For me, my mom was the one doing all of my clothes shopping
up until middle school. At that time, I was perfectly fine with wearing
whatever was placed in my closet. However, looking back, I now question her
choice of buying me those bright pink pants and patchwork jeans.
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| Example of what my childhood style looked like |
During my middle school years, I went through the phase
where I shopped at the typical “teen” stores like Aéropostale, Hollister, and
Abercrombie Kids. At this stage in my life, I was motivated to shop at
these stores mainly because I had the perception that they were the brands that
“cool” teenagers wore (Babin & Harris, 2015, p. 47, 85).
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| Some of the places I shopped at in middle school |
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| Sweaters for the cold weather |
Transitioning into 20-year old me, I’ve now realized that my
motivation for shopping has drastically changed from my middle school days.
Whereas I previously perceived shopping as a means of fitting in with the
crowd, I now perceive shopping as a means of buying clothes for comfort and as
a way to express my personal style. For
instance, because of Michigan’s bipolar weather (although not complaining about that
snow day we had!), I have a utilitarian motivation to go shopping and buy
sweaters so that I can stay warm in Michigan's crazy zero degree weather.
However, I also have a hedonic motivation to
shop because of the in-store retail experience (Babin & Harris, 2015, p.
87). Since stores are getting creative with their clothing displays every season and
especially during the holidays, I find it more enjoyable shopping in-store than
online. When my friends come back home during school breaks, we always make
sure to take a trip to our local mall because we are hedonically motivated to
shop for the retail experience. Below are some stores that I think provide a
great in-store shopping experience! Feel free to click on the links if you want to know more about each store.
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| Target has the best holiday decorations ❅ Target |
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| Sephora has great customer service Sephora |
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| Apple allows you to have fun with its products Apple |
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| Costco offers free food samples while you're shopping Costco |
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| Nordstrom has creative store layouts Nordstrom |
Although it sounds silly, I consider myself to be a highly
involved shopper that finds a lot of value in shopping (Babin & Harris, 2015, p. 89). When it comes to store catalogs
and in-store promotions, I always find myself paying attention to this kind of information (which unfortunately results in me spending more than I would like
to). If you ever need to find me in-store, make sure to look in the back where
the clearance is ☺. Let me know in the comments below if you prefer to shop in-store or online and why!
Mary, I could relate to this post 100%. Looking back on my middle-school years, I can only laugh. I remember wanting to go to Hollister and my mom refusing to enter, telling me she would wait outside. At the time I thought she was being dramatic, but recently I tried to go into Hollister with my younger cousin, and I could not handle it. This showed to me just how much my tastes as a consumer have changed, as well as how important a stores environment is to consumer behavior.
ReplyDeleteMany people now think the in-store experience is not very important due to online platforms, but I disagree. as stated in a PSFK article, "the physical store remains a critical component of the shopping experience for retailers, brands and consumers" (Future of Retail Report, PSFK). This is very important for retailers to consider as they design their stores with maximum profits in mind.
http://www.psfk.com/2014/11/psfk-2015-future-of-retail-report.html
Mary, you did such a great job with this post--I especially love the examples and links you gave for great store experiences. Like you, I agree that Target, Sephora, Apple, and Nordstrom provide creatively unique experiences that keep customers (like us) coming back. I actually haven't been to Costco because I don't have a membership there, since there aren't any near my hometown--an unavoidable situational influence on my behavior (Babin & Harris, 2015, p. 26-27). It's unfortunate because you make it sound so good--who doesn't like free samples? Also on the issue of my hometown being far from large shopping areas, I think this tends to lead me to shop more online than in-store when it comes to clothes and electronics. Out of the online sites where I shop, Amazon seems to be the best place for buying gifts for birthdays, holidays, or really just anytime you need something that they have. Amazon's convenience and success is really unfortunate for brick-and-mortar retailers that try to provide a great in-store experience, but online seems to be the direction that our generation is progressively moving toward. However, I don't think stores like those you listed will cease to exist because of people like you that enjoy the experience of shopping at a physical location in itself.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary, nice job, and great idea to put links with each of the store examples that you mentioned! I am so torn between online and in-store shopping. While in-store shopping has a great hedonic value for some people (and sometimes for me too), there is also a lot of hedonic value in sitting at home and not having to put on real pants to go shopping... :)
ReplyDeleteHow do you think our preferences of stores change over time based on our experiences in the store? I know when I was a kid, I hated shopping, so my mom did it for me. But now, I wouldn't trust my mom to shop for me unless I told her the exact SKU number I wanted! And when I go in to a store, I usually do not want a salesperson's help. But my mom wants to get exactly what she is looking for and get out, so she always goes to a salesperson. These both elicit different experiences in the store that each person prefers in order to have a good experience.
Overall, I really enjoyed your blog!