Individual assignment for Venture Lab A Crash Course on Creativity

1. Am I paying attention?
Mª Ángeles Marín
A crash course on creativity - Tina Seelig, Stanford University
10/30/2012

2. ZARA HOME
My observations:
This shop is mainly addressed to middle age women with a taste for decoration and
nice things.
Their product is specific to a type of customer, not everybody is going to buy their
product.
They quite often have new products, so there is always a chance for the customer
to buy something different.
This company treats the decoration of your house as a fashion product as the
products in the shop change with the seasons (just like clothes do). The customer
feels that he has to change the decoration of his house as he changes clothes
for the new season.
Highlights:
I would include different and more modern products, so they would have more
customers.
I would offer an interior designer service since we are talking about a shop that sells
products to decorate your house.

3. WOOLEN SHOP
My observations:
Their is a welcoming atmosphere and the door was open when I visited them.
The shop assistant is very nice and she is not in a hurry, she allows you to take
your time to choose what you want to buy.
They are offering courses on how to knit since a few months ago. Nowadays
there are a lot of shops offering courses on crafts as a means to have extra income for their company.
Highlights:
I would open the shop to new products and courses related to knitting and sewing such as patchwork or crochet. This would
attract more customers.
I would offer a free course on knitting for people who are not sure about wanting to take a full course.

4. MERCADONA
My observations
This is a very popular food chain in Spain. They sell their own brand at very competitive
prices and quality and a selection of mainstream brands.
They have a lot of shop assistants, so they is always someone ready to help you if you
need help.
Highlights:
They should sell more of other brands so you could buy everything in one shop and
weren't obliged to go to other supermarkets in order to find some specific thing. In my
opinion they are too centered on selling only their brand.
They never run products on sales and I think that if they did they would attract
more customers.

5. OYSHO
My observation:
This is a shop that specifically targets middle age women.
They sell underwear, night clothes, casual clothes for wearing at home...
The decoration is very nice and everything is very well presented.
Highlights:
I think that they could open their market to kids and men because women
shopping at Oysho would also pick up products for the rest of her family.
They need more shop assistants because it was difficult to find one available when
I visited them for this assignment.

6. ZARA
My observations:
You can find in the shop clothes for everybody in the family. Although, they don't have big sizes.
They have a wide range in prices: they have what they call "basics" at a low price.
They don't have all their products at eye level, so it is easy to miss some products.
They copy couture designs although they don't say it.
Highlights:
They have a selection for a big group of people: from 0 to 60 years old.
They are divided in different brands: Zara Kids, Zara Woman, Zara Basic, Trafaluc (for teenagers), Zara Men. So, they can easily
focus in their specific target.

7. PRIMARK
My observations:
My first impression is that the shop is a mess. It is a huge place with lots and lots of
clothes. There are very few shop assistants.
The prices are really cheap, really competitive and I like a lot of what I see.
There is people of all social classes.
They have clothes for women, men and kids. They have clothes, underwear, pyjamas,
accessories, home items, stationery...
They have a lot of cash registers. In order to pay you have to line up and wait for your
turn, meanwhile you can look at all the impulse items that they have.
Highlights:
The place is a mess but I can easily buy basic clothes for a really competitive price.Although
I didn't find all the sizes easily.
They need more shop assistants to help the customers.
You can find things from England that you cannot find in Spain.

8. CONCLUSIONS
I have loved doing this observation assignment because I have noticed things that I haven't before. I have specially payed a lot of
attention to the decorations and the way products were settle in the shops: how products are arranged by color, how they used
furniture and decorations that are really nice and make you feel comfortable in the shop.
I have been to different types of shops: neighborhood store (woolen store), supermarket (Mercadona), low cost store (Primark)
and middle class stores (Zara Home, Zara and Oysho).
I have noticed as well that in the Mall Center shops the common colors in the walls were black, brown, grey. It always gave a
touch of sophistication. They use a lot of wooden and iron in the furniture.
Only Zara Home and Zara had a distinctive smell. The smell is nice and it is a shop distinctive.
I have noticed that we are in the middle of an economic crisis because the shops where you can buy cheaper were more crowded
and have a lot of products to buy.
As I have said in the highlights I think that some of these shops could sell more if they would open their products and shops to a
different sort of customer. They could offer sales products, they could enlarge their spectrum, they could enlarge the age of the
target.
The woolen shop has seen business opportunity in giving courses because nowadays, there are a lot of women that want to do
crafts and homemade stuff.