I’ve never liked shoe shopping. I think it’s mainly because I have quite big feet (size 13) so it’s always a case of “what do you have in a 13?” (the answer is usually “nothing”) rather than “do you have this in a 13?”. Also, for some reason I can’t understand the NikeTown and Foot Lockers of the world don’t seem to think there might be a market for basketball shoes in large shoe sizes. Anyway, I digress…
I have strong memories of shoe shops being very dull and boring. Quiet places where I would get taken as a child and we’d take a ticket and wait our turn to be served. Then I went to Schuh last weekend on Oxford Street - this place is totally different. To begin with, the place is buzzing with activity. The staff all seem to be students and delivered a level of service and professionalism I found quite out of place at a shoe shop. They really managed to hit the sweet spot of being incredibly helpful but not annoying. I’m not sure how they manage to motivate their staff so well but this may have something to do with it. When you select a pair of shoes, the person serving you boxes them up and places them behind the counter, where you go to collect. This of course means you are more likely to buy another pair as you may look for a bit longer after you choose! The sales assistant is then credited with the sale. I’m not sure if the guys are on commission, but as we were leaving they were handing out the league table of the days sales and there was certainly interest and competition in who came where.
Then we went to the shoe shop down the road - which felt sterilised after our experience in Schuh. In fact it was so boring I can’t even remember the name of the store! Needless to say, we didn’t stay long.
But here’s the ugly - later that week I went for a drink with a friend last week at the Fire Station near Waterloo. This is quite a nice, modern bar but for some reason we were really struggling to get served, despite three people behind the bar not doing very much. My friend (who’s loud and American) asked them if they wouldn’t mind getting us a drink to which they replied “sorry, we don’t do service…” - my American friend thought they were joking…
Which brings me to this thought - why aren’t sales assistants on commission in the UK? How much of a difference would it make to a) our shopping experience and b) the overall economy? Would everywhere be like Schuh? It’s not just shoe and beer sales that suffer, my flat mate went to buy a new iMac at the Apple store in Regent Street. He decided to buy (a £1,500 purchase, so no small change) and when he asked a sales assistant was told to join a queue for the cash till. Whilst in the queue, he changed his mind and left. This guy should have taken his credit card, gone and made the purchase, and then told him to wait whilst they got the machine from the basement. It’s even more annoying for me as I’m an Apple shareholder! I can’t see that happening if the guy’s on commission…
Mind you - as good as Schuh was, they didn’t have anything in a size 13…
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August 19th, 2007 at 11:51 am
The scenario where the sales assistant blew a £1500 iMac sale is totally believable and relatively common place I expect. I know as a consumer I am always nervous about a major purchase (is it value for money, is it what I need, am I buying the best one on the market?) A good salesman knows his products, matches the consumer with the right product therefore increasing the chance that the consumer / client will satisfy themselves that they have made the right choice and consequently go through with the purchase.
Commission is the way forward I agree. However, the public in this country have a skewed idea about it. A lot of people flinch at the idea of a proportion of the cost of a an item or product going directly to the salesman (I come across this all too often in my field as a Financial Adviser). People hate paying for advice, because they think they know best even when they don’t!
However, once people begin to see the improvement in service that commission driven sales / services gives them, they will think why did we ever do it differently?
Martin
August 20th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Thanks Martin - interesting to see the same problems are evident in other industries. We seem to have accepted a tipping culture in restaurants, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before it catches on elsewhere!