As an adolescent I misunderstood marketing. I thought that the purpose of a sale was to create excitement over a product. I was told that the value of a sale was to increase sales…
Either I got everything wrong, or things work differently here in Israel.
Let me explain…
I walked into an “Israeli” clothing store hoping to buy myself a new rain coat. I saw all kinds of flashy signs trying to pull my attention to the clearance and sales items. Naturally my first stop was for the sales racks. I began to check over all the wonderful items that were on sale. I picked out 2 things that I thought would fit me nicely, and glanced over at the sales sign hoping that it would better explain the pricing structure of these “on sale” items. “buy 2 pants and 3 pairs of socks – and get an umbrella free” What does that mean? I could use some pants, but I have no need for socks or an umbrella…
I decide to disregard the entire sales rack and I ventured off to find a normal sale that might suit my needs. In my moment of clear headedness I spotted the coat rack. Being as I had came into the store for a coat, it made sense to me to at least go over and try some on. The sale was “buy 2 coats, get 2 coats free”
Now what does that mean… If I buy 2 coats, I will be getting 2 coats free? Would the 2 original coats retroactively become free? If I do buy 2 coats, will receive an additional 2 coats free? Or does it mean that if I buy 4 coats the next 4 are free? Who needs 2 coats? or an even better question, who needs 4 coats? I just need the one coat…
I went to the register to ask for an explanation about the sale. I asked what the price was for just one coat. She told me “no reason to buy just buy one, read the sign, you need to buy 4…
I miss the days when sales were simple… 40% off clearance sticker price – great - do you accept credit cards???
