PAYING ATTENTION

Aisha Abbas

Assignment

Go to at least 6 different stores. They can be at the same shopping center or different locations. Spend at least 15 minutes in each store making OBSERVATIONS using the lab guide for reference. Take photos to capture your observations.

Create a presentation that captures your INSIGHTS and HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES. What types of things had you missed before? What were your biggest surprises? Are there opportunities hidden in plain sight?

Shops Classification

6 stores of separate genus were observed;1. Super Market2. Books & Stationary 3. Shoes4. Flowers & decorations5. Mobile/Telecom6. Clothes boutique

This presentation gives a summary of my observations, insights and the opportunities, I learnt from this exercise

Observation Classification

Factors observed

Environment

Personnel Products Customer

s

1. The Supermarket

This is a is a Danish discount supermarket .

On a 5 minutes walk from my home, I buy all my groceries from here, every week.

As the banner and the sign on the entrance tells, it stay open all 7 days of the week from 8 AM to 10 PM.

Taking pictures was not allowed inside the store

Observations

Automatic door which opens

Food Items closer to expiration on sale, near the entrance

Longer opening hours even on the weekends draw more

customers in

Use of bright colors to make the interior more spacious and airy

Clean and clutter free environment

fresh food items

Comfortable environment to shop

All the items are labeled with prices

Observations

Noise free, music free environment. The only sounds audible are the

cash counter beeps

Customers of all ages and gender, alone, with family, kids or

partners

All the customers who get in the store, makes purchase

everyone comes in on a mission

Ice cream, impulse items i.e. chocolates, magazines, small jewelry

items near the cash counter

Sales personnel is in uniform, is polite and greets on exit

Insights

Factors affecting the sales at a supermarket are;

Freshness of the food items

Cleanliness of the storeBright and airy

atmosphereRates of the itemsOpen hoursAvailability of all the

necessary house hold items

Closeness to residential area

2. Books & Stationary Shop

My second stop was

the exciting book store

Observations

Books on sale, and colorful postcards/greeting cards were placed outside the shop near the entrance drawing people into the store

Book store was divided into smaller sections, each section with a different color having individual genre of books. i.e. kids books in pink shelves, fiction in green, history in blue etc

All the kid-puzzles and board games were placed on the centre table near the entrance

Key Observations

Bright and calm surrounding, with

peaceful music playing in the

background lightly Cash counter is located near the entrance/exit Sales personnel is around age 20-30 Products are arranged by function Stationary items, Christmas decorations, envelops, stationary

accessories, calendars, greeting cards are on the eye-level Schoolbags, table top globes were in the least accessible locations Impulse items near the cash counter include fancy sharpeners,

bracelets, small games, key chains etc Customers of all ages from 5-70 were seen. Most customers tend to

browse through and go

Insights

Colorful environment makes it interesting to go in

The library atmosphere with book samples available for reading and the reading chairs in front of the shelves makes it more customer friendly and exciting

20% of the customer make purchases each day

3. Flowers & Decor

My third stop was

the beautiful

and fascinating

flower & decorations

shop

Observations

Beautiful Christmas decorations, flower pots, plants, scented candles on the entrance catch instant attention of the people passing by

The most friendly and cooperative sales personnel of my observation trip

Immediate welcome to the shop and cooperation in showing around the items

Dark brown wooden interior with plants and decorations and dim light gives a mysterious and mesmerizing forest look

Store has beautiful fragrance of the scented candles around

Observations

Products are arranged color wise

Most expensive decorations are placed on higher shelves

Impulse items including nougat, candied dry fruits, jewelry items, post cards near the cash counter

More customers included females, moms with kids, couples etc

60-80 purchases a day, out of 300 browsing customers

4. Shoes Store

My 4th stop of the day was the famous

shoe retail chain

Observations

Shoes on sale were place outside the shop that draws customers in

Discount brochures were placed in the shelf right after the entrance

Spacious and well organized interior

Light music playing in the background, and the other noise included light chatting and the cash counter beeps

Observations

Store had leather smell Cash register was located near the exit Customers of all ages, families, couples, individuals came to

shop, more were females 25% customers who come in the shop make the purchases Formal clutches and bags were placed on the centre tables in the

front entrance of the store Impulse items near cash register included key chains, colorful

wallets Products were arranged by size and functions i.e. for ladies,

gents, kids, heels, boots etc Products like hats, bags, clutches were on the eye level Sales personnel had more females of age 20-30

5. Clothing Boutique

My fifth stop was the posh Casual

clothing store

Observations

Spacious, light and bright surroundings, light music and trendy casual wear draws in the female community passing by

Sales personnel is very friendly between the age of 20-30, giving full 1-1 attention to the customer

Newest arrivals are placed on the centre table, the display corner of the shop

Discounted items outside the shop, capture the attention

Newest items are on the eye level

Observations

Last season and all year round casual items are place in the least accessible corner of the shop

All the prices are tagged

No impulse items near the cash counter

Customers are encouraged to try out the outfits

Most customers just browse through, 7% customers who browse the shop purchase the items

Cash desk is towards the corner of the store

6. Mobile & Telecom Customer Service

My last stop of the observation

trip was the Famous

Telecom franchise

Observations

Interesting environment with latest products & service offer posters

Cooperative, and extremely attentive sales persons who are there to tell you each and every function/specification of the product

Products are sorted by brand

First products I noticed were the latest I-phones and the notebooks

Sales people are in uniform

Least accessible items are ‘phone covers’ which are placed inside the locked showcase

Observations

Customers are very much encouraged to check out the products in detail

People of both genders, aged between 20-30 are the most frequent customers

5% of the browsing customers buy the items each day

Cash desk is in the last corner of the shop

Insights

All the shops except the supermarket had their doors open

Sales personnel at all shops follow a similar script with every customer i.e. greetings on exit

The supermarket staff was less friendly and welcoming as compared to the clothing boutique, flowers / décor and the mobile telecom shop, from which I learnt that;

the attitude of salespersons is extremely significant in the shops where the ratio of browsing customers to the buying ones is much higher

Insights

People do not go to supermarkets for browsing. All the customers who enter the store make the purchase and sales personnel's friendly attitude is not required for driving the people into buying

Stores with smaller sized items, larger quantity of products had their cash counters near the exit

Shops having lesser browsing customers per day and smaller shop area did not have any security cameras

Opportunities

I learnt about the marketing tactics to draw the customers into the shop and buying things include; Very friendly and involved Sales personnel Newest items on the centre tables New arrivals on display and front view of the store Items on sale are displayed outside the shop Clean and organized shop structure Impulse items near the cash counter Fancy and attractive items on the entrance

Opportunities

people can be fully understood and manipulated with a checklist of motivators or pyramid of needs

One doesn't need to be a psychologist to successfully market a product, but he/she needs to understand the decision making process and the emotional and rational factors involved

By striking the right balance of courtesy, sound understanding of customer’s needs and impactful marketing, anyone can outperform in the selling business.

From my observation trip, I learnt new things about the Product Marketing, I

hope you did too