Thanksgiving... Black Friday... Cyber Monday... Mother's day... Father's day... Children's day... Friendship day… Siblings day... Earth day... Hanukkah… Diwali... Christmas… New Year's… to name a few.
Whoa! This holiday season got me wondering, the number of regular days have to compete with special occasion days. Which one am I looking forward to? What does Cyber Monday mean anyway? Doesn't matter, there's only one objective. Red tag, blue tag, yellow tag indicating 25%, 50%, 75%. I'm getting greedier. Buy one get half off on the next purchase OR buy 2 get 2 free. More, more, more, buy more. A sugar rush I feel every time I visit social media. I'm followed on every website. They call it a steal or a magical 50% off with glittery fonts flashing at you. They are all competing for attention, attracting customers to impulse buy. We are spoken to in a fairytale language directing the spirit of the holidays to center around gifting. They tell us to take advantage of these discounts and ‘not let it slip away’. Really! So that they can keep taking advantage of our impulsiveness over and over again. How would you shop from them the other times of the year when you know that it will not be a steal? Would we even remember? Have we become short sighted, a generation of hoarders that can be manipulated easily who at the end of the day can sleep peacefully because they were made to believe they snagged a good deal?
Gulping the last sip of my coffee, my mind is racing connecting the dots, staying on track with the most important question 'what is the true cost?' I use the word cost on purpose instead of price. Price is what you pay to own something. Cost is what you pay before and after the sale. When we as consumers get triggered by a sale, it is a strategy with an inbuilt cost. Marketing, sales, PR, store markups, there is plenty of margin to eat into to lure customers. Bigger the banners, more the fluff. If it's not for financial gain, it would be to clear the inventory to keep up with the new and shiny racks. Our lingo of the modern world ‘so what's new?’ applies to everything. We are bored easily. We even eye-roll when social media does not refresh our page. So what price are we paying for the true cost of the product?
I get it, we can blame the sale phenomenon on the fast fashion fiasco: volume based business models that need to flush out the old inventory and build our appetite for the new. But we have come a long way. With the rise of small individual businesses in every field there has been a shift in priority. From the awareness of eco-friendly resources to ethical production to packaging and disposal, the market has embraced a conscientious approach while making their bread and butter. Although one can be greenwashed by trendy labels of sustainability, we as customers have a fair idea of navigating through the B.S. But at the end of the day we are back to square one. We expect small businesses to keep up with mass market discount trends. Every holiday can become a curse for a small business owner eating into limited profits. It can be the end of a passionate and responsible dream. Trust is our only weapon against the mass market. It cannot be weighed against a 30% coupon or a 10% off on the first order. Will that 10% make you buy the product with ease or continue to satisfy the bargaining power of your want? Our dialogues have to evolve. Trust works both ways. It needs to be reciprocated. As a consumer our only weapon is to question. Our choice dictates the market.
So this holiday season when I'm bombarded by deals, I am whying:
Do I need this? (You will definitely manipulate yourself on this one.)
What is it made of and who made my clothes? (Don't be greenwashed; dig deeper.)
Does it make me feel anything? (Yes, the Marie Kondo way.)
Will I grow out of it? (Don't need to bring out the tarot cards, you will know.)
If they don't pass this questionnaire, it is a deal breaker! Happy holidays.
P.S: One helpful tip is to accumulate a priority list of your wants instead of impulsively buying. That way you can look back and see if you really want it or was it just momentary. Marketing these days makes you feel like you need everything!
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