Observations: The shop has a large, bright front shop with huge open doors inviting customers in. It is well signed and well lit. It has central promotional tables that are colourful and inviting. The shop has soft, light music and encourages the customer to linger in the shop. Most shoppers are women but there are several families as well. The back of the shop has the food section thus pulling customers past the clothing and gifts. The décor is interesting and colourful. I noticed that the corner pockets have the more expensive items and have few customers. The tills are at the back thus making people walk through in order to pay.

Observations:

This shop had a corner position thus a huge amount of shop frontage. The floor was an extension in colour of the mall floor making it feel that the threshold was an extension of the mall. The entrance was huge with brightly coloured merchandise and windows making it exciting to enter. The roof lights were also brightly coloured encouraging shoppers to come in for an exciting shopping experience. The tills were at the back which made the shoppers walk all the way through the shop. The alcoves of stock on the side were not well supported. People walked through the centre ignoring the alcoves. This should somehow have been brought into the shop in a more convincing manner.

Observations:

I found this shop too cluttered but what helped was the high ceilings that gave the shop some breathing space. The clear glass frontage and large doors encouraged the shopper to come inside and see what was hidden in the shop. The large lights and exposed ceiling made the shop feel young, fresh and like a design studio. This gave it a feeling of being modern and on the cutting edge. The environment gave a sense that the store buyers knew what was happening in the market place. I liked that things were positioned at different heights. It gives the shop life.

Observation:

The wide open doors and glass frontage invited shoppers in. The shop was brightly displayed with items at different heights and partitioned into functionality. Light was bright and floor encouraged shoppers to come in. What I did, however observe, was that the staff were talking to each other in 2 pockets in the shop. One lot was at the door and the others sitting and chatting at the back. While in the shop there was NO-ONE manning the till. Shoppers had to request to make a sale and shoppers were left to their own devices to shop.

Observation:

Good frontage but what I did observe was that the right hand side of the shop was very boring. The stock was all below eye level except a bit against the wall. The staff also looked completely bored and were talking to security. I did not feel like I wanted to enter this shop. I would only go in if I knew that I needed an item and would get it here. Nothing called me in.

Observation:

The lighting, the main door, the try on areas and the shoe fitting area were all well designed and very smart. You felt that you were going to get quality service and quality items. The staff were good and helpful and attentive. I wanted to shop here but also understood that the price would be a little more as this was an up market store. This was a good exercise to get us realising how important it was to observe the details that were often taken for granted.