1. Observation
Lab
Assignment,
Pradeep
Parmar
October
2012
Stores
visited
(located
in
Northern
California):
• Costco
-­‐
Wholesale
Grocery
&
Household
Items
• New
York
Pizza
-­‐
Pizzeria
• Safeway
-­‐
Grocery
• Subway
-­‐
Restaurant
• Trader
Joe’s
-­‐
Grocery
Store
• Walmart
-­‐
Department
Store
Insights:
• I
noticed
details
that
I
had
never
noticed
before
o Details
of
pictures
hanging
in
restaurants
o Cracks
in
floors
o Non-­‐functional
lighting
o Cleanliness
(or
lack
thereof)
o Logical
arrangement
of
merchandise
o Height
of
ceilings,
drip
marks
on
ceilings
o Type
of
background
noise
and
music
• Overall
ambience
and
lighting
impacts
how
long
customers
stay,
but
pricing
matters
o Some
aisles
had
blown
lights
-­‐
those
aisles
were
the
least
crowded
o One
store
was
broadcasting
live
commentary
of
World
Series
Baseball
game
of
a
local
team,
San
Francisco
Giants
-­‐
that
store
was
busier
than
usual
o Even
though
one
store
had
cluttered
and
shallow
aisles,
as
well
as
unpleasant
smell
in
some
areas,
it
was
really
busy
because
of
attractive
pricing
and
selection
of
items
for
sale
Opportunities:
• Paying
attention
to
topical
events
can
help
increase
the
time
spent
by
customers
in
stores,
leading
to
potentially
higher
sales
o The
store
that
was
broadcasting
World
Series
Final
game
gave
it’s
customers
reasons
to
stay
longer
• About
20%
-­‐
30%
of
customers
I
saw
in
grocery,
and
wholesale/household
stores
seemed
to
be
on
a
mission:
they
were
either
carrying
lists
or
were
purposefully
walking
to
specific
areas.
There
might
be
an
opportunity
to
start
a
local
service
where
these
people
can
hire
“trustworthy”
personnel
to
do
their
grocery
shopping
for
a
reasonable
fee.