The document provides a summary of the author's observations during a visit to Magna Mall in Karachi, Pakistan on a Friday morning. The author notes that most main shops were closed due to it being a Friday, but discount shops called "Jumma bazaar shops" were open. The author observes various shops, products, customers, and personnel. Products included clothes, shoes, bags, toys, and household items. Customers were mostly females aged 30-40 shopping alone or in groups. Personnel included male and one female salespeople who approached customers politely after browsing. The overall environment was clean and bright with adequate lighting and space in each shop.

1. Are u paying attention?
As i see the world:
I visited Magna mall on Friday
26th oct 2012, located on Rashid Minhas
road connecting shahr-e-faisal, Karachi.
As it was Friday morning most of the main shops were
closed but fortunately the Jumma bazaar shops which
sale products on discount prices were open. That wasn’t
a rush hour but still i managed to take snaps and spoke
to few people. With the assignment in mind, i started
wandering, looking curiously here and there, and
checking the prices. Usually i don’t notice the name of
the shops, only the products attract me. My all time
favourites are shoes and bags so my attention
immediately divert to them.

2. This time i also noticed that people were eagerly buying
not even the ready- made clothes but some women
were also buying small pieces of discarded material
which were sold at much lower prices.
The arrangement and variation of the product in one of
the shops also came under observation with a surprise
as it was a hundred rupee shop where previously only
decorative items and accessories were sold. Now it has
products ranging from toys to shoes plus house hold
items.
Another apprehension was the reaction of the people
towards taking pictures of their shops but again to my
delight every one cooperated and let me take the
pictures. Some were even asking about the
assignment.

3. Before entering the shops:
Most of the shops had glass doors so the products were visible and
i could decide where to start from. Opened doors welcomed the
customers. The names were big enough to be observed as their
font was bold and in various colours. Usually the names were
depicting the products that were to be sold.

5. Environment:
The colour scheme of almost all the
stores was dull background with
bright colours items in the front.
FloorColour was white marble and
it did not distract the customers.
Since the size of all shops was
different, the ceiling also varies but
all were high enough to give a
spacious look to the shop.

6. It was day time so sun light was coming in the stores, it
was warm and i rarely saw any one using artificial lights.
The noise level was also appropriate as it was not the
Rush hour and usually the shop keepers were calling
Customers with hand gestures and telling prices of the
items.
Some stores were crowded
with merchandise whereas
some were sparsely placed.
There wasn’t any smell as
The doors were opened.
Mostly the cash counters were
near the front door and
occupied by a sale person.
Security personnel were visible
outside the shopping mall
and not for the individuals.

7. I spent more time in the store where multiple items
were on display. The overall environment was
matching the perceived value of the items except for
the vendors who were selling things outside the
stores.
Personnel:
Most of the sales person gave me time to browse
through the shop for the first 5-7 mins and then
approached on my asking the price of the various
products. They were reaching the other customers
with politeness but without a written script. As i
mentioned earlier, it was not a rush hour so the ratio
was 2:1 i.e. 2 sales persons per customer.

9. All salesmen were male except for one and belong
to 20-50 years of age group without any particular
uniform. They all had a look of a sales person
except for the lady who was the saleswoman. She
was standing near clothes hanger and until i
started looking for a salesman, she didn’t approach
me.
Products:
I instantly noticed clothes as they were displayed
on prominent locations. Most of the items were
displayed either on the shelves or hanged on the
prominent points to be noticed by the customers.

11. Except for one of the shoe shop,
items were arranged according
to their functions and with on
sale boards.
There were no items for free
sampling .There were some
products with different prices
kept on the same shelf.
One side of the wall was
restricted to display one product
and other side for other products.
So some items were at the eye
level and some were high above
in the shelves. Some prices were
visible but formajority i had to ask
the prices. Near the cash counter
some impulsive items like Small
decorationpieces were also displayed.

13. Customers:
There was a combination
of the customers, males,
females and children.
Majority of them were female
aged between 30-40 years.
There were some families
also with husband, wife and
children but mostly females were
shopping in groups.
As some shops only had one
door opened so customers were
using same path to enter and for exit.
They stayed in the shops on average
5- 10 mins depending on the bargain
they had.
No one objected on touching the
objects except for oneshoe keeper.

14. As Eidul adha was near-by so everyone was on a mission to buy
the products whether it was clothes, shoes or decoration items for
their homes. I didn’t notice any one who was just browsing and not
buying anything.

15. Prepared by :
Ms. Fauzia Samreen.
Subject Head Pakistan Studies
Generation’s school, Karachi, Pakistan