Ok, I think that I posted this on the right thread. So I was at work today and after finishing up all my training videos they had me help rearrange the shelves so they looked neat. They sent over a elderly man who proceeded to give rough advice on what to do. Somewhere in the advice-giving, he said that we have to pull all the merchandise to the front because of the women or something to that effect. He said that when I am rearranging the shelves to think of all the ladies because the average height of a women is 5'4 and '95%' of the customers are female. It might be useful to mention that we were in the cleaning isles with the paper towels and bathroom stuff, he suspiciously threw in 'because 95% of our customers are female' after saying think of the women. This struck me as something weird to say. I would have done it anyway because I don't discriminate on who is buying the product, it is my job to make sure everything is in order, easy to pull of the shelf, and as accessible as possible to those who are shorter. I feel like this whole deal came about with unfortunate implications regarding females. I personally am someone who doesn't like discriminating or making exceptions based on anyone sex, gender, and the like. On a side note, he keep feeling the need to do the touchy thing that some people do and I don't like personal contact. That is something reserved for people who are very close to me (I am not much for the masculine comradery that people feel that I should be a part of because I am male.) Should I tell him that and everyone else? Do you think I am overreacting to this all? Some of it may lie in personal feelings and struggles to loosely put it. Our company has a huge ethics and non-discriminatory policy in place.
1. The pulling merchandise to the front and arranging it all is perfectly acceptable, I don't get his reasoning for it though. Try asking him to explain his reasoning behind the 95% part, maybe it was part of a decree by a pointy haired boss. 2. If you're not comfortable with the personal contact stuff then quietly tell him. Doesn't have to be awkward or anything just tell him you don't like being touched. If he persists then take it further.
I don't think he meant anything by the female comment. Women will probably be the ones shopping in the tampon isle, and men are going to be the ones in the shaving isle. That's clear. It isn't good to say that women will be 95% of the people in the cleanong isle, but I think it ws just a harmless comment.
Like Data said, most stores will rationalize who their customers are and the height that products are placed in the aisles is a well-know marketing tactic ("eye-level" being particularly desirable). So I really don't see anything to what he said about "women and 95%;" at best, he probably wanted to show his "wisdom" and show that he had more knowledge than you, even if it meant pulling statistics out of his *** price gun. Regarding the touchiness, if you don't like him, tell him so. I don't like to be touched and hate it when guys grab me on the upper back or pat me on the back without telling me first, but I know some people are more "tactile" and will try to be as accommodating as possible. That said, we all have different "boundaries" and he might just have to learn that some people just don't like to be touched.
Honestly, this is just good marketing. They know who buys their stuff (women), they know the average size of women (5'4), they know where to place things so people buy them (at eye-level), so they put all of these facts together when deciding where to place products. Because of women's shorter sizes, it's even more important that products aren't hidden at the back of the shelf or they wouldn't even see them. There is an entire multidisciplinary field of study devoted to researching all of this, so you really can't get offended when people point out the obvious when it comes to marketing. I mean, the whole packaging of products is based on the findings of marketing research: nice curvy bottles in pastel colors for women, black sports-style bottles with red and blue accents for men, Disney-branded bath products for kids, etc. The people designing the packaging most definitely talk about their target clientele as male or female, so what your boss did is no different. They just want to maximize their sales. Honestly, if marketers tried to be politically-correct about everything they say (not that I consider this particular situation not politically-correct), they would trip over their own words and wouldn't sell many products. In terms of the touchy thing, just make it clear to him that you're not into it by pulling away just a little bit when he does it. Hopefully he'll get the point. So don't get your feathers too ruffled over the first thing, but definitely do something about the second issue. Good luck!
I agree with the things already stated. Try not to be offended by the marketing ploy, though I understand why you felt that way. I do think if he keeps touching you, you should just mention that you would prefer to not be touched. He should understand that boundary. good luck.
Thank you for the insight and responses. I suppose that I am to touchy when it comes to being 'politically correct.' It might come down to personal feelings and conflicts that project themselves to things around me. I have no problem with marketing targeting certain demographics or groups as long as it isn't making a offensive assumption. I mean there is going to be people who will buy things that are not targeted for them because they like that certain product, need it, or some other reason. I guess a question is how politically correct should we all be and if there are varying levels depending on the situation. He certainly did seem to want to display his experience and knowledge, to which I can understand why. As for the touching, I will try to give subtle hints and go from there when necessary.
It's a common marketing ploy, though in reality pretty stupid for really important items; people aren't easily going to forget about tampons and paper towels, so their positioning need only be easily accessible like any popular product. Special catching techniques are for unnecessary things such as sweets at the checkout to tempt kids, placed at eye-level for them along with toys, while the magazines are placed higher for adults. I think his reasoning was just expressing what he already thought (similar to kids thinking waving trees cause wind; easy to conclude, but not really reasoned). The height of items on shelves tends to be based on demand for them, not so much on the demographics of the purchasers. But anything that may bump up sales is going to be considered, no matter how practically useless it may seem. As for the touching, he sounds like he wants to be admired as a teacher and a superior; it's all very patronising. If he makes you uncomfortable again, politely put him in his place.
Very true, businesses seem to jump on anything that will increase profits. It does feel a little patronising. I don't take well to people who try to be superior than everybody else. He hasn't tried to do that again since I try to keep my distance, though I will if he does. Nevertheless, I will be nice doing it.
