Shopping can be hard work at times. There’s never a sales assistant around when you need one, yet when you don’t need one, they won’t stop asking you if you need help.
But a Korean store may just have come up with the perfect solution.
Innisfree, a popular Korean beauty chain with stores in various cities around Asia, has introduced two colours of shopping baskets for its customers.
The green one says “I can do myself,” and the orange says, “I need help.”
A photo of the baskets was shared on Reddit last week, and has since been viewed almost 2 million times.
This store lets customers choose whether they want to be bothered by the staff
Reddit users immediately began voicing their opinions
Some focused on the potential hazards of the scheme:
Others clarified the ingenuity of the system by providing some context, with one user calling the system “an introvert’s dream”.
However, while techniques like Innisfree’s colour coded baskets can stop customers being “annoyed” by sales reps, experts say it could have an adverse effect on sales.
“A possible downside to this which businesses should keep in mind is that it reduces the odds of communicating with customers in ways which could warm them up to sales,” behavioural specialist Bri Williams told Smart Company.
“A customer might think they’re just there to browse, and a friendly and engaging staff member might open them up to a purchase,” she said.
“That’s one of the downsides to having systems like those baskets, it leaves it to the customer to define the relationship, and as a result might not encourage bigger sells.”
Overall Williams thinks customers believe they want less interaction when shopping, but notes they “want to have it when they want it”.
For businesses sticking to the tried and true method of interacting with customers, Williams warns to not overdo it and you scare customers away.
“We experience over-interaction all the time, especially when a sales rep doesn’t have a strong sense of empathy,” she says.
“The key is to not be too ‘in your face’.”