Observation lab assignment pradeep
- 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.