Women's Shopping Habits!?!?!

[MattUMASSD]

Question to all the women on GC.

1. Why do women try on the whole store and buy nothing? Anyone in retail knows what Im talking about. Its very frustrating to perfect fold a table of sweaters, or size a denim wall and have it destroyed. IMO, I can tell you what jean will look best on you than having you try on all umpteenbillion (sp) fits. So lets hear it.

[AchtungBaby80]

To many people I know, shopping is like therapy--they just go for the experience, not necessarily to walk out with anything. My marketing professor used to tell us that women shop and men buy. I've been told I shop like a man because I like to know what I want before I go into a store, get it, and then leave. No need to make an all-day affair of it (unless, of course, it's a thrift store and then you have to hunt through all the racks if you want to find anything special). But my mom and my friends are totally different...they just enjoy browsing, and they really hate salespeople who try to tell them what looks good on them so that they will make a purchase and get out.

[MeLikey]

I tend to try on a lot of clothes with full intentions of buying, but sometimes most of them don't fit me right. If at the end of a shopping day, I don't have a bag in my hand, I'll usually make an impulse buy just so I leave with something. And I've worked in retail so I know what you mean about people messing up all the racks.

[MattUMASSD]

like I understand if the clothes dont fit, but when women enter the fitting room with 8 pairs of jeans and like 6-7 tops I think its a litte excessive.

Achtung Im with you men are more effecient shoppers. We dont waste time, we know what we want, we get it, and we leave.

[FeeFee]

Originally posted by MattUMASSD
Question to all the women on GC.

1. Why do women try on the whole store and buy nothing? Anyone in retail knows what Im talking about. Its very frustrating to perfect fold a table of sweaters, or size a denim wall and have it destroyed. IMO, I can tell you what jean will look best on you than having you try on all umpteenbillion (sp) fits. So lets hear it.

Lately, shopping has been frustrating to me. I have a small waist, but have big hips, therefore, I am forced to try on every skirt, dress, or pair of pants/jeans that I like, with only a 50% success rate.

[ZetaLuvBunny]

Shopping is just FUN. When girls and women shop together, it's a total bonding experience (as cheesy as it may sound). When we shop alone, it's often because we're bored or stressed out, or simply because there's something we MUST have right away.
We also shop so we can make lists of things we would LIKE to have when we get more money.

Personally, I am a very picky spender most of the time, simply because I like to make sure that it's something that really looks good on me and that I'll get a lot of use out of. I tend to be more spontaneous with non-clothing items (decor & such), and I will often buy things just because they're "sooo cute" and I "HAVE to have them".

As embarassing as this is, I admit that I'm a serial returner/exchanger - especially at Wal-Mart. They will take back pretty much anything, but I DO have my morals about it. I'm not going to return something that I have obviously used a lot or had for a really long time. Most of the time if I return something it's within a few days of the purchase, and because I honestly had no business buying it in the first place, or because it wasn't the right thing/didn't work.

[valkyrie]

When I used to do a lot of shopping, I would usually try on nothing and buy everything. Actually, I did and do most of my shopping on line.

[RedRoseSAI]

If you're spending your hard-earned money, why not make sure everything looks and fits perfectly (even if that means trying on 6 pairs of jeans and 8 tops)? If something gets an "it's ok" reaction from me, I don't buy it.

[sigmagrrl]

I hate shopping, but love buying things...I thank heavens for the internet for this very purpose!

[Jilly]

Working in retail myself i so feel your pain. And it is clear that women are the problem over men...takes 2 mins to clean the men's side and 2 hours for the women's.
My favorite is we have people stationed by the denim to help customers and when you ask "what size can i get you?" they say "oh im just looking" then not a min later they proceec to unfold and jumble up every pair they can....even though the same jeans are hanging right there in plain view....i just dont get it. I dont come to thier office and rearrange it all but they dont care!

[kddani]

Sometimes i'll have to try on 10 pairs of jeans before I find the ones that fit right and that are long enough (i'm only 5'7 but i have to buy long sizes). I've had salespeople tell me what jeans to buy -oh those will be long enough, oh it'll be so flattering.
Meanwhile, after I try on their recommendations, i'll end up looking like a sausage in capri (not normal like i'm looking for) jeans. Ugh... i had this guy in the Gap bring me this silk halter top in an ugly paisley and he kept on saying how great it would look on me. It looked horrible! And the material was too thin to wear a bra with, and without a bra everything would show. Sorry to rant, i have issues with some salespeople. Sometimes I just want to be left alone to do my thing!

And just because someone works in a store doesn't mean they can tell sizes and what will look good on someone. Some 16 year old working at Express isn't going to have a clue what would be flattering on me. Matt- you might have that gift, but customers don't know that, and sure aren't used to it

I'll take their advice if it's about different outfits- what matches or looks good together. Sometimes they'll know of a shirt that I missed somewhere, etc. But usually I think they're just being pushy trying to get me to buy more (which, admittedly, is their job) and that just annoys me sometimes.

[MattUMASSD]

I dont think Im that talented with womens clothing, but I can tell women not to try on slim fit jeans if they are very shapely, or a very slender person to buy stretch boot cut. My point was it takes a lot of effort and time to make the store "beautious" and women and men (more so women) can destroy it in 5 minutes. So the next time you are shopping be mindful.

[kddani]

I b!tch out my mom if she even so much as puts stuff on the hanger wrong when we go shopping.

I worked at TJ Maxx for 3 years. Each of the departments is just as big, if not bigger, than a mall store. Talk about a pain in the butt to straighten! And just because our stuff is cheaper than the department stores, doesn't mean you can throw it everywhere. And you'd be the only person in your department usually, so you didn't have any help- you were responsible for a huge area on your own.

I feel the neatness pain. But sometimes I would've killed for a mall store job- one the size of just one of our departments with several people staffing. TJ's paid more though.... mall jobs in my area paid crap.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I don't shop for therapy. I shop when I need to buy clothes. Sometimes a certain size fits me perfectly. Sometimes I have to try on multiple outfits before I find the one that is right. I have been pretty lucky lately. I tried on five bathing suits and bought three, two dresses and bought one, and three pairs of jeans and bought two. When I find a brand, style, and size that fits, I usually stick with it. I can buy an article of clothing in a few different colors.

[White_Chocolate]

i don't think it's a habit
it's more about being comfortable
for formal, i tried on 33 dresses
i ended up not even going because i felt so uncomfortable with my arms
and the dresses that they have these days showcase the arms


and sorry, but i'm not an outfit repeater