Does Your View of a Positive Customer Experience Match Your Customers' View?
Clothing retailers looking to sell more stuff have, for a while now, taken to a tactic that I find offensive: let's call it vanity sizing.
Not to get too far into the "too much information" territory, but at 5'5" and 124 pounds I'm currently a size 4 in many women's brands. Really? Funny, because for years I was a size 6, sometimes even an 8, at that exact height and weight. Recently, I bought a pair of jeans at Gap: size 2.
OK, come on, folks. Now, you're just insulting my intelligence. Am I really a size 2? Uh, no. Nor am I so desperate to believe I am that I'll start buying all my jeans at Gap so I can feel so fit and trim. (But, admittedly, I will buy jeans there again for one simple reason: they fit well and it's excruciatingly hard for me to find jeans that do fit.)
I assume retailers do this to flatter their customers into buying their clothes over a competitor's. Believe me, Gap is certainly not alone in the "you're so svelte" game. But ultimately, it's just insulting. All I really want are clothes that fit well. Consistently. And if you say I'm a size 2 or 4 or whatever in your brand, then I should be that size in all of your clothes.
Consider my recent Levi's experience: I visit the Levi's Store and take three pair of jeans into the fitting room--same size, different styles (e.g., straight leg, boot cut). One fit, one was too short, and one was so tight I couldn't even get them on. No, that pair wasn't mismarked; it's not the first time I've had that experience in the Levi's Store. In the past I've tried on the same exact jeans in size and style--the only difference being the color of the denim--and they fit completely differently.
Imagine if that was the case with everything? Shoe makers, for example, each have their own cut. But I'm a size 8 no matter whose shoes I try on. And once I find a company that makes shoes that fit me well, I'm guaranteed that whenever I try on its shoes they'll be comfortable. I know, for instance, that anything made by Franco Sarto is going to be a perfect, comfortable fit. At this point, I could buy his shoes without even trying them on.
Apparently, many retailers--at least those that sell women's clothing--think a great customer experience is a constant trial and error of what will fit, with the ultimate prize being surprised by how you now fit in a smaller size than ever before, so who cares that it took an hour and 20 items to find one pair of pants that actually fit.
Sorry, but I have to disagree. I think most people want to go into a store and know that size X of that brand will always fit. That's when they're really likely to buy more, come back more often, and spread to word to friends.
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