With Mothers day coming up there isn't a better time to talk about what moms need when it comes to their retailer experience. I interviewed a few mothers in the bay area to discuss what stores are doing right and where improvements need to be made. I talked with a working mother, a single mother and a stay at home mom. What may be shocking is all 3 types of moms want similar things from retailers.
Clothing shopping:
- Moms struggle to get their kids well fitting clothes, children grow at different rates and fast, all the mom's I talked to like stores that allow you to hold online then try on in store, this gives them the freedom to shop anytime they want then hold the items and do a one time try on of everything they selected
- Moms also want a basics section in a store where they can just grab basics such as jeans, t-shirts, polo shirts, cargo shorts, socks and undergarments. They don't want to circle the stores looking for these items since they are the most commonly purchased items for a child's wardrobe
- More variety for boys, today moms find that about 20 items in the boys section are on trend and the rest are just athletic wear. They want to see smaller versions of what adults wear, but in brighter more kid friendly colors.
- One of the favorite vendors was Gymboree and the reason for that is they had the best selection of clothes for kids under 5, where the moms wanted to see more is in the 5-10 year old range.
- For online shopping they would like a digital mannequin that you could make the size of your child and then try on outfits digitally to see what they look like.
Overall shopping needs:
- Large retailers need to provide entertainment areas for kids, parents are willing to pay money to drop their kid off in a play area while shopping.
- Food courts, most mom's I talked to have to do their shopping between 3pm-6pm after kids get off school and would like to be able to purchase health snacks for this kids while shopping. Even stay at home moms find themselves having to shop during these hours due to various commitments.
- Stores that sell food, moms would like to see foods grouped together with ideas on how to cook a quick meal, most moms are exhausted by dinner time and want to put together a healthy meal without a ton of effort, pre-cut veggies along side with meat options for a grab and go to oven are perfect.
Retailers that start helping moms get back more time to their day and worry less about if the kid is dressed well and fed will be the ones that stay around for the long run.
Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there, you are doing a fantastic job.