Retail Therapy works and how! DISHA PRASHANT says shopping has become the new found language of love in Mumbai.
What is that fills to the brim today apart from glasses? Which is that one best thing to whack off boredom in today’s hectic life? What is that one thing found today to rejuvenate stressed souls? Welcome to the human created paradise named SHOPPING. A newly formed element which has now become more of an obsession than a necessity. This trend has been spreading like a mean virus not only across metro cities but also rural worlds. People from across varied communities throng stores across the globe to take their lifestyle to an altogether different level.
There was a time when shopping was streamlined to cater to the basic human needs of food, clothing, shelter and other day today needs. Today shopping has become more of a therapy to drift away stressed minds from daily routine. The rise of mall culture in every nook and corner of the country has given birth to a novel magnetic wave attracting people at a fast pace.
The concept of shopping has prominently inclined towards obsession rather than a necessity in today’s era opines Vaishali Kamat a housewife. Giving her take on the current scenario of shopping she said, “I genuinely feel that shopping today has become more age centric as people from varied age groups have their own reasons to do shopping. Teens shop because they wish to be trendsetters in their vicinity and maintain their stature in their respective groups and refrain from being tagged as old fashioned. Housewives are more concerned with comfort shopping alias electrical appliances which would ease out pressure of their daily chores.”
Explaining the social ideology behind shopping she said, “With shopping becoming a status symbol it has by default brought about class differences. Many a times the societal class which one belongs to also plays a role in the way people shop. Mediocre comparison between people about the amount of money spent on shopping is an excellent example of proving that shopping is more of an obsession than a necessity.”
The emergence of hi-fi mall cultures has provided an enigmatic definition to the theme of shopping. What used to be available at the local baniya shops has now been stated as organic foods. Surekha Nayak is a housewife and understands the clichés of mall and local shopping. She said that, “The effect of mall culture depends from person to person. Some have molded themselves accordingly while some still prefer to visit local shops. There was a time when a day today commodity came to an end then only that used to be bought from the local market. However today it is a different story altogether. I have seen people who set out with an agenda of buying necessary items and end up buying something else. So it is more of an obsession over necessity.”
Youngsters working in the corporate honchos have a contradictory theory to apply. Anand Mulay working with a private firm in Mumbai believes that brand power plays a major role in shopping. Elucidating his share on shopping he said, “Shopping is not a need but by taking today’s youth and brand into consideration it is attracting lots of youngsters by providing various attractive and stylish varieties of brands. When out for shopping I do not go with any particular intention about shopping but yes I am definitely brand conscious. Brand plays a crucial role when it comes to shopping. There are people who are habituated into spending half of their earnings for shopping. At the end of the day this may differ from person to person and is difficult to analyze and segregate whether that is obsession or necessity.”
Spiraling exposure to glam media too has brought about a prodigious boom in the shopping industry. Mania of looking good and maintaining an effigy has led to the rising addiction towards shopping. There are instances when people go out to shop things only because their favourite celebrity is endorsing the brand. Times have gone down history when shopping was only limited to festive seasons and other important family functions.
Babulal Khatri owns a shop which has a wide range of dresses including western, formal, ethnic and so on. Shuffling through his stuff he spoke about the changing face of shopping these days. He said, “People today do not need any special occasion to shop. Numerous customers throng my shop to buy dress materials in advance for a function. Earlier there used to be assigned months of the year when we used to expect stately shopping. However, today people shop throughout the year thereby rising our sales. People not only from cities but also far off places too come to shop.”
Another weird twist to this so called obsession cum necessity is “hormonal imbalance” also known as CBD alias Compulsive Buying Disorder. It is an uncontrollable urge to indulge in excessive and expensive retail activity caused by negative vibes resulting into gross social, personal and financial losses. Another term for the same is shopaholic.
Sayali Dixit is a trained yoga instructor and feels that hormonal imbalance too plays a pivotal role in the craze of unnecessary shopping. She said that, “It can also be termed as a transitional phase where in a person is shifting from one age group to another leading to hormonal imbalance which tends to numerous mental and physical changes. Hormonal changes are of various types like excessive eating, frustration, irritation and also shopping. Hormonal changes bring about a change in the way people think and attract them towards shopping.”
She further stated that such hormonal imbalances can be cured with the help of fragrance therapies where in fragrances are extracted from peculiar flowers and given to the person undergoing the therapy. This therapy assures release of stress and addiction caused due to hormonal imbalance thereby rejuvenating the mind of the person.
