Making Financial Headlines · Page 3
Skims counts down to Christmas, customers count the keychains
· New York time
Skims is offering refunds for its $148 advent calendar after its contents, including hair clips and keychains, drew criticism on social media. A product designed around a daily reveal has become a public assessment of whether the items justify the price. An advent calendar sells more than the objects inside it. It also sells anticipation, presentation and the experience of opening small compartments over several days. Those extras have value to some buyers, but the contents still have to meet expectations created by the price. When customers compare the two, elaborate packaging cannot perform all the arithmetic on its own. The refund offer gives dissatisfied buyers a way to reverse the purchase. It also shows how quickly a surprise can stop belonging to the person opening the box. Online discussion lets many prospective customers examine the contents without purchasing a calendar themselves. The brand presumably wanted each reveal to build excitement. Instead, the reveal invited shoppers to add up what they had received. A countdown is supposed to make every day feel special. It becomes a more complicated sales device when each new compartment sends people back to the calculator and the refund page.
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