I thought of calling this post Another Nail in Retail's Coffin but decided that was just too depressing. However today's delivery from Zara's online store was spectacularly superior to what we have all come to expect from retail.
I'll start with Zara itself, which is as guilty as any brick-and-mortar in its treatment of in-store customers. When it's time to take one's selections to the checkout, you are given two choices: self-service where you literally dump your item on the surface of the electronic checker or waiting in line to reach an employee behind the counter who communicates only that she wishes she were anywhere else. In both cases you are not given a bag. If needed/wanted you must purchase it. Tissue paper? Fuggedaboutit.
In days gone by every purchase one made got tissue and often a cardboard box, the store name prominent, with a taped-on handle to carry it by. This goes back so far I couldn't even Google an example.
We've been taught to believe that not giving out a shopping bag is saving trees or the environment. Anyone who has every received a deck of cards from Amazon in a box big enough to hold a coat can attest to how that theory holds up. What it really does is save the company the expense.
Now I like shopping in person. I also like Zara. What you see in-store is but a fraction of the inventory they carry online. By this time I know the fabrics they use, what is meant by "satin feel" (100% polyester) and what is my size. You don't need to buy too much to qualify for free shipping, and they have fantastic sales a couple times a year. Email communication is good. You know when it's coming, and delivery is always on time or before.
Here's another difference, though, one that caters to my need to be pampered and treated like royalty: The package arrives wrapped like a present.
Yes, inside that plain brown box (with the giant yet tasteful ZARA across the front), is your carefully wrapped purchase, garments folded and placed beneath snowy white tissue, sealed with a kiss (okay really a seal). And because I ordered a necklace, I found that nestled in its own drawstring travel pouch, a gift-with-purchase that will certainly find another use.
Getting a delivery of anything is special. This one made me feel special.
