Saturday, December 13, 2014

 

Finding Havana in Germany; the best shopping experience


A long post on fashion- that's a first in the long and chequered history of this blog. I purchased today "Havana" spectacle frames in Erlangen, Nuremberg. Why was this the best shopping experience ever?

1. Object of much desire 
2. The best salesperson I've ever experienced
3. Ideal duration of time spent shopping, with a textbook like "shopping funnel" 

1. Object of desire


Called Havana pattern, these frames seem to be a rage in Europe. They are beautiful in my opinion. Firstly because they match quite well with the color of the skin, be it fair European or darker Indian, and secondly the play of light on the frame is "eye catching". My previous "hipster" glasses (Ray Bans) experiment did not go very well - the frame was too big, the thickness of the frame was too less, and most importantly, the aesthetics of the black hipster glasses are Itself questionable. 

2. The best salesperson in the world


I walked into the spectacle store, Amberg, and the immediate change I see (actually I register then, it properly occurs just now. Slow brain) is that few frames are on display, unlike in ordinary stores I'm used to - in India and in Germany. This made the frame-choosing session almost like a consultation- small individual tables where the "consultant" sat with you and produced the frames of your choice from somewhere inside. Two fold advantages: One they carried a surprisingly large range of spectacles,: because they were stuffed away inside, and Two the salesperson does the hand-holding. For bespectacled folk, the spectacle is THE MOST IMPORTANT purchase fashion purchase (I realize as I write), and we can do with all the specialist advice did we can get. Now, important interventions by salesgirl.:
A) Friendly and helpful demeanor all through
b) Showed me around 30 Havana frames, and this after applying the price filter. Large number. 
C) Helped in the elimination process in a not-very-pushy way only-proddy (should I put this away?)
E) Empathy. She has power of 5 diopter herself.
F) Expert advice: i) this one is more for women: because of the upswing from the center which makes it look like "cat eyes". Oh, but you like it? Hmm ... ok, I can heat the plastic and move the eyes down. But still, tad bit girly I warn you. Ii) The high bridge on the nose emphasizes the length of the nose. I do not like it much, iii) the straight frames look too dominating / businesslike, iv) let's go out and see it in the sun, in the light: because outside frames tend to look different,
G) Unequivocal personal advice. When I was down to 3, and then finally to 2, she stuck to her opinion on One Particular frame, a "Rodednstock" which meant ..
H) ... she what not recommending the cheapest! In the last two, I was down to Rodenstock costing X Euros and Oliver People costing 1.6 x. Based on how it looked on me, she recommends Rodenstock costing x euros!
I) She gave me a 11 pc discount. Ah, you might say at this point- After all the long stories, now we know why she's the best!But really, this aint much of a contributor.



3. Ideal duration and shopping funnel

The entire above process Took all of one hour. I have Discovered a new way got shop- just put a gun to your head in terms of the time allowed, and enter the store. Should not be applied always, but wants to apply somewhere. The gun to the head int his case was an exam 3 hours from the moment I Entered the store 'and exam for Which my prep was far from ideal! 

Shopping Funnel the elimination process which textbook like, Some 30 frames INITIALLY apply logical filter 1, down to 20; apply logical filter 2, down to 10, apply logical filter 3, down to 3, and only now do emotionally filters come into play.



# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 2:05 AM 2 Comments

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