Venture Lab Crash Course on Creativity - assignment 2: observation lab - stores visit

1. Venture Lab: Crash Course on Creativity
Assignment 2: Observation Lab
Andrzej D
- Visited 8 stores in central Barcelona (Spain)
- Midday on weekday
- Half of the visited stores in a shopping mall, rest individual locations
- Limited / low quality photos captured

2. Surprised me
- The way some stores group their products placement seems far from the
most optimal to find for a customer
- Loud music, even though main target customers are young people, can
discourage people to come inside at the entrance
- In some stores shop assistants either ignore you or seem little motivated to
help
- Customer target segment & products category is heavily reflected in how the
interior is maintained (clean, empty rows vs not so clean / full of products on the
floor )
- The security staff in the stores, where available, doesn’t fit the store, looks very
foreign & usually unhappy

3. Be careful!
Crowded aisles!

4. Hello ladies! I am here?
Can someone help me?

5. Missed before
- Most stores have pretty well visible price tags on all products, I had an
impression that it was not the case some years ago
- The magic of .99 prices is huge, all stores use it, from food to clothes
- There seems to be inconsistency between different stores on where the cash
register is located, I expected it to be close to the exit, but it is not in half of the
stores
- The typical age of shop assistants is matched with the average customer age
group
- The range of product colors is extremely wide
- Every store has a small offering at the cash register

6. .99 again! We can’t
be fooled, can we?

7. I see colors!
Plenty of them

8. I see colors!
Plenty of them

9. Cash registers are now
full of ”cheap” stuff

10. Opportunities
- Use the security staff to wear / utilize store products
- Create simple directions to different product categories
- Grouping products by purpose, type, color, price can work well depending on
target customers, but be consistent on how it is done
- Have mobile cash registers (eg Ipads with special software) to allows payments
where the customers find what they look for
- Store staff is the face of your brand, make sure they represent it well and treat
customers with the right attention
- Communicate more about special causes each purchase supports
- Make you store more fun - let customers have a play time in your store

11. End