I was at The Village at Park Royal last week. If you have a Retail Store, you are aware, that January means one thing...CLEARANCE TIME! When I go into a store in January, I expect to see 2 things: A regular priced section...with new Spring merchandise, and a SALE section, with clearance merchandise. The store windows may have different messages,but each store should have something on sale.
We headed into a store that had huge BOGO signs in the window. I know from experience, that BOGO can mean several different things. You have to enter the store, and read the signs, and especially the small print to understand the offer.
In this store, the sign on the first rack said " Buy one get one 50% off." Other racks had signs that said "BOGO." Some racks had no signage, yet had sale prices marked on each tag. There were also a few racks that had no signage, and no sale prices.
The store had a poor layout. There was a maze of racks, with no defined SALE section. My friend took a few items into the change room. While I waited, I observed a conversation between the sales associate and the only other customer, at the till. The customer's items had come to a little over $100. The customer disputed the amount saying that if 1 item had been $34, then the second item should have been $17, not $24 as she had been charged. She had 4 items in total. The associate kept pointing to the till and saying that the amount was correct. The customer then walked over to the rack with the SALE sign that said, "Buy one item, get the next item for 50% off", and read the words out loud. The associate said that perhaps the customer had forgotten that tax was charged on each item. The customer asked for a pencil and paper, to manually add up the items, and asked the associate to re-do the transaction in the till, doing 2 items, and then 2 items, and read her the total. There was more explanations, and the customer left.
By this time my friend had chosen 3 items, and I warned her that there seemed to be confusion at the till. My friend put her 3 items down on the counter, and the conversation proceeded almost identically to the other customers. My friend got irritated, and muttered something about false advertising, after learning that to take advantage of the BOGO, 2 items would have to be from the same rack...otherwise it was the sale price as marked. Things were further confused as my friend had only 3 items. The associate actually suggested that she purchase a fourth item, to take advantage of the larger discount! To my complete amazement, my friend purchased her 3 items. As we left, I believe I heard the associate let out a sigh. I felt sorry for all of us.
When we were outside, I looked at the Store window again and realized that all the huge sign said, was BOGO. No small print, no other information. I told my friend that I was surprised that she would reward the Retailer by making a purchase when she was clearly being mislead. She said that the one piece only cost $10, so it was OK. I also felt empathy for the associate, who's marketing department had designed the misleading and confusing sign package. I believe that this associate was doomed to replay this comedy of errors with every customer she served. How motivated would she be to come to work the next day? The other issue, was the fact that the store was very heavy with sale stock. The stock looked to be from the past 2 or 3 seasons. Why didn't the Retailer want to clear the stock in a legitimate way, with a simple: Buy one get one free? I know that Spring stock is arriving every few days, Don't they need the cash flow?
I checked out this Retailer's website and found the home page covered in 'Promotion Speak.' Here is exactly what their Promotion Poster said:
" Buy one, Get one 50% off
all sale items
item of equal or lesser value, select styles.
Offer subject to change without notice."The website was the only web presence this Retailer had. Too bad they didn't have a business Facebook page. If they had, they would have been able to have a dialogue with their customers. Some of those customers may have commented on the Retailers convoluted and misleading BOGO promotion. Perhaps someone in their marketing department would have read the multiple negative comments, and considered a solution to the obvious problem. Perhaps the store managers and associates would have gotten in on the conversation, allowing customers to know that the BOGO policy was changing effective immediately, and offering all customers who shopped their stores in the month of January a $10 coupon to be used, NO STRINGS attached, anytime they like, as an apology for the confusion.
But they don't have a Facebook page. I don't believe they have a future, either.
Have you ever had a Retail experience like this? Did you complain? Leave a comment here, or on my Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/pages/Cavern-Retail-Consulting/130690110314227
I am not moving to Hawaii. I am moving somewhere closer. 
