January just got a whole lot better... my Old Best Friend, Mary Portas (OBFMP) is back. And for the first episode of the new series, Secret Shopper, the focus is on fast fashion. Portas visits high street fashion stores, H&M, Zara, Primark and Pilot - the brand we thought was dead and buried but is clinging onto life in a dreary shopping outlet in Braintree, Essex. In a seventies wig - and flat shoes! - the Undercover Queen of Shops goes in-store with a hidden camera to find out what customer service on the high street is really like. Wearing mostly ACNE, a Burberry trench (spring/summer 2011 collection) and a fabulous fuchsia Roland Mouret dress, some may argue that shopping on the high street is not an experience OBFMP is familiar with but I think that's a bit unfair. Portas is the Telegraph's shopping columnist after all, and during the course of the programme, in a move that would make Sam Cam proud, she dons a red shirt from Whistles. Here's Mary in disguise. Personally, I quite like the seventies/Joan Jett vibe.
Anyhow, unsurprisingly the customer service is shoddy. Shop assistants are either bored stiff or too busy to help customers and Portas is horrified to find that they don't know an aviator jacket from a pair of harem pants - what's wrong with these people? Don't they read Grazia? With her three golden rules: smile, speak and serve, OBFMP persuades the owner of Pilot to revamp one of his stores, turning a cubicle the size of a toilet into a fabulous changing hub complete with Twitter mirror and celebrity names above each door, guaranteed to make any shopper feel like a star - are you feeling Gaga/ Cheryl/Rhianna today?
Fast fashion may be an easy target but this is entertaining stuff. The show ends with Portas charging down a pedestrianised street with a flash mob of peaceful protesters heading for Primark where, in their 'Smile, Speak, Serve' logo t-shirts they offer bemused shoppers the customer service they truly deserve. And at the end of the day, Portas is right. Sadly, in fast fashion stores like this, service is stripped back, employees are given very little, if any, proper training and are bound to feel disaffected because to some retailers a hefty profit - rather than the people who work or shop in their stores - is all that matters. But, as David Mitchell pointed out on The Graham Norton Show last week, 'The nation's misery is the show's strength.'
Next week I'm hoping for a posh accent and a Kate Middleton wig.
If you missed The Graham Norton Show, check out this hilarious discussion on rubbish shop names.
Did you see Secret Shopper - what do you think about service on the high street?
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ReplyDeleteI think some staff just want to turn up, do nothing and get paid for the priviledge.
ReplyDeleteOn the other other hand there are a lot of staff that want to do a good job but due to lack of leadership or lack of training (and at best prescriptive parrot fashion type customer service training), it's no wonder that all we get is shoddy service
I realised this when I spent 20 months back on the shopfloor at M&S, due to the lack of work in my usual profession during the start of the recession.
I worked in two stores, the first a small high street store, where I was given autonomy, trained well and given responsibility from the outset.
With the second, a high profile out of town store, it was harder but within a couple of months I was looking after my own section, ordering stock etc., I even developed regular customers.
It is possible to do enjoy your work and give good customer service and part of that comes from selecting the right people in the first place and then motivating them once you've engaged them.
I love Mary's Smile, Speak, Serve ethos. Simple but staff have got to want to do it and for some it comes more naturally than others.
A lot of the time British customers want subtle acknowledgement, people who know their product/stock and details of how the customer can get the prouduct if it's not available.
Simple.
I missed this and I am gutted as everyone is talking about it ... Football must have been on.. I am going to see if its on iplayer.. Great post as always xx
ReplyDeleteIt was such a good programme. Knew you would be watching it. Mary is of course so right. When I worked in Hobbs, service was the key but that's because awards were given to those who sold the most. Don't think that is really the answer but I am hoping the show will put off my daughters from ever going to Primark again.I refuse to queue to pay. Hollister and Abercombie are the worst for this.
ReplyDeleteOh how fantastic.. do hope we get this programme here soon in Oz. And talking of Australia I have to say that on the most part customer service here is good. Very good. Tomorrow I will make sure that mine is ultra good though, just in case Mary decides to change continents and drop in! X
ReplyDeleteThe service in this counry is rotten, so I am really glad she is making a program about it. I do think companaies should take more responsiblitity for treating their employees with encouragement and respect, so those same pople will then feel happy in their jobs and pass that on to customers. Shop assistants tend to be paid badly and treated badly, so naturally they aren't all smiles and happiness while they are working.
ReplyDeleteI loved this, Mary Portas is a goddess.
ReplyDeleteI've only set foot in Primark twice in my life and it was vile. I'm sure that the massive queues are a deliberate ploy for customers to think that they may as well buy loads rather than just one thing in order make standing for so long waiting to pay worthwhile.
Great idea with the Pilot changing rooms, just the kind of thing to appeal to a teenage wannabe. xxx
It's usually pretty appauling which drives me to shop online rather than in store. Online retailers have much better customer service than that provided by shop floor staff - but as Penny Dreadful says - what do you expect when you pay people very little and treat them badly?
ReplyDeleteI am sooo sad: the store where I loved to shop for jeans just closed. How can I ever buy a pair of jeans again, now that Louise, the best staff I ever met is no more ...
ReplyDeleteHi TNMA - I love your blog - just referenced it on mine in response to your globe post. Your collection is enviable!
ReplyDeleteSo pleased you blogged about Mary. Love her programs . Must check that I can get it over here.
ReplyDeleteI wish she were on in the US.
ReplyDeleteShe was brilliant on Norton though due to work never seen the programme sadly.
ReplyDeleteNicky - wow, thank you for your comment. One of my really good friends works in retail and has done for many years, in fact she called me this morning to discuss the show on the way to work! She would completely agree with you.
ReplyDeleteVix - I can't even bear to walk passed the huge Primark on Oxford Street. Hideous.
Penny D & Veshoevius - you're right about the pay, really what do companies expect when they pay people a pittance?
Paula - oh no! Do you know where Louise has gone? I hope you find her again soon in another shop!
I completely love Mary Portas too and she makes so many good points. why should we shoppers suffer from at worst offensive and at best ignorant service.
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hmm, this show sounds interesting, I'm pretty sure I won't be watching it though considering that I live in the US :P
ReplyDelete-- www.itsanewkate.blogspot.com
Great post. I loved every minute of Mary's new show particularly the bit where she showed the guy from Pilot the footage... Ooops.
ReplyDeleteI don't really shop on the high street and I don't think Pilot would do it for me. I think Primark and the like is a false economy and my local one always looks like a jumble sale. Saying that I think staff are woefully under trained.
I sat between her and Janet Street Porter at a dinner Bistrotheque gave recently which was brilliant. Two women I love.
I have the shop book Graham Norton was talking about and there's one they should have added - a kebab shop in NW London called Halal, Is It Meat You're Looking For? Genius. xx
Christina - fantastic! And much funnier than some of the shops they mentioned on the show.
ReplyDeleteDont get me started....ooops you did. When I was an assistant photogrpaher and trying to break into photography I worked at the weekends in Oasis to make ends meet. My manager was a stickler for properly folded clothes, both on the snelves and how they were folded when they went into the customers bags. It rubbed off. It pains me when the clothes I have just spent my hard earned cash on are treated like a piece or sh*t and I usually end up asking to fold them myself. This reqest is usually met with distain. But if the garment had been folded well before it went into the bag it wouldnt even be a conversation we would be having. The worst offenders for me are Zara. Both the till and floor staff are rude beyond compare. Xxxx
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