So

you think

you can pay

attention?

Hamideh Jafarpoorchekab

A crash course in creativity

2012

Task:

Go to different stores, observe

and capture INSIGHTS and HIDDEN

OPPORTUNITIES!

1. Manor: Why is this general store usually my first choice?

Its stylish sign design in black and red and the fact they are smartly installed to be seen from many directions?

OR Because a lot of people are going in, I go in too?

Environment: This store has a very old building:

The main floors are renovated in light colors though. They have better lighting too.

The smell is not as controllable! You either smell old and damp or a very strong perfume scent.

Environment:

The store is overall bright enough. Not too much to look cheap but bright enough to make the products look nicer!

The air-conditioning of the store is relatively good so except for the smell from the building itself, one feels comfortable.

There are not enough guide signs in the store.There are different music playing in different places of the

building and they can sometimes get mixed in an annoying way.

I could not find any easily visible surveillance cameras!

Environment: The position of cash registers and escalators changes on each floor. A possible trend is the NOT near the entrance of the floor! People commonly go to the wrong direction although it is not one of their first visits to the store. They have a lot of impulse items nearby though!

Products: The store sells both over expensive and normal price products.

Products: They are categorized by applications and placed in different floors:0. Food, 1. Accessories and Cosmetics,2. clothing for women, 3. Clothing for men,4. Kids floor, 5. Fabrics, 6. House wares,7. Restaurant

Products: The store is extremely crowded with merchandise but not everywhere!

They literally put all the products in the shelves!

Products: There are central display tables for

new arrivals items which is usually in

front of the entrance.For sales items are put deeper inside

the store!

The prices of all the products are very easy to find.

Products: There is not a big difference

between the items placed at eye level

and the others but some items which

should not be touched are put out of

reach!

There are demos available specially

in Cosmetic and house wares sections.

You might get a gift card in special

occasions and on special purchases

Sales people:They are normally young with a middle age head.

There are as many as 10-20% of the customers.

3/4 girls and 1/4 boys. All happen to be beautiful with nice makeup!

Their uniform is black from top to bottom.

They usually dnn’t say mnre than BONJOUR tn the custnmers!

Unless you have a question and you go to them. They will be

respecting anyway. It sounds more like a Suisse culture.

The ones who have something special to offer or demonstrate

would start the conversation with you ONLY If they find you suitable!

You can see them obviously hesitate sometimes! :D

Customers:They can be if any age or gender depending also on the time.

There are usually alone.

People are looking for something and not just browsing. Window

shopping is not common in Switzerland.

Customers are usually allowed to touch the products unless it is

written on it.

They stay in the store for up to about 30 minutes to 1 hour and

more than 50% buy eventually. In the house ware section, almost

90% buy.

Other observations:I found a free gift wrapping

station in a corner of the store !

I also found out about an

extension of the store for electronic

products which was quite a big one

but somehow not very easily visible

as it was behind a corner.

Now I am more convenient to use

the guide signs than before!

2. Ochsner Shoes: One of most popular shoe stores in the city.

The store is a small part of COOP City, general store, so it does not have a separate entrance. Similar stuff attracts you in such as a nice window in red theme (unfortunately no picture available) or sales announcements:

The building is much newer than the previous store. New is rare in Lausanne city center. The grey color theme stills gives the feeling of old!

Environment:

The store lighting is not homogeneous.! There are some kind of spot lights on some parts of the store and in the other parts, there is normal light.

There used to be a specific smell in this store that is now removed by electrical order absorbersinstalled.

Environment:

The music is not too loud or too low. The album might be selected by somebody of age around 30! NICE!

The air conditioning is also sufficient. The surveillance cameras are quite

visible and there is also a screen showing their recordings online. This is one of the differences between COOP city and MANOR.

Environment:

The cash register is placed near the entrance.

There is one main straight route along the store and different categories of products are placed on the side of this aisle.

Product:

The products are categorized by the usual gender groups (Women, kids and men). The Women shoes are the nearest to the door, then kids and then men.

There is another categorization according to price. The designers shoes which are more expensive are placed on the left side of the aisle and the usual ones on the right (entering).

The decoration of the store is not very fancy but it looks nice enough and not very crowded.

Product:

There are some shelves and also using the shoe boxes, some platforms were made as tall as 1.5-2 meters. The shoes were placed on top of these tables or the shelves so that they will be at eye level:

The bags or other products which are not the main products are placed more out of reach and sight

Product:The prices are very well seen.There was no sale at that time in the store.There was no show table in the store for special products

but the store window was doing the job.There were also some impulse items at the cash register.

Sales people:They are young with an old lady as the boss.

There are 5 of them while they had an average umber of 10

customers.

4 girls and 1 boy with normal look.

They did not have any specific uniform but they were all wearing

black!

It was mandatory for them to use the shoes from the store.

Not all the staff was not very willing to help the customers. Some

of the customers were behaving very nervously due to this attitude.

Customers:They customers are usually middle age or young.

There are different type of customers alone, with friends,

mother and daughter, husband and wife, a family with two kids.

People are looking for something and not just browsing. Window

shopping is not common in Switzerland.

Customers can freely touch the products.

They stay in the store for up to about 20 minutes to 30 minutes

and more than 35% buy eventually.

Other observations:There are some nice features in

this store, such as a height

measurement stand for kids or

some colorful balloons in the kid

shoes sections. It is interesting that

they sold two pairs of kids shoes

during my observation.

3. Bata Shoes: One of cheapest shoe stores in the city.

The stnre’s dnnr are completely open. It feels good that you enter the store without feeling to be separated from outside world. I feel more free. (There is no need to close the door for this store as it is an inside store).

It is a newly build store: But the temporary ceiling is not complete which give the store a poor and unsafe look:

The part of the store with a more completed ceiling is usually more crowded!

Environment:

The color theme of the store is brown and crème which makes it look a little bit dull and repelling.

The lighting of the store is quite good that enhances the look of the products.

Environment:

Other environmental characteristic of the store is normal including the smell, noises,..

I could not see the surveillance camera.There are many mirrors available that make the place to look

larger while it helps the customer better.

Product:The products are categorized by the usual gender groups

(Women, kids and men). The Women shoes are the nearest to the door, then kids and men. The more expensive ones are placed in the shelves on the walls and the rest in the middle shelves.

There are some tables for the new shoes which are not pretty well organized:

Product:The sales items are placed in front of the entrance in a very

crowded and messy structures. However, it is also tried to keep the shoes at the eye level for attracting customers' attention!

The store is a quite big and open area . You can see everywhere in the store from the point you stand. The cash registry is in the middle back.

Sales people:They are young with an old lady as the boss.

There are 4 of them while they had an average umber of 8

customers.

3 girls and 1 boy with sport looks.

The staff are communicating and helful

Their uniform is black with Bata logo!

It was mandatory for them to use

the shoes from the store.

Customers:They customers are usually middle age or young.

The customers are usually alone or with a friend.

People are looking for something and not just browsing. Window

shopping is not common in Switzerland.

Customers can freely touch the products.

They stay in the store for about 15 minutes and then about 25%

of them buy something.

4. Lily Prune clothing store

Its modern artistic outside view was very eye-catching!

Information Although the view of the store was really nice, the director

was a very strict person and did not let any photography insideThe color theme was green olive which is supposed to be

stylish but made the place dark and cold.The prices were high but nothing very different from other

stores.The staff were not friendly and working based on

categorizing the people to buyers and watchers.There were barely 2 customers in 20 minutes who gave up

very fast and left.

Insights:• we gn tn the stnres that a lnt nf nther penple gn tn even if they dnn’t dn their shopping their. One point would be to have attract people in to attract more people in!• Once you have the people in, keep them in with good environment, good behavior and a nice product! :p • A modern environment in Switzerland is something unexplored for people! Could be attractive enough to get in!• Serving the customer friendlily and honestly can do magic, if it is added to Suisse quality. • Balance seems to be working like always! Like Not too bright, not too dark.