Suggest Me How to Approach Shoes Retail to Buy Online

So we all know shoes online are much cheaper than retailer's. You only know your true size once you try it out. I kind of feel embarrassed just to go in retail shoes and pretend to try their shoes when in fact your intention is to find the size to buy online. Could you guys suggest me nicer ways to approach retail stores? My running shoes are about to die.

Comments

  • Just say you’ll have a think about it

    • haha after trying out so many different shoe brands

  • +11

    Try on the major ones you want?

    Abuse the return policy?

    Or… Just consider buying at the store and the margin being for the customer experience given by the staff member? Consider it a way to keep the person employed and build on their work experience.

    I tend to still prefer buying in store if I need a somewhat personalised experience and if the salesperson is knowledgeable and willing to help.
    - suits
    - shoes

  • +6

    Find the shoe you like. Buy a few sizes from a store online which offers free returns and return the ones which don’t fit. Keep the pair which does fit.

    • That I didn't think of!

    • Some merchants don't accept returns which is tricky and I think that's when I need to try at retailer

  • Kogan 3 months $15? So end up 60?

  • +13

    go in store
    try and get fitted
    buy it.then buy online in the future

    give them something

  • -1

    Could you guys suggest me nicer ways to approach retail stores?

    Just be honest with them.

    Tell then you're not interested in buying from the store, and you just want to try on the shoes for size.

    The appreciate honesty…

    (PS. Make sure the security guy is not anywhere nearby before you enter the store)

    • +3

      I'm hoping there is some sarcasm there :)

      Having worked in retail for a while, they don't appreciate the honesty.

      If you're not helping to pay their wages, why would they help? They have sales targets to hit, so while not every store pushes sales the same, if they are not making their targets, performance management will be occuring.

      Generally the only ones that don't mind if you purchase elsewhere will be the company owned stores - Apple, Microsoft, Nike. They will still have sales targets, but many of those know it's also about education and brand awareness. Buying Nike shoes from somewhere other than Foot locker won't help Foot Locker in any way and you just waste their time.

      • -1

        If you're not helping to pay their wages, why would they help?

        Good karma ?

        • Karma doesn't feed the kids.

          A good sales person will stil help on the hope that by them providing great customer service it turns into "That was great, you really helped me so I will purchase from you". But if you spend an hour trying on shoes to then say, "Thanks, I'll get those off Ebay now", you don't want to know what they think of you.

          It's a viscious circle, but stores cut costs (customer service/ training/ staff/ quality/ locations) to match prices you can get from online stores. So online stores get more sales, so stores have to cut costs and so on. You can't complain when you no longer get service.

          In the end you may just have Ikea, Costco and Amazon stores to purchase from.

  • No matter how it fits, tell them it isn't comfortable

  • +1

    Get to know a brand that fits you well then just order that brand from now on

    • Yes I have. But you will always be curious if there are any better ones out there. To give that bit of performance.

      • But at what point do you realise you can't have it both ways?

        If you've got something that works for you, just keep buying it online at your discounted prices.

        If you feel like you want to shop around and maybe give something else a go, go and get properly fitted, have a look at the range, etc., etc. and buy from there. After that you can buy your new (or old) preferred version online.

  • +7

    Go to store. Let the sales person work hard for you. Try them on. Do the decent thing and buy them. The end.

    • -5

      When the shop dude asks your budget - you say 100, they waste 45 mins trying on shoes and you say 'I'll take those'… you get to the register and they say $255, and the argument starts as to why they arent $100 as thats the budget I told you….
      and then 3 weeks later they are on the discount table for $55 - (profanity) the store.

      Go to store, try them on take photo of the box/model/size while said drone goes out back to see if they have them in a different colour - go to online store and buy buy buy

      • they waste 45 mins trying on shoes and you say 'I'll take those'

        Maybe because you already tried on all the $100 shoes and weren't happy with them, so they had to go up to other ranges.

        You're happy to waste 45 minutes of thier time to then purchase elsewhere, does that make you any better?

        • Dont you think they should then as a courtesy say to the customer - we dont have any of those at that price - or these are not the same price,infact they are more than double what you want to spend are you happy spend that sort of $ ??

          • @pharkurnell: There's bad salepeople just like there are bad customers.

            If I was the salesperson I would have said "You've tried on the 5 pairs we have below that price, we'll have to move up if you want to try others".
            If I was the customer and saw they brought out $200 shoes on the third try, I would have mentioned it.

            To be fair many customers will say they have a budget, but are also happy to say "actually I wanted it to do more". They set their budget expecting (maybe subconsiously) to move up: Car with reversing cameras, Fridge with ice makers, buy a TV and purchase a soundbar.
            Or thier budgets can be unrealistic - "I can buy sneakers for $60, so I should be able to get some good Nike shoes for the same". If the shoe they are after is $250 it doesn't matter what they say the budget is. They purchase or they get teh closest they can afford.

  • -1

    I just try them in the shop to get the right size and then say they are great. Let me show my wife after she finishes work to check she likes them. (To never return and buy them online…)

  • try the shoes on, when the sales assistant returns whip out your phone and ask "can you match this price" when they say no, start screaming and run out of the store with their shoes on. fk em twice

    • That first part is a very creative idea!

  • Buy from a store with free returns.

    Bought under armour shoes recently for the wife and didn't know exact size, so ordered 2 different sizes of 2 different styles.

    She tried them, picked the ones that fit, and I sent back the other 3.

    I ordered some vans from Amazon recently and didn't know what size so ordered 2 and sent the ones back that didn't fit.

  • +1

    Wait until you've found a pair/sizing/brand that you think you'd like to get online instead, then explain to them that you've left your feet at home so you won't be buying today.

  • +1

    "F OFF I AM FROM OZBARGAIN"

  • I think the 'can you price match'? is a perfect idea.
    Athlete's foot have some specials on-line, which I think you can buy/pick up in the shop. However, 99.9% of their shoes - running etc. are very full-priced, though they can be meticulous about getting you the right fit. Also, watch out for some serious fake-sites. I've encountered about 5 of them for shoes, all with the same MO. They're usually on page 2 or 3 of google searches, and look very legit, except their prices are a bit lower than the best elsewhere online. They have it all - shoe size charts, Q&A (which looks a bit strange any way) and if you trace their details, they go nowhere. One had Ts&Cs from Maryland, but were based in, supposedly, Sealy Bay (Cottages).

    • Athlete's foot finding you the right fit is good right? Imo, fit they're good but they don't know much about running. They assessed and chose a shoe for me that resulted in many injuries, I thought it was because of my running style and it didn't dawn on me until I got a new type of shoe assessed from a specialized running store.

      That's really interesting. Can you provide an example of what fake-sites would look like? Having to encounter 5 makes me concerned.

  • Say you've always bought $12 Kmart runners and feel it's time to try something more serious. Act a bit anxious about the price, saying you'll think about it and leave. Surely this could seem convincing.

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