Saturday, December 24, 2011

Spanish Retail: Pretencious, Expensive and Deceiving

Christmas holiday season in Spain is a big opportunity to explore local shopping and discover that it is not worth shopping here. Let´s see why local retail is not really competitive and what seems to be the commercial standard.

If you walk the commercial street of a city like Barcelona you´ll find many attractive images in advertising, promotional materials and events that encourage you to buy goods and services, many of them developed by international and local campaigns. Fresh food, fancy clothes, luxury experiences do not usually comply to WYSWYG policies. Let´s explore a bit further.

Under the slogan of Spain is Different Manuel Fraga, a dictator Franco´s  advisor promoted a country where because of "being different" tourist were forced to accept all kinds of outstandards, scams, and abuse in products and services, offered to them while visiting.

From this point many businesses have been inventing their own rules about prices, customer service, and product standards for years, when it comes to complying with quality and service, based on the belief, that people would buy anywy and they may not see them again.

But times change, prosumers grow and what worked for Mr. Fraga in the 60´s is now just "... a common phrase to joke about Spanish lousy mentality..." as Wikipedia notes about the campaign. Nowadays and after the economic crisis has made Spain fall into a new position in the world, all these beliefs are subject to change, hopefully...soon.

Shopping for goods at departments stores can give you surprises like sales people affirming that products you know and use, simply  do not exist in the market or things they just do not know, have apparenty never been built. These type of answers usually followed by "es lo que hay" (sort of "that is all you´ll get" ) leave you breathless and discourage to buy again or even try to buy.
Trying to find someone to give you information on options, colours, sizes, materials, functions or specifications will be useless unless you are lucky and find that the salesperson from abroad (usually Latinamerica, USA or Canary Islands), then you´ll have a smile and some assistance. Double priced products are found in most big stores, meaning that you may find the exact same item with two different prices at the same store or finding the same item at different prices in different shops located in different areas of the city. Be cautious with this.

I do have to admit, shop designers and marketeers do their job right, storefronts, ads, displays, shop-windows, catalogues and most websites are very seductive and  get us into the shops, but once you are inside,  another story is being told.

Overrated, overpriced and often crappy is the feeling of many visitors about their shopping and gastronomic experiences. 

If you plan to go for dinner, restaurants hold the same policy, do not expect to be well treated, you can easily wait at a bar for 15 minutes to be noticed by the waiter and once he/she arrives will just ask you what you want without bringing a menu or having a visible pricelist, the result : surpise bill with overspriced items. Very often charging extra for items you did not ask for or overcharging on drinks and coffee. If he menu has pictures on it , do not believe what you see because you´ll receive a whole different dish, no "serving suggestion" note is visible either. be ready to pay more for the same dish at night or if you choose a table outside. very good and expensive restaurants can be found across Barcelona but for me after almost 10 years around here it has been hard to find value for money.

I guess the Spanish fashion industry is a vivid example of what I am trying to expres here. Inditex found its way to global business, selling very low quality clothes, copied from real designers to be sold in pretencious shops that look like real fashion stores, located in big malls or fancy avenues.
Clothes from Zara, Mango, Oysho, Stradivarious or any of the brands from Inditex will luckily survive three time in the washing machine, even the Beijing Consumer Association has legally confronted Zara about bad quality in their products. Prices are good, but what about value for money? Has anyone ever heard about that here?

Why are Spaniards always trying to "Vender la Moto"? ( a very common expression when people suspect something is not as much as it is being described as).  These things permanently intrigue me and make wonder about how much of is cultural, just a national attitude, or a trace of collective identity.

I hope times change and a new generation of Spaniards will not repeat these traditions when making business, working with customers or developing a slogan that sells this country. It may be time for a change of mind, style and behaviour.

In a future post I´ll write about HQ Spanish products and companies, I promise.  For the time being, check out a couple of references on the current topic:

http://www.trendenciashombre.com/business/china-cuestiona-calidad-de-zara
http://www.terra.mx/mujer/articulo/1096703/ZARA+encabeza+lista+negra+de+ropa+de+mala+calidad+en+China.htm
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Spain/Catalunya/Barcelona-274654/Tourist_Traps-Barcelona-TG-C-1.html
http://www.solchannel.com/andalucia/expat-life/expat-survival-guide/customer-service-in-spain-vi234.html

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Who gives back to their provider?

Providers are those who provide.
Parents,  government,  husbands,  teachers,  caretakers and all those institutions an people that permanently create theresources for other people to fill their needs and enjoy wellbeing. But gives back to them?

In Europe, it is quite frequent to see people complain about everything they wish and do not have permanently unsatisfied with the things and services the welfare state provides them with.

Most people blame politicians, the system and the government about any small detail or circumstance they do not feel fulfilled or compleatly pleased with ignoring everything they receive and thier own resposibility and implication with society. Completely eluding their own responsibility as part of the community and the system and denying they can also make a change, contribute to other people´s lives and make the world a better place.

Years and years of State paternalism has made citizens think they have to have everything for granted and make no effort to build anything, or work to make a change beyond their small region. regionalism pride and egocentrism make the differences bolder rather than creating a real union in Europe.

Demanding is a thing most people know how to do. Asking for things, criticizing everything and   complaining about everything making almost everything impossible is an easy task. But who is willing to give?

Who willing to compromise or get involved? Who sees beyond their own needs?
Providers do.

So here is the question again?
Where does the energy and commitment of providers come from?
How can they go on and on making efforts to provide unless others give back to them or they can fill their own needs?
Who cares about them?

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