To think retail stores will never survive if they don’t let customers try things on?!!

[TheNewLook]

How are we supposed to give them our money when we can’t try anything on? Nobody want to schelp into town, buy a tonne of clothes, trail them home only to return most of it?

Same with online shopping. I return far more than I keep. It’s an exhausting process. Ordering, opening, trying, parceling up and waiting at the post office!

Let us try things on!!

I don’t care if the person who tried it on before me was harbouing Covid. It’s highly unlikely to live long enough on fabric to be able to contaminate me afterwards.

My husband took our youngest to Next today as his jeans are so short they are rising above his socks 🤣. Couldn't use changing rooms but the shop worker advised him to try on in the public toilets and return if they don't fit. Sounds so much better to reduce infection...

FFS if other countries such as Germany & specific shops (e.g Hobbs, Reiss & independent boutiques) are allowing customers to try on clothes then why aren't all shops in the UK doing this?

My DD tried on a few jackets in M&S yesterday & no one batted an eyelid & that was including staff members who walked past us.

The world's gone mad unless it can be proved 100% that trying on an item of clothing in a fitting room gives someone Covid.
I'm happy to volunteer my services.

I doubt it’s just the trying on that’s the issue, more the removal of ppe and own clothing to do it, and where they put that

Dunno, don’t sell too many items of clothing in my store.

But why are other countries such as Germany allowing clothes trying on?

I now shop entirely online for clothes. I got a "all postage included" deal from Next for a year for £20. When I wanted some new bras I measured myself, got a selection of sizes and then sent back what I didn't need. I can't think I'll go to buying things on the High Street. Not great for the High Street, but it's being brought on by themselves in some cases.

I saw a coat I really liked in John Lewis. I wasn't allowed to try it on. The shop assistant told me I could buy it, then try it on in front of the mirror, and take it straight back if it wasn't suitable. The thing is I wanted to try on 2 sizes and it seemed like such a hassle. The coat was from Ted Baker, and the daft thing is the Ted Baker store, which was a 5 minute walk away, were allowing customers to try on clothes.

I work in a shop that stuff really needs to be tried on before buying. We've told customers if they're almost dead certain they're going to buy something they can try it on over clothes (a lot of our products go over clothes anyway) and then anything that we can't let them try on we say they have a fortnight to return for either a refund or a straight swap. It does mean we have to quarantine a few things for the right amount of time but far fewer than if everybody was allowed to try on whatever they wanted like we used to allow before Covid. The things that annoy us being tried on are the ones that go on the face, as it should be obvious right now that's a massive no no and children should be watched by their parents as technically right now we aren't even allowing more than one child per adult into the shop!

@itsamadmadworld

well its half term here, loads of kids in store today

parents seem to have taken to dumping them in trolleys rather than have them roaming around. we did have a limit on families entering when we first re-opened but the nastiness got too much

I think it’s been good as it’s forced me to only buy what I really like.

I also like buying from Debenhams online as I can try them on at home and then return them in store.

I do have be more organised about not losing receipts and returning on time.

No idea how House of Fraser is still going in some places. Can't try on, can't return for a refund! You get a credit note or an exchange. You could be going back and forth forever. Stopped buying there some time ago.

God I can't believe house of Fraser won't let you have a refund. That's really bad when you can't try them on! I wouldn't be going there!

no store is legally obliged to give refunds though

I've never known a shop to not give a refund as long as it's in the timeframe and you've got a receipt

Covid must be less virulent round here, my local department store are letting customers try on. They've closed some of their fitting rooms for extra quarantine storage but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to try (and I bought, which I probably wouldn't have otherwise as I'm hardly ever in town).

@Iftheclouds

I feel the risk of people using changing rooms is too high.

@Iftheclouds - in what way? What do people do in changing rooms that makes the risk any bigger than being in the shop itself?

(The latest research shows that touching contaminated surfaces plays a much smaller role in virus transmission than droplets / aerosols.)

Bravissimo are amazing.
I was desperate as lost weight in lockdown and have a very physical job and had dropped a band size. So my old bra gave no support whatsover and as an H cup doing tons of bending and lifting and running around it was hell. As soon as I could I went to get two new bras

I feel sorry for shop floor staff. They have to mingle with swathes of the public to earn their living and are scared. They have to follow whichever government guidance their head office has decided to follow and they will get it in the neck from some disgruntled customers. Many are working with less than ideal staff numbers while the requirements for cleaning in store have increased.

However, I don't think a blanket ban on fitting rooms will be beneficial for these staff in the long run as it will likely hammer the nail into the coffin containing their jobs.

Anything that you can't buy online now, you soon will be able to. Why would people travel to the high street when browsing for leisure is now frowned upon and they can't try on, when they could just buy the items online, usually with an easier returns option than having to travel back into town?

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders whether this plays somewhat into the decisions made by head offices as if they manage to shift their market to a mostly online one, they can lay off staff, close stores and reduce overheads.

I think if I was a store manager, I'd be doing everything possible to make it so that customers could try at least a limited number of items on and be trying my best to make the experience of shopping in my store as pleasurable as possible for my customers, within the current constraints as the alternative would be myself and my colleagues being out of work in 2021.

I believe that customers have been barked at by staff and I believe that staff have been treated horribly by customers. Unfortunately, people in all areas of life behave like arseholes sometimes and this is more common when people are stressed which many are at the moment.

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders whether this plays somewhat into the decisions made by head offices as if they manage to shift their market to a mostly online one, they can lay off staff, close stores and reduce overheads

I wonder this too, especially considering the variations in what shops as are/are not allowing, and that (from what I've interpreted on Gov.uk) the "rules" are guidelines not laws. Could a retail manager here comment whether that's the case or not? Why are some shops allowing customers to try items on and others aren't?

As I already said, the risk of transmission from touching cloth (oooer!) is minute, and this teeny tiny risk can be minimised further to retail staff if they washed their hands before touching their face.

YANBU. I took my Dc for a new coat yesterday. Saw one in Zara but was told no you can’t try it on. How was I supposed to know which of two sizes was the right fit??
Was told to buy it, take it to the public toilets to try on and return if needs be! That’s unhygienic on another level. The worlds gone mad. We left.

What's with people saying fitting rooms would need to be sanitized between users? Toilets aren't...

@borntohula government legislation and guidelines,thats what!

gov.uk

5.4 Customer fitting rooms
Objective: To minimise the risk of transmission through customer fitting rooms.
Steps that will usually be needed:
Fitting rooms should be closed wherever possible given the challenges in operating them safely.
Where fitting rooms are essential, for example to support key workers buying critical protective clothing, they should be cleaned very frequently, typically between each use.
Creating procedures to manage clothes that have been tried on, for example delaying their return to the shop floor (see section 5.5 below).
Limiting contact between customers and colleagues during fitting, for example by suspending fitting assistance.

i'm a retail manager @CandidaAlbicans2 all stores will do their own risk assessments as all set ups are different

i'm non clothing retail and ours is fairly robust but just re-reading guidelines I realise theres something i've missed so will need to put that right for my customers. the responsibility is exhausting

Nobody has answered the question or at least given an educated/uneducated guess:-
Why are some UK retailers & other countries opening their fitting rooms & allowing customers to try things on?

because its individual retailers decisions as i said! theres guidelines to follow and you risk assess your OWN store/s accordingly. some may think yes, we have enough staff and resources to cover this....some may say, no,too risky, not enough staff...

theres no right or wrong....no blanket 'law'