I hate to shop. In fact, it’s painful. Why? Because clothing designers haven’t clued into the fact that consumers don’t want to wear hideous garments that look like they exploded from the mind of Jackson Pollack while he was doing shrooms in a Sherwin Williams store.
In recent news Facedeals, a new technology that has become a point of controversy, can read customers’ facial expressions in exchange for discounts.
During a recent shopping trip, I noticed something and had an epiphany about this new technology right there in the JCPenney. Though I was browsing alone, I found myself outwardly expressing facial reactions and verbal cues for each piece of clothing that I flicked through on the racks; grimacing and grumbling at the horrid things I wouldn’t be caught dead in or excitedly grabbing for beautiful tops, dresses and skirts that were destined to be in my closet.
Then, I noticed something else. I wasn’t the only woman shopping that way; my fellow female shoppers were doing the exact same thing and I thought to myself “clothing stores should use facial recognition technology to gauge customer reactions to the clothes and other products they purvey.”
This “A-HA!” moment made me realize that as consumers we should have the power to demand what we want to see in stores, not the other way around where the industry tells us what to wear this season. As professional woman in the workforce, I think I know my own style by now. The problem is that the supply doesn’t meet my demand.
While this blog post may never be seen by the folks in the clothing industry, it is my request, neigh my plea to them, to install cool technology that could not only boost sales but offer customers what they really want. So, Facedeals: Friend or Foe? I emphatically say FRIEND!
Sherry LeCocq
Public Relations Account Manager
Mood: Misunderstood
