Now, during the clothes sales in UK, a lot of us get a sense of urgency in our gut (I know I do!) - we see something online we’ve been following for a while and it’s half price! Or we get bombarded by the newsletters from clothes shops screaming SHOP FOR SALES FROM NOW ON! Or 50% OFF TILL MIDNIGHT! (As a Personal Stylist I know my inbox is full of these callings) So how can we own our decision making and be our own boss while clothes shopping?
✅Unsubscribe from clothes brands newsletters – the newsletter is designed to remind you of the brand and lure you in with offers. If you don’t get distracted by all the sales in clothes it will help you concentrate on only getting the stuff you need and when you need it.
✅Limit your time on social media – go into settings on your smartphone – you can limit the time screen for every app – I only allow myself 20 minutes of Instagram a day and I can only use my phone till 9.30pm – that way I minimise my time on social media and am less likely to buy.
✅It’s worth knowing the basics of consumer psychology to know what the clothes shops for men and women use to make us buy. For example, clothes shops often use red on sale signs in the windows during clothes sales in UK because when people look at the colour red the first message that is sent to them is to stop. When people look at red for any length of time, it creates a sense of urgency. With those responses, the colour red is a good choice for clothes shops to use to attract customers into the stores. Touch is another sense the clothes shops use to encourage purchases during clothes shopping. Studies have shown that when customers touch and hold merchandise, there is a psychological sense of ownership that is experienced. So clothes shops put merchandise within reach of their customers and encourage them to pick it up, feel it and try it on. The smell has a lot of influence too. The same part of our brain (inside the limbic lobe) which controls emotions controls smell. The power of smell can turn you from being sad to being happy, increase or slow down your heart rate, and also make you spend more money during clothes shopping. Another sense is hearing - so the clothes shops use the background music – slow music makes the buyer slow down and spend more time in the clothes shops – hence buy more. Also, the holidays music can increase sales. E.g. Christmas songs at Christmas.
✅Have a list of things you need, rather than just mindlessly browsing – go through your wardrobe, and have a very clear understanding of what is missing, write it down in your notes and consult the list every time you want to buy something – this will help avoid rash unnecessary purchases.
✅Before checking out, pause for a minute, ad use mindfulness techniques- mindfulness meaning: take 3 deep breaths and ask yourself the following questions:
Do I already have something similar⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Is this going to be comfortable
Will it work on me⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Is this a good price⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Is it going to be easy to clean⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Is this going to work with the rest of my clothes
It might not always stop you from buying, but it will make your decision much more weighed and informative. What have you bought during sales? Did it make you happy or guilty? I’ll be posting on the feelings of guilt after buying soon!