WOMEN AND WINE SHOPPING
by Marlene Rossman in Wine Business Monthly (4/00)

[The following article fascinated and appalled me. I hope and expect that Beekmans offers a very different experience for women and for men. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.]

Women and other diverse groups including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Hispanics are interested in learning more about wine as well as in consuming it, but they often experience barriers based on gender and ethnicity. Those barriers range from internal ones (time pressures, risk aversion, confusion as to varietals and labels, etc.) to external ones (stereotyping, poor service, lack of educational outreach). The Wine Spectator recently asked, “Where are the Women?” when it comes to attending wine tastings. The short answer is that women and diverse consumers do not feel welcome at tastings or in purchasing wine.

Rossman, Graham Associates undertook this project as a result of perceived poor service in wine shops and restaurants. We set out to see if our findings were consistent with our hypothesis that women and diverse consumers get sub par service. (Of course, we are not alone in noticing this. Tim Zagat reported that 80% of women customers surveyed for his new restaurant guide said that they get worse service than men.)

The “Mystery Shop” Study
Four shoppers participated in our Manhattan study--a middle aged white woman, a 30 year old Asian-American woman, a 30-something woman of Afro-Caribbean heritage and, as a control, a middle aged white man. All four shoppers were highly educated business professionals.

Each shopper was given a script to follow and asked not to deviate from the basics of the text. Each shopper had an observer present to insure objectivity. The observer also recorded the information on audio tape. Shoppers were given a two page form to record all information in detail and asked to fill it out as soon as they left the store.

Each participant visited the same 11 wine shops in different neighborhoods of Manhattan with the same script. Each requested assistance with the question, “I’m planning to serve trout. What wine would you recommend?” A total of 44 “mystery shops” were conducted. Although this is a relatively small sample, the findings were very consistent.

Each shopper employed the same shopping variables in terms of business attire, time of day (between 6pm-8pm), day of week (Mon-Thurs) and script. Each shopper was told to walk in, and browse for a few minutes before approaching the salesperson. Shoppers were instructed to ask for assistance (if not approached) for a recommendation pairing wine with trout. The shopper was instructed not to provide any clues about their knowledge of wine.

Experiences of Shoppers in Their Own Words:
White Woman: “Most of the stores gave me indifferent service, treated me with condescension, and spoken down to me. At one store, a salesman treated me with deference and spoke as if he thought I knew something about wine. But, for the most part, I found it hard to get attention. At one shop, my salesman left me standing when he was approached by a male customer. I had to find him 5 minutes later to continue. He had forgotten what we were talking about.

Although I was dressed in a business suit and carrying a leather briefcase, at one shop in the Village, after having to repeatedly ask for service, the salesman boorishly stated, “so your price range is around 9 bucks, right?” At another Village shop, I was offered a very expensive wine without the salesman asking me my price range. At another shop, when a salesman did approach and I asked him for a trout recommendation, he said that what I wanted was a buttery Chardonnay. A more senior salesman overheard him and informed us that I should get some-thing lighter. The second salesman recommended a St. Veran or Pouilly Fume, saying Chardonnay had too much oak; the first salesman simply walked away. Overall, I was very put off by the lack of sensitivity, consistency, wine and food pairing knowledge, and customer service.”

White Male: “All the stores I visited gave me prompt and courteous attention, but the recommendations were inconsistent from store to store and often ill-informed. When I said I was having trout, one salesman suggested a heavy Italian red wine (Sangiovese) to pair with the trout, even after I said the trout would be prepared in a classic style. Although I do cook, on the few occasions when I was asked about the preparation, the salesmen assumed that my wife would be cooking. Few asked my price range, but most suggested wines between $15-25. To the extent that there was any pattern in the recommendations, it was to suggest French wine and to ignore American wines. I was told in 3 stores that what I wanted was Chablis, and one salesman explained that French Chablis is nothing like what I think Chablis is, because the same name is used on cheap California white wine. One shop did recommend California wine saying that ‘French Sauvignon Blancs are too herbaceous,’ assuming I knew what that meant.”

Black Woman: I was either ignored or treated with disdain. My overall impression was of very condescending service. The salesmen didn’t know or care if I had a clue about wine. They could have recommended anything to me. I was at their mercy for information. I went into shops with a simple request and was spoken to condescendingly, often being told, “this is what you want.” At one store, I was told that a certain wine would be “good for my taste buds.” At another shop, while I was being assisted, an elderly white female customer interrupted us, and the salesman answered her questions. He then excused himself to give instructions to another salesman. I started to browse through the store while waiting and when he tried to relocate me he shouted out in the store, “Where’s my trout girl?” At another shop, I was given a recommendation, but continued browsing and was followed around by a security guard.

At yet another shop, the salesman insisted I get an inexpensive, heavy red Bordeaux, even though the placard description said, “This full-bodied wine is excellent with duck, goose etc.” When I protested that I was having a light trout dish, he became angry and said loudly, “Do you really think that that’s all it’s good with?” Most salesmen also assumed that I would be price sensitive. Especially at the Upper East side places, I was downsold. Although I was not often asked my price range, the wines offered me were usually under $10.

I generally found that once I requested assistance, a recommendation would be made for French Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. When I asked what’s the difference between Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc or what’s better with trout, the salesmen often became exasperated. No one responded to me in the same simple manner as I asked, and no one asked if I understood any of the terms. When I questioned one salesman as to why he thought a fruity wine is better than dry wine with trout, he became exasperated and walked away. At one very crowded shop, I was repeatedly ignored by the salesman whom I walked past and attempted to make eye contact with, until a young salesman shouted, “Anyone need help?” I said I did, and when I asked for a recommendation for trout, he grabbed the hand of an African American SALESWOMAN (the only woman I saw in all my “shops”) and said, ‘”This customer needs help.” She took the time to explain varietals to me and appeared happy to spend time with me.

Asian-American Woman: I was treated condescendingly or totally ignored at most of the shops I visited. At one store that was not busy at the time, when I asked for help, two salesmen joked around with each other before responding to me. They acted very patronizing and told me that I “want Alsatian Pinot Blanc’ and that “People from Trinidad like that wine very much.” (Note: Shopper is Chinese-American and ironically, the black woman shopper, who is originally from Trinidad, was offered a different wine at that shop.) I felt from the way they pointed at the wines rapidly that they were making fun of me. At another shop I went over to a salesman who told me, “You want a white French burgundy.” When I inquired about a California wine, the salesman said they were overoaked. When I asked him to explain more about the oak, he said “It’s bad.” My experience was unpleasant, and while I really would like to learn more about wine, these stores certainly didn’t help. In order to learn more, I went to a wine tasting and spoke to a winemaker who told me that his wines go very well with Szechuan food! I was totally insulted and said, “I don’t cook. What wines go with TV dinners?”

Summary of Findings: Our expectation was that the women would get mediocre service and the male would receive superior service. Sadly, our expectations were met, indeed often with the worst case scenario.

• The white male got the best service; the white woman indifferent or condescending service; the Asian-American woman was either was ignored or given patronizing and service; and worst of all was the service received by the black woman, who was often followed around, shouted at, and insulted (called “girl”).

• All the women were often “sold down” - at least once for the white woman and several times for the Asian and black women.

• The amount of time to get service for the women shoppers ranged from 2-9 minutes. The white male usually got immediate attention.

• Inconsistent and ill-informed recommendations were common among the four shoppers, even in the same store and with the same salesman.

• Recommendations were often totally off the wall - for example hearty, heavy reds were recommended for trout without explanation. Few salesmen took the time to ask about how the trout would be prepared, except with the white male.

• Francophilia rules in New York - French wines are most often recommended, sometimes New Zealand wines, only rarely US wines. (Occasionally, without prompt, US wines were bashed).

• All of the women reported that their service was interrupted when a the salesman made eye contact with a white male, or a man barged in and began asking a question.

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