Typically, retailers have assumed that most men hate shopping.  Hointer, a high-tech men’s clothing retailer located in Seattle, but based in the U.K., is attempting to change men’s attitudes about shopping.  In Hointer’s new Seattle store, customers will not have to bother with idle chit chat with sales associates or sifting through large piles of clothes.  Instead, shoppers can use their smartphone to scan items that they are interested in and choose sizes and colors they want to try on.  Once the items are scanned, a message is sent, via a mobile app, to the stock room.  From there, the correct sizes and colors are chosen and dropped into a basket in one of the store’s dressing rooms.  The entire process takes less than 30 seconds.  If the customer likes the jeans, he can swipe his card through a reader and walk out the door without having to interact with anyone.

Every pair of jeans has a tag that tracks its location in the shop, making it difficult for customers to leave without paying.  Because of the emphasis on technology, Hointer employs fewer sales associates.  This allows Hointer to compete closely with online retailers on price.

Executives at Hointer are trying to make fashion shopping as convenient and stress-free as shopping online for men.   Hointer stores its jeans “behind the scenes,” therefore making it easier for Hointer to store more styles, almost 150.  Hointer can offer ten times the selection of a normal retailer store; this is especially appealing in markets with expensive real estate costs.  This does mean, however, that one store selling 150 styles of jeans, is holding quite a bit of inventory.  This worries some critics of the store.

Discussion Questions:

1. How doe Hointer sell jeans?

2. Why is this method appealing to men (more than women)?

3. From an inventory investment perspective, why are Hointer stores efficient?

 

4. What other stores would benefit from a similar store layout and display?

5. Would you shop at Hointer?

 

SOURCE: The Economist, December 18, 2012