BEING OBSERVATIVE

Hidden insights from observing 6 local businesses

RANDOM THINGS One particularly cluttered store had a huge

sword in front of their bottles of whisky!

And a scooter parked in an aislein the back of the store.

ENVIRONMENT The more cluttered a store was the cheaper

their products felt.

Stores with less merchandise and a cleaner feeling environment felt more valuable.

The same products cost more at cleaner stores.

Most stores did not have background music, but simply the noise from the nearby traffic was enough to not feel too quite.

THE BOOK STORE Book stores hang

toys from the ceilingrather than puttingthe toys at eye-levelfor the children?

Based on the size ofKhmer or Englishlettering on a signyou can get a good ideaof the type of customerthat shops there

Most stores organize based on function

Even if you would expect them to alphabetize or arrange things differently

Many stores use only natural light, and so the back of the store is dim and difficult to see in.

THE CONVENIENT STORE Most customers walked through the snacks

and directly to the cold drinks

2 groups of customers Quick buy (individual) Hang out (small groups)

Young women workers, and mostly young men whocame in to hang out and flirt.

Did a Halloween snack make it toCambodia? Or just a good spicy snackthat is available all-year round?

This was the only store with musicthe customers were able to pick theirmusic and hang out.

Large windows provided bright natural lighting

Many customers despite higherprices on most of their products.

CAFÉ BOTIQUE The café Botique was very dimly lit and

crowded in an eclectic fashion I found uncomfortable.

Very few customers wandered in from the café.

The sign out front did not mention the botique or gift shop in the back.

OPPORTUNITIES Convenient store could more clearly market

their coffee and made-to-order products and increase the number of “hang-out” customers.

The café botique could disperse their gift items around the entire café to provide additional seating in the botique and more opportunities for people to browse their products WHILE they eat.

The book store could put more toys at eye-level for children.