Inspired by one of this month’s panel, author Gloria Moss’ book and her recent study into retail behaviours, RD&T poses the question: Does it really make a difference if men design outlets targeted at women, and vice versa? And what is it that the consumer is looking for in the store?
David Dalziel
David Dalziel,Creative director, Dalziel + Pow
www.dalziel-pow.com
‘At any time on the high street there is a vast majority of stores that are not fit for purpose, either by design or by decay, they are simply wrong. Difficult to shop in, poorly lit, badly merchandised, woefully maintained, soulless and physically uncomfortable. This is the reality of retail around the world, from Bradford to Beijing, Dundee to Delhi.
‘Understanding what clients, and more importantly their customers, want from the retail designer is paramount. Without that insight you are designing for yourself, for your own ego, and will – almost inevitably – fail.’
Bruce D. Sanders
Bruce D. Sanders, Ph.D
Consumer psychologist
www.rimtailing.blogspot.com
‘American humorist, Robert Benchley wrote ‘There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t.’ Put me forever in the box with those who believe there are more than two. No, wait, the human condition is much too rich for there to be permanent boxes at all. Certainly, female consumers are different from male consumers. I craft shopper psychology findings into specific tactics my retail clients can use to make more money, so I’ve seen the research. Men tend to like sharp contrast. Women tend to like harmonious flow. And that’s only the start.
‘Any notion that suggests only Venusians are capable of competently designing shopping spaces for other Venusians would box us into unnecessarily limited possibilities. That’s beyond humorous. It’s silly.’
Debi Ward
Debi Ward Kennedy, Retail design consultant
www.debiwardkennedy.com
‘Whether a store is designed by a man or a woman for men or women, isn’t as important as how the designer understands the needs of the business and the customer.
‘The foremost function of store design is to build on the day-to-day activities and requirements of the staff, so that it can operate efficiently. It’s imperative to spend time in the retail environment with your client, watching the staff’s activities and space requirements, before putting pencil to graph paper in the design process. I personally think that is where the so-called ‘design disconnect’ happens: if the client/store is not able to maximize use of the space, storage, work areas, lighting then ultimately it all results in chaos. And that will affect the customer, because it will influence the way employees function and serve.’
Guy Smith
Guy Smith
Head of design for Topshop stores
‘To begin, let’s start with a statement of fact. Are all stores designed by men? No. 20 years ago, the majority of interior design students were male but now the reverse is true, leading to a corresponding change in the designers rising through the ranks of design agencies. But to the nub of the argument, do people of different sexes respond differently to the same stimuli? Of course. Although so do people of different age groups, of differing political views, levels of education, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, morality, occupation, fitness, et al. Humans can be sub-divided by a near limitless number of criteria and using sex as your filter is no more, or less, relevant to design than a thousand others.
‘Like all professions, designers come in all shapes and sizes. And that’s just how it should be.’
Tim Ellis
Tim Ellis
Business manager at Momentum Instore
www.momentuminstore.com
‘There are a number of assumptions made about who does what kind of shopping. The weekly grocery shop, for example, is often attributed to women, while men are perceived to deal with stereotypically male purchases, such as cars, technology and DIY paraphernalia. This may have been the case twenty years ago but social changes, and the recent economic upheaval, have resulted in a significant blurring of the traditional shopping roles. The notion that men and women are as different as beings from another planet is quite simply untrue.
‘In the modern world we can no longer label women ‘gatherers’ and men ‘hunters’. These days men do the unthinkable – they shop for groceries and not just under duress on their way home from work. And women buy cars, TVs, computers and mobile phones. In many ways gender stereotyping has become obsolete in terms of segmenting and defining the needs of shoppers in the in-store environment.
‘Agencies hire on the basis of who is best for the job, male or female. There are many creative minds out there dedicated to making the UK retail experiences the best in the world.’
Gloria Moss
Gloria Moss
Author of Gender, Design and Marketing
‘Men and women have very different reactions to in-store layouts, whether it’s of TVs, jeans or anything in-between. During my survey, women were enthusiastic about a pink counter whereas men gave their votes to the brown and orange ones.
‘The problem is that a lot of shop layouts are designed by men, but women are responsible for 83 per cent of all consumer purchases, so there is a mismatch in terms of preferences. Getting the retail environment right for women could reap substantial dividends for retailers since research shows a link between aesthetic preference and preparedness to attend to something and pay a premium of up to 66 per cent.
‘The men just need to listen to women’s views. In fact, there is strong evidence to support the notion that the differences are rooted in predispositions dating back to the prehistoric hunter-gatherer days. This surely must change.’
To read the full debate flick to page 16 in the July issue, or in our digital issue following this link http://bit.ly/pnpHEU
