Gift Giving Guy

How does a retailer defy gravity, posting quarterly sales increases in recession while the competition falls flat? My guess is customer service with great products. And that store bucking the economic trend? Buckle.

I have to admit, I have not visited Buckle, an upscale clothing store known for its designer denim for young men and women. But my MBA marketing professor has, and he shared this story in class.

My professor and his wife were searching the mall for a gift for their seventeen-year-old daughter. (“And you know how hard that is,” he said. “Seventeen-year-olds are impossible to shop for.”) They stroll past Buckle, and he stops. Turning back, he describes to his wife how Buckle is thriving in an abysmal retail economy. Maybe there’s a gift in there for their daughter. “Let’s check this out,” he said.

So begins one of the best retail experiences my professor has encountered. The sales teammate (Buckle’s term) listened and asked questions about their daughter. From the nearly 1,000 denim options for women, she picked a pair that she assured them that their daughter would love. The designer jeans were more expensive than they were used to paying, but they agreed. The sales teammate offered to gift wrap the jeans and did so. Twenty minutes later, my professor and his wife left Buckle with the “perfect gift.”

Fast forward to the daughter receiving the gift, with the parents looking on. Removing the gift wrap, she saw the tell-tale cardboard box that signals “clothing.” Her initial expression read, “Oh no, my parents bought me clothes!” Pushing on, she opened the box and held up the jeans. She is stunned.

Finally, she said, “These are cool.”

“We got them at Buckle,” my professor added.

“Wow. These are very cool.”

The Buckle sales teammate was absolutely right: the daughter cherishes her new jeans, the perfect gift. Maybe that’s how a retailer survives this downturn.