This article is based on my experience of shopping for decades with men, be it my dad or my then-boyfriend-now-husband! Let's start with the story, last weekend my husband and I headed towards the malls with a packed agenda of shopping, shopping and shopping. We spent quite sometime there and here's what we came back with -
Him: Pair of jeans, shoes, pair of trousers
Me: Faces Eyeliner (which was not even on my shopping list for the day) and ..that's it!
Later on Monday, I was sitting in a meeting in office and wondering why I can never buy stuff in a planned shopping. This analysis seemed far more interesting that what was going on in the meeting. You won't believe it but I actually made some notes! I realised the concept and approach to shopping are very different for men and women. Let's get into the details.
The Concept
For men shopping is more of a need based thing. They shop when they need something.
For women, shopping is the ultimate pleasure. We don't shop because we need something, we shop because we feel like shopping.
- I shop when I am happy because I am happy.
- I shop when I am sad because it will make me happy.
- I shop when I like something (even if my closet is stuffed with 10 more items of the similar kind).
Why men take lesser time to shop?
1. The Approach
When men shop, they have very specific things on mind. Sometimes it is simply a replacement. Hence it is much easier and less time consuming. My husband mostly buys from the first shop he enters. He purchased a suit worth Rs 12k ($ 300) in less than 12 minutes!
As for me, I can't even buy something worth Rs 1200 ($ 30) in 12 min. It is a very rare that I picked up stuff from the first store! I may eventually buy from there but not before I have explored the entire mall. I can't miss out on better deals and designs!
Secondly shopping for us is an experience, so if I planned to shop for 2 hrs, I can't finish it in just 10 min!
- Replacement takes lesser time than adding new things to the closet!
2. Hardly Any Choice
I don't wanna sound rude but men hardly have 10 things to chose from, I mean its just jeans/ shirt/ t-shirt/ trouser/ shoes! But for us, it's so many things in addition to these.. We have to shop for lip glosses/ eye-liners/ eye-shadows/ sarees/ tops/ skirts/ stilettoes/ pumps/ curls/ jewellery....the list can go on!
- Limited Choice = Less Time
3. No Questions Asked
Men don't like asking questions, be it while driving to a new place or shopping in a store. They just pick up what they like without asking too many questions to the SA. But again, we like to get the best deals, so we like exploring and bugging the SA with millions of queries. It's their job after all!
- Less Questions = Less Time
Finally: Honey, Let's talk about the Money
Now hear this, not always but most of the times our stuff comes at half the price of theirs. For similar items, men's stuff is invariably more expensive than those for women in the same store! So that leaves us with the freedom to buy more things :)
It's strange that though I am the shopaholic and my husband is a wise shopper, our credit card bills are more or less the same!
This was my experience. So tell what you guys think!
Pictures from Google Images
