At the Global Harbor mall in Shanghai, glassed-in “husband storage pods” give female shoppers a place to stash their spouses while they visit various stores in the mall. The pods feature retro video game consoles and leather chairs, and for a small fee, bored consumers forced to come along on a trip to the mall can play for hours.

For the (mostly) male pod users, the option promises a means to avoid boredom and frustration. For the (mostly) female shoppers, it frees them to shop without having to worry about a spouse’s mood or feeling rushed. According to one shopper, they also give her husband an incentive to come on the trip with her and pay the bills.

Although the video-gaming pods are new, other Chinese stores and malls use similar tactics to entertain men, such as “husband cloakrooms,” where they can gather to smoke and watch television from comfortable couches. In the United States, the trend is less developed, in that some retailers provide comfortable seating outside dressing rooms but rarely offer dedicated “husband” spaces.

For some observers, the notion that men need “adult daycare” before they will visit a mall seems ridiculous. It also relies on conventional gender norms that may not apply in all cases. But others argue that the option could spread to additional retail settings and appeal to a wider market of bored shoppers. For example, banks and other service providers could set up pods to entertain customers while they wait. Alternatively, shops and malls might create pods to contain and entertain children while their parents shop, provide comfortable resting places for older consumers who cannot keep up with their younger counterparts for the entire shopping trip, or even just set up quiet zones to allow anyone who has been overstimulated by the shopping experience to take a little break.

Discussion Question:

1. How might pods affect the consumer decision-making process?
2. Hey, those of you who hate to shop (and especially the guys): Would you welcome a pod like this in a mall near you?

Source: Tom Ryan, Retail Wire, July 28, 2017