Survey Says: Women Don’t Like Shopping at Stores With Attractive Salespeople

Maggie Parker
In a survey, shoppers said they avoid stores with attractive staff. (Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In a survey, shoppers said they avoid stores with attractive staff. (Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

We may have figured out why Abercrombie & Fitch has gone out of style (aside from all the lawsuits). Nearly half of women don’t want to shop when there are attractive salespeople around, according to a new poll conducted by jewelry company Stella & Dot.

The brand polled 2,000 women between the ages of 25 and 40 in the U.K. about their shopping habits. They found that 43 percent of women had avoided a store because they hated being confronted with “more attractive” sales staff. In fact, attractive salespeople pushed those women to simply go home and shop online. Stella & Dot also found that 56 percent of women were deterred from shopping because salespeople were “more stylish,” and 45 percent avoided shops because the staff members were “younger” than they were — which caused them “anxiety.”

It’s worth noting here that Stella & Dot’s business model is at-home trunk shows, where the host invites friends over to shop the line, completely avoiding interaction with salespeople in a store.

The poll also proved that about 70 percent of women prefer not to speak to shop assistants at all and would rather just browse without being asked if they need any help. It’s not really news that shoppers would prefer to be left alone. There’s a reason many of us shop with headphones on.

It does make sense, though. While it seems like a harmless — and if anything, rewarding — activity, shopping can be stressful and emotional. With the pressure society places on women to look and feel a certain way, the last thing you need is a perfect, perky woman asking you what size you’re looking for.

The next time you back away from a store after seeing a Kendall Jenner look-alike manning the cashier, know you’re not alone.

The crazy thing is that stores have been known to hire attractive salespeople in order to attract customers (cough-A&F-cough), yet this survey proves that in doing so, they’ve only repelled them. Just as we’d like to see more average-looking women modeling the clothes, the women surveyed would like to have the average women selling them as well.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.