retailers and other service oriented companies should start challenging their employees to do one thing that is outside their normal job description on a daily basis!

Our Kid's Future is Paying for The Bail Out

I was out with a friend yesterday who is a teacher. I guess we all knew that we were paying for the bail out of the banks and the auto companies but personally I hadn't yet got my head around how. So this friend of mine informed me yesterday that they are trying to get some of the money anyway out of the education system by demanding as much as $1 million or more out of each and every school district. This is a total and utter disgrace and I am hopping mad. Our education system is already suffering in comparison to some of our international counterparts and now we want to make it even worse?

Perhaps this is why the bail outs are so wrong. We are trying to prop up institutions in the short term and paying for it with the future of our children and our country.

When will it end?

Apologies to anyone who noted (quite rightly) that this particular annoyance has very little to do with shopping. I just had to write about it because it seems so wrong.

Totally Asanine!

I normally only write on my blog once a week, but I just read something that compelled me to get scribbling.

We all know by now that the three big US. auto companies are in serious trouble and are looking for solutions to make themselves more profitable. However, it seems to me that one of their biggest problems is that their brands aren't in the least bit fun or glamorous compared to their international competitors - with a few notable exceptions. From my perspective, three of their most interesting brands are Saab, Volvo and Hummer. They all have unique and interesting brand profiles and may not be bought as often as a Chevy Malibu but do a lot to prevent the brand seeming completely out of touch.

Now I read that one of GM's survival strategies is going to be to kill off these three brands. Are they mad? Clearly. No, if I know anything they are going purely by the numbers and the fact that none of these brands are really big sellers. However, they are completely ignoring the fact that all three of them do a great deal to prop up the image of the GM brand that overall reeks of being staid and boring.

Well done GM - another step in the wrong direction.

A Great Cause!

I love it when a company supports a cause that I believe in, but unfortunately it doesn't happen very often. Cynicism sets in when a company claims it only uses environmentally friendly packaging and then you hear that behind the scenes its production practices are actually negatively impacting the environment. As a woman, I am also a big supporter of the Susan Komen Foundation but looking around it sometimes feels like that is the only female cause out there.

So I was thrilled when I read about Tide's Loads of Hope program aimed at helping disaster victims from hurricanes. Tide isn't claiming to change the world with its program, just to give people who have lost their homes the sense of hope that comes with being able to wear clean clothes and with that maintain their dignity and optimism.

Tide sets up Clean Start stations in disaster areas, where people can come and wash their family's clothes for free. It is a truly great idea. Not only is it the sort of thing that a lot of people overlook when thinking of how to help disaster victims, but it is totally connected to what the brand does best - clean clothes.

I would love to hear about other cause related marketing efforts that other people feel are really well designed.