I was holding the heavy shopping bags and looking longingly at the board which said ‘garments clearance sale – discount up to 50%”. Could not enter coz there was no money(as always). There are never enough of clothes, shoes anything at home. Me and my friend would go shopping and never stopped till we were tired to death. We would start in the morning and go on till evening – mostly window shopping.
Everyday while going to the office there’s always this dilemma of what to wear. There’s always a need to buy new clothes and shoes even when the cupboards at home are overloaded. My husband doesn’t agree with me at all. He like most men thinks spending on clothes and accessories is a sin and would fake illness to avoid shopping trips. Wonder how guys can wear the same pair of jeans for 2 to 3 years. Don’t u guys get bored to see the same line of clothing everyday?
The shops also don’t help the poor women. They always come up with indigenous ways of luring people into the shops – they display signs of discount sales. Never seen a women walking by this without wanting to peep into the shop even if it is jus for window shopping.
The other day Sculler’s came up with this innovative idea of giving discounts based on your partner’s height! The offer was that if you want to buy something for your partner, the discount was as per your height(say if you were 5’5” then u were eligible for 55% discount on the chosen garment) They however were quite smart – they limited it only to the ladies. - So they wouldn’t have to exceed 53 to 55% discount on an average.
Westside another prominent place to shop prompted us to try as many trousers as possible to get a gift voucher worth Rs.100 for every trial. These coupons could be redeemed against the clothes u bought on the same floor. Oh! U should’ve seen the rush at the trial rooms on that day. This offer was obviously limited only for the ladies segment – the men were jus loitering around(they were forcing the guys to check out some for themselves while they waited).
These guys sure know ‘What women want’ - they just need to say ‘SALE’ and their shops go full through the day. Girls don’t learn ….do they? They are all educated working women and are aware of the fact that the shops would not bear a loss but still the word ‘SALE’ would pump in loads of shopping hormones.
Kemp fort on Airport road has another way of pulling in people. They distribute coupons at the arrival gate in the airport. These coupons can be exchanged for goodies at the shop – good way to pull in travelers. There’s no parking on airport road for around 2kms around Kemp fort – so u are forced to park ur car in their parking lot and that would cost you 10/- minimum. When you leave your car and take the coupon to the first guy on the ground floor, he promptly shows the way to the counter which is on the last floor. Some big marketing brain has designed this system – it makes u walk through all the floors and probably pick up something on the way also. For all the trouble u take to reach the last floor, they give u a ‘pen or a stress ball!’ which wouldn’t cost u more than the parking ticket in their basement.
Bargaining is another thing women cannot live without. They would bargain for anything – be it clothes, vegetables or even the bus ticket.( the other day there was this women in the bus who was trying to bargain with the conductor – she was saying the ticket costs too much and that she would rather take an auto). They know that the bargained price is definitely inclusive of the shopkeeper’s profit but still feel nice about having the price reduced. They start from half the price(starting price depends on the location of the shop and how much you want the piece) and go on and on till the shopkeeper agrees for an in between price. Sometimes they even threaten to go away and not buy till the shopkeeper calls them back and gives it up with a sad face – this defeated look on the shopkeeper’s face makes the women gleam with the ‘mission accomplished’ look on the face.
And last weeks rush where the police had to literally shove people from the commercial street joint is something unheard of, but now a reality.
With so many people trying to woo the poor woman’s mind………………………………………………
Don’t know what the guys feel about it but I would say that Shopping is a Women’s favorite pastime.
What say, girls?