This past year has been a real head scratcher for retailers as they try to figure out new and innovative ways to get customers through the door and to the cash wrap. The recession has not been kind to the industry and everyone has been searching for that magic fix that will get people dropping cash again. Womenswear Daily recently did a piece focusing on how designers, creative directors, ad agencies and PR offices are brainstorming for new ways to lure patrons back and keep them intrigued. The article touched on topics from new digital markets to the sudden rise in high-low collaborations to Johnny Cupcakes founder John Earle's community style approach of Twitter spread "meet-ups" inviting people to take part in free pizza and movies. Yet of everything the groups touched on there was one solution that I thought was blatantly missing from the entire conversation: customer service. While everyone seems to want to slash prices and throw fancy add-ons at shoppers, no one was talking about new ways in approaching actually helping those shoppers. The digital age of consumerism has done much to change the game and although the internet has made the world a lot smaller it's also made it a lot more impersonal. That's fine for somethings but chances are when you're considering tossing down a substantial sum of money for one or a few objects, sometimes all it takes is the help one person to seal the deal. If you've ever been shopping you understand what I mean, you might wander into a store completely void of the desire to buy anything, however encounter one friendly sales associate and you see yourself walking out with ten things instead. This isn't always the case but I've seen many a reticent shopper turned into an enthusiastic customer based on the attention and guidance of knowledgeable shopgirls. Not that I'm really much of a shopper myself. I of course love to get things done from behind a computer screen and most of the time find myself bothered by overly friendly store clerks. Regardless, what annoys me more is walking into a store where the sales staff feels as though they're too good to acknowledge your existence. Unfortunately I see this as a trend that permeates a lot of retail, especially on the higher end and I fully believe the number one way to get customers into your store is to make them feel like they belong there. Personally I've worked a lot of retail and there is no doubt that it is stressful work, you are asked to please a lot of people in many different situations and it isn't always easy. The invention of these super packed, mega-mall shopping mazes have taken away from the one on one customer service experience of shopping and a part of me appreciates the ability to walk into a store, grab what I need and be done but in no way do these hyper retail environments create "clients", rather they've created this sort of grazing shopper who hops from storefront to storefront, desensitized and numb. It isn't that we shouldn't be shopping from multiple destinations, I definitely advocate seeing all of what's out there but what I think retailers have to remember is that it isn't always the price sticker on the garment that makes or breaks the deal but often the attention and attitude the customer receives along the way. Regardless, sometimes a good deal is a good deal no matter how bitchy the sales staff is, but chances are you will take advantage of that deal once and do well to steer clear of "the store with the bitchy staff". However my entire theory on this matter goes out the window when you take into account stores like Forever21. The cashiers could literally tell every customer to fuck off in three different languages and they'd still have a line out the door, but I've also never seen a Forever21 garment make it through more than 3 wash cycles so somehow I suppose this balances out. Photo via Shopgirls.com licensed under Creative Commons It's a pretty inherent human trait that no matter how far we stray from our comfort zones or how far we push ourselves out of the box, we still find ways to belong. Whether it's to a group, to a movement or to a culture, people want to place themselves where they feel comfortable and accepted. This feature plays into much of how we live our lives from where we work to where we spend our free time and something that needs to be injected back into fashion and retail is this sense of community and belonging. Although any subculture can be exclusionary, there's something about fashion that lends itself to taking things a step further. With fashion it's one slip up and you're out of the in crowd. Wear last years shoes or your pants at your waist when this year they're supposed to be on your hips and suddenly noses get turn and the whispers run rampant. I must say that I'm sort of enjoying watching the whole lot desperately try to pull themselves up from their bootstraps, but Vogue throwing Anna Wintour to a Macy's in Queens to sign tees or to sit with David Letterman and answer questions about budgeting for fashion, like she knows what the hell that means, is the equivalent of Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie getting shipped out to farms in Iowa to help milk cows. Sorry guys, it's a nice facade but we're just not buying it. Courtesy of www.altpress.com licensed under Creative Commons In turn I have this sort of antiquated, romanticized idea of commerce, the notion that you are loyal and dedicated to a few shops because a) you always know you'll get what you came for and b) the people behind the counter are helpful and accommodating. In a market that is more saturated and overwhelming than ever the ideas of giving customers what they want in an inviting atmosphere and keeping them coming back suddenly seem fresh and innovative. I'm not saying that customers should dictate what buyers and owners put on their shelves but I think especially now consumers need to feel as though they are part of the process and by feeling connected to it they have a vested interest in where their money is going. For example, there's a small family run deli next to my apartment in Brooklyn and one night on a whim my boyfriend asked if they would be able to carry a certain type of yogurt (my favorite), and even though I winced when he asked the question they happily said they would try. Since that night my yogurt has been stocked on their shelves and I make it a point to buy it from their business as often as I can. Now, this whole scenario isn't even about the type of yogurt necessarily, but the simple fact that I was listened to and my request was honored. It seems shocking by comparison considering you walk into most places in New York and are lucky to get your change back let alone a request fulfillment, but in all reality this wasn't anything more than good customer service and a testament to how it can turn an establishment from just another corner store to "my" corner store. And this is where I feel retail is failing the hardest and where they need to try to the most of reconnect, because it's their customers who are paying their bills and it seems as though it's also their customers who they're paying the least attention to.