Observation Lab
This document contains observations and insights from several retail stores. It describes a small grocery store that could better connect customers through online groups and pages. It also describes a busy taco restaurant that needs separate waiting areas for takeout and dine-in customers. A large warehouse store is described as having unused space in the center that could be used for a showroom loft area. Another store feels cramped and difficult to navigate due to low ceilings and full racks, which could be redesigned. A hip shoe and clothing store is praised for its layout and music but could better showcase shoes using product displays. A small boutique clothing store is overcrowded and customers may miss offers without employees mentioning them or redesigning product
Observation Lab
- 1. Observation Lab Insights D. Wood 10/30/12
- 2. This is a small, community-focused grocery store. The board below showed promise with community involvement and the sharing of ideas. Insight: Make this a digital repository where people actually connect with each other, the ideas, and the store in a deeper way such as through Facebook groups and pages, or other virtual spaces. Otherwise everything just gets lost in the mix
- 3. Great tacos, but the restaurant is small, busy and lacks flow. The area below gets very congested with people waiting for orders to go, trying to get drinks and silverware, and just trying to get by and find a seat. Insight: Create specific areas within the restaurant that encourage waiting for takeout orders out of the flow of those staying to eat. Put an additional drink machine and silverware, etc. there to separate the provisioning process for takeout vs. eat in.
- 4. Huge warehouse-style store very popular all over the U.S. They have tons of overhead space for storage, as evident in the photo below. Insight: This store never places items up high in the center of the store, just on the sides. This is great for visibility, but they could capture this space for even larger showroom by adding a cool loft type of installation.
- 5. While a large store, this one has a feeling of being cramped, with relatively low ceilings and high racks crammed full of products. It can be difficult to find the departments and navigate to locate products. Insight: Redesign the layout of the floor to add more visual sight lines across the departments and re-engineer the display racks to make them lower and not as cluttered.
- 6. Cool shoe store, skate shop, and clothing store. Hip layout, catchy graphics, and fun music. Insight: Use the skateboards that are for sale to model the shoes. It would align more with the culture of the store, and could encourage more skateboard and shoe sales. Plus it would look cool.
- 7. This is a small, boutique style clothing store in a mall. The space is crammed with products and it is even hard to move around in some places. Taking pictures when observing is important. I made some purchases in this store in the process of my observation and only on reviewing the pics did I realize that I could have saved money with one of the offers pictured. Insight: This store could do well to have their employees mention the offers they are promoting, as well as redesigning the flow of the store and considering moving some product to a back storage location and only keeping a sampling out for customers to see.