FITTING PLAN? Proposal to charge customers to try on new clothes in shops in Spain

A NEW PROPOSAL suggesting customers should be charged to use fitting rooms in high-street shops has been offered by a minister in Spain.
The idea, which originated in Castilla y León, would aim to minimise customers trying on new clothes in shops and then ordering the same item online from another retailer at a cheaper price, usually a multi-national online warehouse.
Castilla y León’s Minister of Economy and Finance, María del Pilar del Olmo advocated the plan in a press conference at the Sectoral Trade Conference in order to address the challenges of the digital market on high street retailers.
María del Pilar del Olmo claims “big companies that sell on the internet” are responsible for the decline of high street shops in Spain and she suggests her “revolutionary” approach would benefit smaller retailers and prevent large multinationals with online mega-stores from overwhelming the market.
The Castilla y León Minister pledges to “work hard” to ensure her proposal becomes a reality.
Whilst only a proposal at regional level, it remains to be seen if other communities will follow María del Pilar del Olmo’s idea.