Shopping cult
Working as a sales assistant in one of the clothing stores in Oxford street has many advantages, but the most amazing one is that you get a chance to see, meet and analyze a great number of different people. You can sit outside one of the coffee shops in the city center and you will also see hundreds of people passing by, but you won’t be able to understand who they are and how they think compared to as if you were a consultant.
Anyways, there are loads of things that I’ve noticed and consider interesting regarding consumer’s behavior and, in fact, our whole society’s trend. As I remember, shopping used to be fun. Now, I notice that it becomes more and more superficial and compulsory, rather than a nice, relaxing experience. Usually, most of the people just rush into the store, grab some items they think they like, go to fitting rooms and if the item fits- people pay and leave. There are hardly any “fashion shows” near the fitting rooms left, when women try and show their outfits, while trying to match them with different things, asking for advices, laughing and having a great time with their friends. All I see now is the constant check of the time, as if they are thinking: “ I have exactly 1 minute to try this dress on”. A nice shopping experience has been replaced with mass consuming culture. It seems that people in Oxford Street no longer care what to buy, as long as they can buy it. They don’t doubt, sometimes they don’t even try clothes on before buying them. Furthermore, if we talk about style and choices- I meet many costumers who actually don’t care if the item suits him/her, as long as it is trendy and fashionable. There were loads of occasions when people approached me holding a picture from a magazine with a model wearing something they really want to have as well. It is natural to want something that you like, but it is not when you buy clothes without any consideration, for instance: Does this color really look good on me? Isn’t this dress too short for my age? And most importantly: Do I really want to look like someone who stepped out from a magazine rather than looking like myself and having my own, unique style? When I think of how much money and time people can save if they would manage to stay with their instincts and not blindly follow the newest trends.
To the contrary, I would like to highlight the difference of shopping habits between London dwellers, tourists and people of certain nationalities.
The true LONDONERS (well, I am 90 per cent sure they are true, you never know) are usually fast, direct and know what they want. They rarely walk around shopping centers, doesn’t hang around places where are many tourists. Although, I would say that the exception is citizens from Middle East, Arabian people, who look at their shopping experience a little bit differently.
I can’t describe how lovely was to watch several Muslim couples in one of the café’s at Selfridges. Due to the fact that the section I was working in was right in front of the café, I was able to see how costumers enjoy their shopping experience. Muslim families seem to appreciate their time together more than others. They are usually relaxed and eager to have fun!
One family in particular is a constant visitor of that café I see in front of me everyday I work. The man always comes to the café first. They have their regular table so there is no problem of finding the seating, even though there is a huge queue of other people who are waiting for a table. The father of three daughters and a son sits quietly, reads a newspaper and orders his usual- black coffee and a croissant. I cannot mention that he looks very serious, but calm and confident, and sometimes surprises café’s staff with a polite smile. After about 15 minutes his family joins him- four daughters and a wife. The girls are quite young, teenagers I would say, but their parents look quite old or at least middle aged. Wife, without a doubt, wears hijab, however daughters have only scarfs on their hair. It is obvious that this family is wealthy because of the kind and brands of clothes they are wearing. But the point is, that this regular shopping spree of a man’s three women makes the family come together and enjoy their time. A busy man doesn’t mind waiting for his girls to come to the café after shopping. Women are not angry with him because of not going shopping together. It seems that the other world do not exist to them as they sit together at the best table in a café.
They laugh, talk, eat pastries and drink coffee. Not just like a quick bite, but they actually sit there and don’t look at their watches. The bags filled with expensive things under their table seem to not matter: after they sat together, all those bought items were forgotten…
And lastly, tourists! Well, what can I say… I think we all, who live in London, would agree that tourists are not the kind of people we admire. Starting with the way they act on the tube stations and streets, finishing with how they treat consultants and variety of other staff in shops, streets and etc. They are always lost, always standing in the middle of your way. They are usually ignorant, rude and speak veeeery loudly! And even though I love different people from different places all around the world, I have to admit that most of the tourists in London are quite annoying…
Working as a sales assistant in one of the clothing stores in Oxford street has many advantages, but the most amazing one is that you get a chance to see, meet and analyze a great number of different people. You can sit outside one of the coffee shops in the city center and you will also see hundreds of people passing by, but you won’t be able to understand who they are and how they think compared to as if you were a consultant.
Anyways, there are loads of things that I’ve noticed and consider interesting regarding consumer’s behavior and, in fact, our whole society’s trend. As I remember, shopping used to be fun. Now, I notice that it becomes more and more superficial and compulsory, rather than a nice, relaxing experience. Usually, most of the people just rush into the store, grab some items they think they like, go to fitting rooms and if the item fits- people pay and leave. There are hardly any “fashion shows” near the fitting rooms left, when women try and show their outfits, while trying to match them with different things, asking for advices, laughing and having a great time with their friends. All I see now is the constant check of the time, as if they are thinking: “ I have exactly 1 minute to try this dress on”. A nice shopping experience has been replaced with mass consuming culture. It seems that people in Oxford Street no longer care what to buy, as long as they can buy it. They don’t doubt, sometimes they don’t even try clothes on before buying them. Furthermore, if we talk about style and choices- I meet many costumers who actually don’t care if the item suits him/her, as long as it is trendy and fashionable. There were loads of occasions when people approached me holding a picture from a magazine with a model wearing something they really want to have as well. It is natural to want something that you like, but it is not when you buy clothes without any consideration, for instance: Does this color really look good on me? Isn’t this dress too short for my age? And most importantly: Do I really want to look like someone who stepped out from a magazine rather than looking like myself and having my own, unique style? When I think of how much money and time people can save if they would manage to stay with their instincts and not blindly follow the newest trends.
To the contrary, I would like to highlight the difference of shopping habits between London dwellers, tourists and people of certain nationalities.
The true LONDONERS (well, I am 90 per cent sure they are true, you never know) are usually fast, direct and know what they want. They rarely walk around shopping centers, doesn’t hang around places where are many tourists. Although, I would say that the exception is citizens from Middle East, Arabian people, who look at their shopping experience a little bit differently.
I can’t describe how lovely was to watch several Muslim couples in one of the café’s at Selfridges. Due to the fact that the section I was working in was right in front of the café, I was able to see how costumers enjoy their shopping experience. Muslim families seem to appreciate their time together more than others. They are usually relaxed and eager to have fun!
One family in particular is a constant visitor of that café I see in front of me everyday I work. The man always comes to the café first. They have their regular table so there is no problem of finding the seating, even though there is a huge queue of other people who are waiting for a table. The father of three daughters and a son sits quietly, reads a newspaper and orders his usual- black coffee and a croissant. I cannot mention that he looks very serious, but calm and confident, and sometimes surprises café’s staff with a polite smile. After about 15 minutes his family joins him- four daughters and a wife. The girls are quite young, teenagers I would say, but their parents look quite old or at least middle aged. Wife, without a doubt, wears hijab, however daughters have only scarfs on their hair. It is obvious that this family is wealthy because of the kind and brands of clothes they are wearing. But the point is, that this regular shopping spree of a man’s three women makes the family come together and enjoy their time. A busy man doesn’t mind waiting for his girls to come to the café after shopping. Women are not angry with him because of not going shopping together. It seems that the other world do not exist to them as they sit together at the best table in a café.
They laugh, talk, eat pastries and drink coffee. Not just like a quick bite, but they actually sit there and don’t look at their watches. The bags filled with expensive things under their table seem to not matter: after they sat together, all those bought items were forgotten…
And lastly, tourists! Well, what can I say… I think we all, who live in London, would agree that tourists are not the kind of people we admire. Starting with the way they act on the tube stations and streets, finishing with how they treat consultants and variety of other staff in shops, streets and etc. They are always lost, always standing in the middle of your way. They are usually ignorant, rude and speak veeeery loudly! And even though I love different people from different places all around the world, I have to admit that most of the tourists in London are quite annoying…