The Male Apparel Shopper

What Motivates Men to Buy

Men traditionally shop less often than women, and when they do shop it is often to replace existing items, or to address a new need. In the case of menswear it is most often to replace existing items in order to refresh their closet.

 While this varies per customer, in the menswear industry there are five primary motivations for a man to buy, they are fit, style, selection, quality, and service. There is of course one other factor, namely price, but this is typically taken into consideration as it relates to the other items. Price is more a function of determining value, and not in and of itself a motivator to buy. Men will buy if they believe something is of good value, and value is derived from the benefits they receive from a product less the price. If in their mind an item provides value of $1000 and the price is $900, then the price is justified and the product is a good value. On the other hand, if the same item is viewed as providing only $800 of value, then the price is too high, and the product is viewed as not being of good value.

So, if we were to put this concept into a simple formula, we arrive at the following:

Value = Benefits - Price

If this is the case, there are then two ways to increase the value of a product. The first is to lower the price and the second is to increase the benefits – or at least the perceived benefits.
So if a customer’s primary focus is on Style, it is imperative that style becomes a main talking point, but then also including discussions that highlight other areas of interest can also help to increase perceived benefits. For example, speaking of the style in addition to the fit and quality will increase the perceived benefits.

As a final note, it is important to understand that customers do not buy features.  In my many years selling custom clothing I often had sales people who focused on horn buttons, silk threads, Bemberg linings, and the like.  While it is good to discuss these items in describing quality, it is critical that you don’t stop with the feature.  You must then describe the advantage and ultimate benefit to the customer, it is this benefit that is ultimately what the customer buys. Benefits like looking good, feeling more comfortable, attracting others, etc., is what product presentation is all about. Benefit selling can in fact build a price objection, as expensive sounding features with no defined benefit simply sound like unneeded extras.

Clienteling and the Male Shopper

Clienteling in Menswear

While clienteling is an applicable skill in most service-focused retail, with my 15 years in retail management in the men’s apparel industry I thought I would write a little bit about how to apply capabilities of clienteling to the menswear business in particular.

As I have discussed in previous articles, clienteling is a colloquial term that came about to describe the activities a sales staff might take with their clientele.  As such, it is a verb which describes the actions an associate takes to better service their customers, and to establish long lasting relationships. In practice these activities can be grouped into two buckets: collection of information that establishes a learning relationship, and the personalized actions one takes based on this information.

While the menswear business is not unique, the shopping habits of men and women are often different. In fact, according to an article by Jay H. Baker Retail Initiative and the Verde Group titled “Men Buy, Women Shop”  the differences are significant. Women enjoy the shopping experience, and more often look at shopping as an experience, while men look at is as a necessity, something to accomplish quickly and with little interaction. For men shopping is a means to an end, while for women it is in fact often the primary goal.

This can be a critical distinction in how to service male shoppers in nearly any retail environment. The quicker you can assist the customer in locating a product, the more likely you are to make a sale. So how is this relevant to clienteling? Isn’t Clienteling about regular interaction with the hopes of bringing the customer into the store more regularly, providing them recommendations of add-on items, and providing targeted personalized communications?  Yes, that is precisely what clienteling is designed to do, and in fact what it is highly effective at doing entirely because of the male shopping habits. If a retailer embraces these tendencies, they can in fact become even more effective in clienteling.

Here are a few simple rules:

1.  Help men to shop.  While this sounds common sense, it is not the act of helping the male shopper when he is in the store that is particularly effective, it is helping him before he arrives in the store. Schedule appointments if possible, but even if not possible, at least plan in advance. Put outfits together that are specifically aimed at what you know about the customer, and do your cross-selling in the form of coordinating items prior to the visit. Check for wish list items, notes and preferences to be sure you have all information that is relevant.
2. Understand what motivates the customer by asking questions and making note of their propensities. This is covered more as a sidebar to this article called “What Motivates Men to Buy”. Use these primary motivators when selecting products, and don’t be afraid to remind the customer of the added benefits they may not have considered. With each interaction, engage customers so you are equipped with more knowledge the next time. Note sizes, preferences, lifestyle, and add items to wish lists.  
3.  Facilitate the customer’s ability to get in and out as quickly as possible. Have a fitting room ready, get a fitter queued up in advance. Use look book tools to find where a product might be in the enterprise if not in stock, and work with the customer so items can be shipped directly to the customer.
4. Schedule the next follow-up. As men like to visit stores less often than women, they typically are less likely to come back if they have an issue. Set a follow-up a week out to be sure the customer is satisfied. Also schedule an outreach 3 or six months out to remind you to reach out to the customer and get into a scheduled routine. For products with limited lifespans such as dress shirts, set a replenishment – even if its two years out. Knowing when a customer needs to replace their wardrobe enables you to get ahead of the customer, so that they don’t shop the competition to replace these items
5. Contact the spouse. Women do a disproportionate amount of apparel shopping, so working with the wife or significant other can pay dividends in the form of more frequent visits, both from the customer and the spouse. While there is still often a need for the customer to enter the store (clothing that needs alterations for example), having the spouse as an ally can pay dividends in bringing the customer into the store, and women are far more loyal to their sales associates, so this also helps to solidify relationships.

By understanding the shopping habits of the male menswear shopper can help to increase sales through effective clienteling. Leveraging your knowledge of these habits can help to increase frequency, increase units per transaction, and most importantly, increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.