| Men and Christmas Don’t Mix | By Jurek Leon |
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Its that time of year again.
As you put your reindeer antlers on and prepare for the Christmas rush, spare a thought for that disadvantaged creature…the male shopper.
No, this isn’t a joke. Its been scientifically proven! Well, a psychologist carrying out some research on behalf of an English shopping centre came up with some interesting findings.
You may remember hearing about it. Just prior to Christmas a couple of years ago Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north London, sent men and women of different ages to stores with identical Christmas lists. Some went alone while others were accompanied by children.
Every man in the survey suffered considerable increases in blood pressure and heart rate while only one in four women registered a significant change.
For men even the thought of going shopping was enough to send their stress levels soaring. According to the study over 70 per cent of them recorded above average readings before even stepping out the front door.
The challenge of choosing the right gift for loved ones and facing crowded shops and long queues was almost too much for them. In fact, according to the psychologist who carried out the research the peak stress levels were equivalent to emergency situations experienced by fighter pilots or policemen going into difficult situations.
This raises the question. What can you do to make your customer's stress go away in the busy lead up to Christmas? Here are some discussion points for you to consider. Talk these through with your team and come up with a series of recommendations that are right for your store.
The male shopper is likely to be less comfortable and confident about trends, sizes, colours, fragrences and embarrassed about asking questions in ‘female’ shops. What can you do to make him feel more comfortable, to get him at ease and talking about his shopping dilemma.
Blokes as a general rule are single minded and they are likely to be focussed on getting a present for one person when they have two or three others to buy for. Wives and girlfriends get fed up buying the gifts for his parents or his children. So help make him the hero. Find out who else he should be buying for and suggest solutions. If you do, next year you will be his store of first choice for birthdays, Christmas and special occasions.
And help him with the box, the card, the gift-wrapping and all the little extras that will have him glowing with pleasure at how well he has done.
Who are the other ‘disadvantaged’ groups likely to be shopping in your store between now and Christmas? Is it young children buying for a parent or a sibling? Is it the adult struggling with what to get for teenage nieces and nephews? Is it customers with language difficulties? Is it mum with her pusher unable to get through crowded aisles or past Christmas displays?
There is a lot to prepare for at this time of year. Make sure that catering for the special needs of your customers is the number one priority for all your team. Good luck and good trading.
Jurek Leon knows about dealing with male shoppers at Christmas. He is a speaker, trainer and consultant. He presents seminars for retailers and shopping centres on “How To Make This Christmas Your Best Ever” and is also author of ‘Terrific Tips For Christmas’. You can contact Jurek at Terrific Trading by phone on +61 8 9312 1075, fax +61 8 9312 1076 or email info@terrifictrading.com.
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