By Annette Sanfilippo
You are not the only one who endeavours to find an outfit only to walk around aimlessly telling yourself that there is nothing out there. Fashion weeks and runways are great and have been known to help you put a brand or label onto your list for future reference and department stores are meant to offer variety (and assistance), so why are shoppers telling me daily they actually loathe the shopping process and feel rather invisible.
Social media ‘try-on’ videos have become the new norm where people receive their online-purchased clothing ‘hauls’ and rely on viewers to tell them what to keep and what to return. Since when have the strangers watching videos become fashion experts? Where are the professionals? Why aren’t the shops and the individual brands speaking up for us?
With new technology, AI, and the way many websites present their products, it seems that with online shopping it has become harder to choose fashion items with precision. De-regulation of sizing, colour clarity, determining hem lengths and fabric textures can often be disillusioning and it’s also becoming quite difficult to return or exchange unwanted goods to suppliers when they don’t fit the brief. This often means you end up in a store or at a post office anyway, which defeats the whole reason you ordered online in the first place.
Consumers are realising something has been missing and they want a bit more bang for their buck! There is a need for good customer service, and we are seeing a culture shift back into stores.
So how do shops lure the foot traffic back through their doors? With great product and the best customer service a business can offer. And that little extra has a new name: ‘shopper-entertainment’. Consumers are looking for connection, interaction, assistance and an ounce of fun! To restore faith in the physical shopping experience, companies have to re-engage with their demographic and start ‘clientelling’.
Creating in-house-events, curating customer needs, gifting and providing a sense of importance and attachment to the brands consumers want to buy is a must for businesses. Shopping should be fun. It’s a form of respite, joy and often a treat rewarding us with a real sense of satisfaction. Hosting a VIP event and personally inviting clients to stores means business owners have to get busy; if that’s what it takes to keep stores and brands alive then let’s get started.
Brands are getting very confused out there. Many have rested on their laurels for years without change but the consumer doesn’t always stay the same and they are losing valuable relationships and associations. Ageing, economic status and lifestyle differences see a need to target new customers which takes time, research and money. It’s a struggle to reach clients and keep them brand aware. The fight is on!
Consumers are saturated with imagery and messaging and, not unlike fishing, they will bite when they feel a physical emotional or logical link to make them want the brand to fit into their world. Competition is high; even more reason to draw the consumer back to the brand through imagination. It is a feeling and that’s even more important for brands to stay true to their ethos, originality and style.
Customers are the most important ingredient for a successful recipe
Shoppers are too often complaining that nothing stands out, they can’t find what they want, sizes are all over the place and nothing looks unique. Are designers losing their spark and just making what sells and competing with one another? Are they not taking fashion risks, simply creating ‘copy-cat’ clothing just to make a dollar? It’s no secret that the fashion arena has seen CEOs, designers, makers and creatives move within the industry from one brand to another and you will often see signature attributes and silhouettes come with them. Maybe this is why it’s looking a little blurred out there.
If brands want the attention they are going to have to fight for it. When Karl Largerfield took over Chanel, he was committed not to compromise the brand by cheapening it back into the market; instead, he spent money on its core symbols thereby lifting it by 150% and ensuring that it stayed relevant.
Perhaps a bit of one-upmanship is required to get things back on track. Hopefully brands stop sitting on their hands and start generating some creative rivalry and imagination to get retail back into the race. Customers are the most important ingredient for a successful recipe and what they want is good quality fabrics and wearable designs that make them feel fabulous, comfortable and confident – but not over-the-top unwearable and ridiculous.
Let’s hope that brand integrity prevails and we can start getting back to the art of shopping with a touch of added flair. Next time you want to ‘seek and secure’, don’t click the mouse; instead head out and get noticed, get tactile and hopefully get the service you need to put in-store shopping back on trend.
Fashionably Yours,
Annette
Peninsula Essence April 2026