Anindya’s Anecdotes #6

Do the consumers care about the count of the fabric?

Do they walk into the store and be enthralled by the seasons concept/story?

Do they care that this “RED” is not the “RED”?

What does the consumer really SEE? A piece of art or a practical clothing he/she needs.

The answer to this question has partly been a mystery to me. And every time I think about this, I am reminded of a rather weird incident which took place early in my career.

My first job was with a company, best described as one of the pioneers of fashion retail in India. They had a chain of retail stores across the country, through which they retailed a variety of private labels and brands.

I had the privilege of being part of the first batch of management trainees they had hired. And they had such grandiose plans for us. A stint in the stores, then factory, followed by the warehouse and finally moving into Buying and Merchandising.

But, as often happens with the best laid plans of man, it went awry the moment we reported in the stores.

Yes, the sales team quit!

And we had no choice but to fill in. So here we were, 4 management trainees in that store; trying our best to figure out how to manage our counters. Sales obviously went down as the whole sales team had quit en masse. Mr. GM Manageus, the general manager in utter desperation, decided that we needed training.

And who better than the Design and Buying teams to train us novices.

So in they strutted and we spent two hours every day being taken through the whole product line.

We were given the complete encyclopedia. From yarn, to dying, fabric, trims, stitching, fits, construction, benefits, styling details, it was enormous. Then we were told about how lines are conceptualised, designs created, samples made and then produced; wow! it was like rocket science to us young kids.

We never realised that there was so much that went into clothes.

And then armed with all this amazing knowledge and new found confidence we decided to attack our sales targets with renewed vigour.

But lo and behold! The consumer taught us a very different lesson. Most of what we had learnt did not actually help us. What the consumer wanted was very different.

But something else hit me like a ton of bricks!!

When a consumer walks into the store, he/she sees hundreds of garments at one glance. Only 1-2 garments may attract their attention, while the rest are lost in this abyss.

What takes the teams 6 months of hard work, conceptualisation, trials, sourcing and manufacturing does not even attract the consumers attention for a fraction of a second.  The consumer doesn’t even spend a moment before rejecting it.

I realised that the most important aspect of business is to understand what grabs the consumers attention and why a product is successful in doing so. Unfortunately this is usually the most neglected aspect in our industry.

I figured, that we need to simplify the way we design.

• we need to understand and work on what grabs the consumers attention,
• the product benefit is conveyed using simple messaging
• and keep innovations relevant to the consumers

Anything else we do is pointless and a wasted effort.

I then developed a habit that has stayed with me through the years.

This has given me a unique perspective and has helped me in my work throughout my career.

My friends, who I take shopping, through their innocence and simplicity ask such questions which can disarm the most potent designer or buyer.

Many a times; in fact most of the times we obsess and work on so many things, most of which the consumer does not even notice.

My advise, think like the customer, see like the customer and things may just start looking very different.

Let me know your thoughts on this. Have you also experienced such moments and what have been your learnings. Look forward to your comments.

RELATED TOPICS:#Apparel,Anindya Ray