The Dying Art of Customer Service in Retail Fashion

Growing up, and in many of my previous employment opportunities, I believed that customer service was paramount to ensuring the success of a business. The old adage that the customer is always right, was a bugbear as a retail assistant, but it was widely accepted that customers held the aces in any retail transaction. 

In this bold new, globalised economy, retailers are crying foul that they cannot compete price wise with multinationals, and online traders who do not have expensive overheads, such as rent. Many hang on, with white knuckles, to the idea that customers will continue to shop with them, due to the quality of customer service which is provided. I am afraid to say, that if it is purely customer service which is keeping many retailers in business, then it does not bode well for their future prosperity. 

For example. I have recently undertaken two shopping adventures with a beautiful bride-to-be,  and an equally beautiful fellow bridesmaid-to-be. You would think, given the enormous expense of anything and everything wedding related, that the level of service provided in bridal boutiques would be exemplary. But as a collective bridal party, with an anticipated total spend on clothing, and accessories of over $3000, the service has been left wanting. Our first expedition was to a formal wear store, to look at bridesmaids dresses. We were greeted by a woman who had clearly had her first coffee of the morning, although who only acknowledged our presence after she had finished her conversation with her fellow assistant. We explained the wedding date and styles of dresses we were after. And rather than smile,  and take us under her wing to spend, spend, spend, she baulked at the reality that the bride to be, had not yet selected her gown. She was scalded, for leaving it do late to get her gown sorted. To put this in context, this was in February, for an October wedding. So, now with a flustered bride to be, panicking at the prospect of not being able to find an appropriate gown for her special day, the assistant lead us down the street, to their sister storer, which specialised in wedding gowns. And there she left us. Alone. We began to look through the many hundreds of gowns on offer, trying to imagine how they would look actually on a person. The store was empty, but for us, and yet there was no sales assistant to be found. No "hello", or "I wont be a minute." Silence. Eventually we walked out. Our mission to frock up had stalled. Our optimism of a speedy shopping adventure, was severely dented. So we continued up the street to Belles and Beaux, a much smaller, but absolutely bustling store. As we set foot in the door, a smiling assistant named Leisa greeted us. She was frantically running around, but promised to be back. We began to sift through the masses of tule and taffeta, and before we knew it, Leisa was back, still smiling and ready to go. The bride-to-be explained the type of dress she was after, and Leisa set off on her mission to find any and every dress that fitted the bill. Despite the seemingly endless array of stressed out bridezillas which filled the store, our bride-to-be was lead into a large change room, and the process of finding the perfect wedding gown had officially begun. No matter how the gowns looked, Leisa did not bat an eyelid. No judgement was made about sizes, and not once did she imply there was a problem with the physique of the beautiful bride-to-be. We continued until we got to THE gown. The one that was made just for this bride. I almost cried, seeing this woman who I have known since year 7 peer support, standing on the podium, looking like an absolute goddess. Buoyed by this success, we continued on our adventure, now to only find two bridesmaids dresses. 


We arrived at the next location. Quite a reputable store, packed to the rafters with formal gowns in all styles, colours, shapes and sizes. Surely, we would be able to find something here? Well, we would have been great, if we were a size 8. But for two women of a respectable size 14, it was impossible. The impressively quaffed assistant was pleasant and chatty, until we began to try on dresses. Then we became some kind of grotesque creatures who were simply too big here, and too big there, for any of the gowns we tried on. The sighs of disapproval and implication that we were in any way physically flawed  was just too much.  The sales assistant continued to push us for the sale, despite unzipping us, removing our dignity and self esteem, and stomping all over it. In what universe does a depressed woman, who has been made to feel disgusting about herself, then invest many hundreds of dollars in a formal dress that she has been made to feel is not right for her? So, we walked out, held our heads high and vowed to start the diet on Monday. 


A few months later, we had restored enough self worth to venture back to the dress shops. Emotionally, and psychologically prepared, we held our collective breath and jumped on in. And what a fantastic experience it was! We found our way to Bridal Vision (number 2, not the gigantic one, the small one with the sensational shop assistant). We almost didn't stop at this store, as there was only a handful of formal dresses there, but boy, are we thankful that we did! The shop assistant made no mention of sizes, or the dresses being too small. She spoke to us like real human beings (...shockingly, because we actually are...) and it was actually a fun experience! As we gazed at ourselves in the wall of mirrors, I just wanted to hug the assistant. She made us look so wonderful. But more importantly, she made us feel so wonderful. 


I am not in any way implying that women, as consumers are so shallow and naive that they need their egos stroked, simply to make a purchase. Believe it or not retail assistants, we can tell that you don't mean it when you tell us how amazing we look in the ill-fitting, over-priced articles we torture ourselves by trying on. 


What I am suggesting, however, that store owners and employees finally start providing consistently high levels of customer service. Online shopping can be blamed for a decline in retail, but only to a degree. Yes, there will be products which can be purchased online cheaper than in stores. But many retailers ignore the wonderful opportunities they have to actually connect with their customers, because the operate on the assumption that price is the single biggest determining factor in a purchase. You do not have to have a Masters, or be  a psychologist, to understand why consumers need to feel valued in order to part with their hard earned cash. I buy a dress because it makes me feel nice about myself. I buy that dress in your store, because you have assisted me to buy a dress which fits and looks good on me. You have not insulted my weight, or stared me up and down before declaring that you don't have anything in my size. You have not given me that, 'tell her she's dreaming' look as I optimistically try on a size 12 top. You have cut short your conversation with your friend/co-worker to ensure my needs are being met while I shop in your store. Yes, it does sound as though it is all about me. Well guess what? In retail, it IS all about ME. 


It is in the best interests of women's fashion retailers to understand that sad/angry/upset women rarely spend money on clothing. Yes, they will buy shoes or accessories, but they will not buy a cute little dress if they feel they are having a 'fat day.' Shopping for shoes is often good therapy, following your episode of rocking in the foetal position of a trendy clothing store, after trying on a dozen pair of jeans that hate your body shape. 


In the same way that cosmetics and beauty retailers attempt to know their customers, fashion retailers need to seriously consider what they offer to their customers. Without authentic, quality staff who provide a high level of customer service to all who enter their stores, they will be swallowed up by the rising tide of online alternatives. 


In retail, the customer may not always be right, but the customer is the one who essentially pays your wage.