Slow shopping – buying without hurry

Slow shopping is a trend that will appeal to those who do not like shopping in shopping malls, hypermarkets and outlets. It is also an alternative to online shopping, which often runs in a quick and “soulless” way.

This is a proposal for people looking for places that do not overwhelm loud music and are not crowded with people rushing from the store to the store. Just as the idea of ​​slow food is to look for food that is being prepared longer, but it is tasty and healthy, the main idea of ​​slow shopping is to look for original places where shopping will be done in a deliberate way, not acting impulsively, eg under the influence of promotions in chain stores. Slow shopping is the search for original and unique products.  It is a conscious shopping, in which we can find a somewhat forgotten pleasure of slowness.

A place where we can “cultivate” slow shopping are, among others, boutiques – small shops with fashionable clothing or haberdashery. Boutiques often sell products of one brand and even one designer. Their disadvantage is definitely high product prices. An interesting alternative for boutiques can be bazaars and marketplaces. In Warsaw alone, we can find about 70 bazaars and one-day marketplaces and over 300 shopping places. Report prepared by the Municipal Office of the Capital City of Warsaw shows that over 70% of the capital’s inhabitants use marketplaces, and as many as 85% think that they are useful. The bazaars are equally eagerly visited by older and indigent people as by young customers who follow current trends. A separate category are market halls – commercial buildings in which we can find stands from the food, industrial and service industries. An example of this is recently restored Hala Koszyki in Warsaw, in which we can find a dozen of restaurants and shops, and the hall has become a popular place of meeting and cultural events.

Slow shopping is a trend that is also carefully observed  by large brands and retailers that are looking for ways to keep customers in stores at the time of dynamic  ecommerce growth. The way to do this is designing unique shopping experiences and slow shopping can be one of them. The Origins brand, specializing in the production of natural cosmetics, has prepared in its stores the so-called selfie walls that can be used as a background for photos uploaded to social networks. Origins has also placed washbasins in its stores, where customers can try the brand’s soaps.

It’s worth remembering that customers who spend more time in the store will probably spend also more money in it. This is an undeniable advantage that can be gained by retailers who decide to use slow shopping trend.