The Final Countdown...

I was talking to a friend last night who was relating an experience she’d had in a well known young fashion chain.

She had been shopping with her niece and they had rushed to this particular store to try and find a specific item of stock. It was 5:25pm and concerned that they had only got 5 minutes before the store closed; they grabbed the nearest member of staff and asked what time the store closed. When the team member replied ‘6:00pm’, they breathed a huge sigh of relief.

With 35 minutes left to browse and buy, it initially might sound like a story with a happy ending? Sadly – that was not quite the case! What happened next really shocks and surprises me – although, sadly, I believe it is an extremely common occurrence in many retailers.

The store had already pulled the front door grill to the half way point and my friend was staggered to find that the Fitting Rooms had been closed. Staff were starting to cash up and it was made crystal clear to my shopping friends that absolutely no one was interested in them or what they as Customers might need.

This store was completely uninterested in making a sale and was in fact (which is one of my pet peeves in retail) treating the Customer as a total inconvenience and a barrier to them closing their store and getting home as soon as possible.

The retailers amongst you may challenge me and say – ‘it is very difficult when a customer comes in at closing time!’

My response to that would be that the Customer is coming into your store within your trading hours and I fail to see the issue!

I often ask myself whether the people at the top have knowledge of this common working practise.

Certainly in my experience as an Area Manager I would frequently ‘drop in’ to a store around closing time, just to ensure that this was not happening in the stores I managed. Key Shopping Centres, such as Bluewater, Thurrock, Meadowhall etc are also known for fining retailers for this kind of behaviour.

Your staff are being paid and you are advertising that you are open, so why in this difficult retail climate, do staff feel this is an acceptable way to treat a customer who actively WANTS to put some money in your till?

My friend and her niece never actually made a purchase – the item they were looking at was a bikini and without being able to try it on – they were unable to see if it was right for them. A £35 sale lost...

So I would ask any retailer reading this - Is the ‘Final Countdown’ actually your biggest opportunity and in fact a very simple way to differentiate yourself in a positive way from your competitors?