Good Stuff Happens in 1:1 Meetings: Why you need them and how to do them well
A crash course on creativity word asn 2
1. A CRASH COURSE ON CREATIVITY
OBSERVATIONS LAB
SUBMITTED BY BOB JERSIN (BOB@JERSINFINANCIAL.COM)
SUBMIT Date: 11/1/2012
INDEX
I. LISTING OF STORE OBSERVED and PHOTOGRAPHED
II. OBSERVATIONS & PICTURES ON THE MOST INVITING STORE
III. DETAIL AND OBSERVATIONS AND PICTURES OF OTHER 5 STORES
IV. RAW DATA ACCUMULATED ON CLASS QUESTIONS, BY STORE
2. I. LISTING OF STORES OBSERVED
1. COSTCO
2. TARGET
3. WHOLE FOODS
4. SAFEWAY
5. LUCKY SUPERMARKET
6. HOME DEPOT
The six stores above were visited and each was assessed. Photographs
were taken of each. The observations of each are described in the sections
that follow.
II. OBSERVATIONS ON THE MOST INVITING STORE
MY FAVORITE STORE: WHOLE FOODS
My favorite store was Whole Foods. They had a very inviting display
outside of their doors as well as inside, with colorful fruits, and flowers, as
the pictures show, below.
The entrance to Whole Foods had a display outside, which was inviting and
looked like a Farmers Market. They used brightly colored foods effectively to
beautify the area. Just inside the entry, there were colorful vegetables and a
wine colored cement floor, which looked very attractive.
The smells in Whole foods were wonderful, and included that of cooked
foods, and lavender.
This store put a lot of work into making sure the environment was pleasant,
attractive, colorful and cozy. Calm music was playing which added a sense
of relaxation.
3. WHOLE FOODS
FROM OUTSIDE OUTSIDE ENTRANCE
INSIDE WHOLE FOODS ENTRANCE
WINE COLORED FLOOR & COLORFUL FOODS IN CRATES
4. III. DETAILED OBSERVATIONS OF OTHER FIVE STORES
DRAW:
Only Whole Foods and Safeway had a good draw, and this was due to
their putting goods outside of their entry way.
Whole Foods was noted in the prior section. They and Safeway both had food
outside of the stores, attracting people to their location and enticing them
inside. Once inside, both store continued the attraction. Whole foods
displayed vegetables, while Safeway had a display of flowers for sale.
SAFEWAY FLOWER DISPLAY ON WOODEN FLOORING
The other three stores, Costco, Lucky and Target, did not have much if any
outdoor enticement. Home dopot had some flowers and merchandise out, but
it was NOT attractively done.
5. SIGNAGE:
All store had large signage, which gave the impression that they were
substantial stores. However, the Lucky’s sign was backed by paint which
was splotchy, and gave a bad impression. The Whole Foods sign was the
most unusual font, giving a more modern and up to date look and feel.
6. An entry way enhancement which Target had was a spread of sales
advertisements under glass to inform all entrants of special sales. Then they
had to go find them in the store. A game of hide and go seek?
TARGET ENTRY AD DISPLAY
FLOORING:
Costco and Home Depot both had plan cement flooring.
Target, Lucky and Safeway had vinyl flooring which was softer in appearance
and feel
Whole Foods had a colored cement floor which looks especially nice.
NOISE
Home Depot was by far the noisiest store, with loud beeping from forklifts as
a warning to customers, and constant PA paging, High Speed Fans, as well as
cart rattling noises. No music here!
The most subdued sounds were in Whole Foods, which included soft music.
Safeway and Lucky also had music. The others did not (Costco/Home
Depot/Target)
7. REGISTERS, and PATHWAYS
All stores had a bank of registers up front, which helped direct customers
down common pathways. The best common pathway stores were Costco and
Whole Foods. The others had more off-pathway customer drift.
SMELLS
All store smelled decent, however, Whole Foods was the best smelling,
followed by Safeway. Home Depot smelled generally fresh, but also of wood
and some isles smelled of chemicals, so I wanted to get away from those
isles.
LIGHTING
All stores were well lit. The brightest were: Costco, Target, Whole Foods and
Lucky. Home Depot was just a bit dimmer, and Safeway was the most dim.
TIME IN STORE
Whole Foods was the best place to spend time, and Costco was second, due
to the quantity of merchandise, and the free food samples. Yum!
STORE PERSONNEL
SALES
The only sales contact was at Home Depot, after ten minutes. The other
stores did not seem to have sales people.
AGE AND GENDER
1. COSTCO (30 years old, twice the number of males as females)
2. TARGET (35 years old, mostly females)
3. WHOLE FOODS (40, both sexes)
4. SAFEWAY (40, both sexes)
5. LUCKY SUPERMARKET (35, both sexes)
6. HOME DEPOT (45, both sexes)
8. UNIFORMS
Only Costco had no uniform. Target was the most elaborate. Other stores
used smocks for the uniforms.
Target’s interior was all red, even the carts were red.
PRODUCTS
The first product noticed:
1. COSTCO (high end TV’s)
2. TARGET (Cosmetics)
9. 3. WHOLE FOODS (Organic Fruits and Vegetables)
4. SAFEWAY (Pumpkins, Flowers and Fruit)
5. LUCKY SUPERMARKET
Bare Entrance, a few flowers and a wine box
10. 6. HOME DEPOT (Flowers, yes even at Home Depot! But also a junky mess of
a mix of out door products)
All Products in all stores were arranged by Function.
All Prices were easy to find in all stores.
Costco had the most samples. Whole Foods had the BEST tasting samples.
The other stores did not have any samples.
There were no impulse items at the register in Costco, but there were at all
other stores.
RECOMMENDATION: Costco should add impulse items by register. Many
customers wait in line a long time and this would be a good opportunity to
add revenue to the store.
CENTRAL DISPLAY
All stores except target had a central display
11. CUSTOMERS
Customers at all stores were mostly alone, however, there were some
children with parents at Safeway.
Average Customer Age & Gender
1. COSTCO (40 – both)
2. TARGET (40 – female)
3. WHOLE FOODS (50 – both – mostly slender people)
4. SAFEWAY (40 – female)
5. LUCKY SUPERMARKET (40, both)
6. HOME DEPOT (40, more men 3/2)
(See pathways, above)
Product touching took place in all stores.
Customers were mostly on a mission in all stores.
100% of customers purchase something in every store, except Target which
had about a 95% purchase rate.
Customers stayed in Costco the longest time (about 45 minutes) much of
which was due to the long check out lines, and the size of the store.
IMPRESSIONS
1. COSTCO (BULK ITEMS AT A DISCOUNT)
2. WHOLE FOODS (HIGH VALUE AND GOOD FOR YOU PRODUCTS)
3. SAFEWAY (NICE SUPER MARKET)
4. LUCKY SUPERMARKET (LOWER END MARKET, LOWER END FOOD)
5. HOME DEPOT (MUCH LOWER ESTHETICS THAN LOWES, BUT THEY MAKE
MORE MONEY SO THEY MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT).
12. IV. RAW DATA
Ranking by Catagory
(Categories quantified with a low assesment of zero
to a high of 10 for each subcategory)
6 STORE QUANTIFIED
RANKING BY CATEGORIES
ENTRANCE TOTAL DRAW OPEN DOOR FEELING SIGN INDICATION
COSTCO 41 6 10 8 10 7
TARGET 40 7 7 8 10 8
WHOLE FOODS 49 10 9 10 10 10
SAFEWAY 41 8 6 8 10 9
LUCKY 26 4 4 5 7 6
HOME DEPOT 37 7 7 6 10 7
8warm
in
HIGH 10 - 0 7cool store
ENVIRONMENT CEILING BRIGHT LOUD CAUSE TEMP. MERCH. SMELL SMELL TIME VALU
COSTCO 92 10 10 2 carts/talking 8 5 NO 6 35
TARGET 76 8 10 5 talking 8 5 stuffy 4 25
WHOLE FOODS 83 10 10 3 music 8 5 Fresh/lavender 10 20 1
SAFEWAY 74 8 7 3 carts/talking/music 7 5 Food 8 20
LUCKY 68 8 10 4 Carts/announcements 7 5 Sweet 8 15
HOME DEPOT 79 10 9 1 fans/announcements/carts 7 5 Fresh/wood 7 25
13. MATCHES
PERSONNEL CONTACT UNIFORM IMAGE AGE GENDER
COSTCO 13 0 5 8 30 MMF MMF = 2 MALES FOR EVERY FEMALE
TARGET 20 0 10 10 35 F
WHOLE FOODS 15 0 8 7 40 MF
SAFEWAY 16 0 8 8 40 MF
LUCKY 16 0 8 8 35 MMF
HOME DEPOT 21 5 8 8 45 MMF
CENTRAL SALE MOST VISIBLE IMPULSE BY
FIRST
PRODUCTS PROD DISPLAY ITMES ARRANGEMENT SAMEPLES? EXPENSIVE PRICING CASHIER
COSTCO 30 TV 10 MIXED FUNCTIONAL 10 ENTRY 10 NONE
SIDE
TARGET 25 MAKEUP 5 MIXED FUNCTIONAL 0 FRONT 10 10
WHOLE FOODS 35 VEGGIES 10 NONE FUNCTIONAL 5 CENTER 10 10
SIDE
SAFEWAY 28 PUMPKINS 8 BACK FUNCTIONAL 0 FRONT 10 10
LUCKY 29 PUMPKINS 9 MIXED FUNCTIONAL 0 BACK 10 10
BEG OF
HOME DEPOT 26 FLOWERS 6 CENTER FUNCTIONAL 0 ISLES 10 10
AVE. IN STORE ON PERCENT
CUST
CUSTOMERS ALONE AGE TIME SAME PATH TOUCH MISSION PURCHASE
COSTCO YES 40 50 YES SOME YES 100
TARGET YES 40 20 SOMEWHAT YES YES 95
WHOLE FOODS YES 50 20 YES YES YES 100
SAFEWAY YES 40 30 SOMEWHAT YES YES 100
LUCKY YES 40 20 SOMEWHAT YES YES 100
HOME DEPOT YES 40 25 NO YES YES 100