For the past two decades there has been much focus on uncovering the differences between male and female shoppers. Yet, while researchers and neuroscientists have been unlocking the secret desires and needs of the genders and retailers have been feverishly adapting their approaches to reach their target markets, shoppers who have not fit neatly into narrow gender profiles have been overlooked. To target those customers, has the time come for other options – perhaps gender-neutral retail options?
Catering to the sexes
For retail designers and retailers, the fact that men and women simply think and shop differently is common knowledge. Thanks to the efforts of such retail experts – turned authors, as Joanne Thomas Yaccato (The 80% Minority) and Paco Underhill (The Science of Shopping & What Women Want) and neuroscientists such as Dr. A. K. Pradeep (The Buying Brain) among others, we now know that men and women are not only shaped by their gender specific experiences but they are also simply not hard-wired the same. They have differing needs both in products and retail experience. But, what they have in common for the most part is a desire to shop for clothing in gender specific spaces or areas.
This kind of generalization forms the basis of sound practices for many retailers. However, not all customers can be so easily pigeonholed. After all, not only does sexuality exist on a continuum but we also live in a world of greater fluidity, where younger generations are casting aside narrow definitions of masculinity and femininity. Customers today are not so easy to fit neatly into categories. Not all women shoppers have children, nor are all men frazzled by shopping. And many men and women happily shop together across departments.
Selfridges’ Gender-neutral project
Whether taking a cue from the streets or pulling a PR stunt, starting in mid-March, always cutting-edge U.K. department store Selfridges, is replacing their men’s and women’s departments on three floors of their Oxford St. store, with a gender-neutral shopping experience. Lasting for 6 weeks, The “Agender Project”, will feature unisex collections and “agender” pieces from forty of its regular brands. During the pop-up project all mannequins will be removed from the floors – being replaced with film, photography and music to support the experience. According to Selfridges:
We want to take our customers on a journey where they can shop and dress without limitations or stereotypes. A space where clothing is no longer imbued with directive gender values, enabling fashion to exist as a purer expression of ‘self’.
Is this the beginning of a new retail genre? Given the growing public awareness of the variety of sexual identities and the less stringent definitions of sexuality embraced by younger generations, it might well be. Just witness the success of the ground-breaking TV “dramedy” Transparent, the prevalence of lesbian and gay characters in film and TV, and the popularity of androgynous fashions such as the ubiquitous “boyfriend” jeans. And, now add to that the current buzz about genderless fashion on the designer runways. Barriers are being broken and new niche markets revealed. So, why not gender-neutral retail options?
