creativity assingment 2 fabio_raimondi

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I don’t have a lot of spare time, so I decided to combine this assignment with some errands I had to do anyway. Hence, the six shops I’ve been at are: a supermarket, an automatic laundromat, a decorations shop, a “1 euro shop”, a bookstore and a sport bets shop. First I went to drop my laundry, the first thing I noticed is that the place seemed very unassuming, a bit desolate, quite clean but somehow sad.ù Inside, besides a change machine and a broken digital photo sprinter, there was nothing more than 7 washing machines, 2 dryers and 4 wooden chairs. This first made me think that they don’t expect many persons to be sitting contemporaneously, either because not all washing machines are to be used at the same time, or because most people don’t wait while their laundry is done, but they take the chance to do other errands in the meantime.

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Page 1: Creativity assingment 2 fabio_raimondi

I  don’t  have  a  lot  of  spare  time,  so  I  decided  to  combine  this  assignment  with  some  errands  I  had  to  do  anyway.  Hence,  the  six  shops  I’ve  been  at  are:  a  supermarket,  an  automatic  laundromat,  a  decorations  shop,  a  “1  euro  shop”,  a  bookstore  and  a  sport  bets  shop.    First  I  went  to  drop  my  laundry,  the  first  thing  I  noticed  is  that  the  place  seemed  very  unassuming,  a  bit  desolate,  quite  clean  but  somehow  sad.ù    

   Inside,  besides  a  change  machine  and  a  broken  digital  photo  sprinter,  there  was  nothing  more  than  7  washing  machines,  2  dryers  and  4  wooden  chairs.  This  first  made  me  think  that  they  don’t  expect  many  persons  to  be  sitting  contemporaneously,  either  because  not  all  washing  machines  are  to  be  used  at  the  same  time,  or  because  most  people  don’t  wait  while  their  laundry  is  done,  but  they  take  the  chance  to  do  other  errands  in  the  meantime.    

         

Page 2: Creativity assingment 2 fabio_raimondi

   This  however  has  a  disadvantage  in  rush  hours  (many  laundromats  have  very  low  affluence  in  most  hours  and  a  sudden  raise  in  the  evening,  at  the  times  when  students  or  single  young  workers  get  out  of  school/work)  when  people  fail  to  be  back  by  the  time  their  laundry  is  ready  to  be  picked  up.  The  rotation  of  clothes  per  washing  machine  is  therefore  inefficient  right  when  it  matters  the  most.  Moreover,  the  place  wasn’t  very  appealing,  “warm”  or  welcoming,  from  the  closed  door  to  the  lack  of  personnel  or  any  “human  touch”.  Behind  the  washing  machines  it  was  also  very  dirty  

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   The  issue  of  efficiency  could  be  solved    and  combined  with  an  increase  in  the  number  of  clients  (and  higher  sales)  if  the  place  were  to  be  perceived  as  a  place  where  spending  time  is  nice,  rather  than  a  place  to  get  out  of  as  soon  as  possible.  This  could  be  done  in  a  similar  way  to  that  adopted  by  Starbucks  to  change  the  way  cafeterias  were  perceived.  Better  lighting,  a  personal  touch,  coffee  machines    more  and  more  comfortable  chairs,  perhaps  even  a  gas  fireplace,  could  make  it  a  place  to  hang  out  nicely  while  the  laundry  is  done.  On  the  one  hand  it  would  send  a  positive  message  to  passers-­‐by,  on  the  other  it  would  make  sure  clothes’  owners  are  nearby  when  their  session  is  over,  increasing  the  efficiency  in  turnover.  Additionally,  I  also  noticed  how  a  pleasing  smell  is  taken  advantage  of  in  other  shops  (e.g.  bakeries,  where  sometimes  a  small  fan  is  used  to  diffuse  the  scent  outside),  while  the  same  is  not  done  in  laundry  shops,  but  we  all  know  how  many  people  love  the  smell  of  freshly  washed  &  dried  clothes!    At  the  sport  bets  shop  I  noticed  the  principle  had  been  applied  wonderfully,  the  door  was  always  open,  for  people  outside  to  hear  the  screams  of  delight  or  disappointment  whenever  a  goal  is  scored,  comfortable  chairs  are  set  right  in  front  of  TVs  (they  obviously  want  people  to  spend  as  much  time  as  possible  in  that  shop),  colors  inside  and  on  the  shop  windows  remind  Casinos  and  a  playful  atmosphere,  as  if  betting  money  was  a  perfectly  normal  way  to  spend  time,  just  

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as  good  as  any  other  game.  I  have  been  strongly  discouraged  to  take  pictures  in  that  place,  so  I  don’t  have  any.    Unlike  all  the  other  shops  I  visited  during  the  day,  the  supermarket  had  a  sign  perpendicular  to  the  facade,  so  that  people  didn’t  necessarily  have  to  pass  in  front  of  it  to  see  the  logo    

   Inside,  human  psicology  was  clearly  taken  into  account,  and  mixed  with  other  non-­‐marketing-­‐related  choices.  Unlike  the  sport  betting  shop,  people  here  were  not  encouraged  to  spend  as  much  time  as  possible,  but  rather  as  few  as  possible  given  the  maximum  amount  of  purchased  items.  Hence,  it  is  not  possible  to  walk  in  and  go  straight  to  the  isle  and  product  you  want,  but  it  is  necessary  to  walk  through  a  mandatory  passage  in  the  fruits  and  vegetables  section.  That’s  not  something  I  notice  for  the  first  time;  what  I  never  noticed  before,  despite  having  visited  this  supermarket  for  5  years,  is  that  some  products  defy  the  “category-­‐related”  rule  that  seems  to  be  at  the  basis  of  any  supermarket  stock  exposition.  For  example,  in  the  breakfast  cereals’  section  there  were  crayons.  At  first  I  was  really  surprised  and  couldn’t  make  the  connection,  but  as  soon  as  I  realized  kids  love  cereals  and  they  also  play  with  crayons  it  seemed  so  obvious  that  I  was  almost  ashamed  of  not  having  made  the  connection  immediately.  It  must  be  that  it’s  been  a  long  while  since  I  might  have  played  with  crayons  at  breakfast,  if  any.  The  same  applies  to  other  products,  such  as  ice  cream  scoops  in  front  of  the  eggs  section.  

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   After  the  supermarket  I  went  to  the  1  euro  shop,  i.e.  a  place  where  really  cheap  items  are  sold,  ideally  all  costing  1  euro  but  actually  being  as  “expensive”  as  5-­‐6.    

   Here  I  noticed  customers’  psychology  was  far  from  being  taken  into  account,  products  were  randomly  displayed  (thermometers  together  with  air  pumps,  keys,  carabiners,  curtains’  accessories  etc.  

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   Unlike  the  supermarket,  customers  of  this  shop  mostly  didn’t  have  a  specific  product  in  mind  when  they  entered  the  shop,  they  rather  browsed  across  isles  and  products  to  see  if  there  was  anything  they  might  want,  kind  of  like  a  shop-­‐sized  huge  impulse  purchases  section.  It  is  therefore  interesting  that  a  place  where  psychology  has  such  a  relevant  role  did  not  capitalize  on  this  aspect  at  all.    I  noticed  that  those  that  spent  the  most  in  the  shop  more  often  ended  up  buying  something,  rather  than  feeling  to  have  wasted  10  minutes,  they  preferred  to  spend  1  euro  on  an  item  they  didn’t  really  need.  Hence,  the  shop  might  lend  some  supermarket  technique  and  “lead”  customers  with  product  disposition  to  walk  a  pattern  that  makes  them  see  as  many  products  as  possible,  putting  the  highest  selling  items  at  the  end,  for  all  those  that  arrived  at  that  point  without  having  made  up  their  minds  yet.    Yet  a  very  different  approach  was  used  at  the  decorations  shop.  It  had  a  carefully  designed  sign,  with  a  sticker  on  the  entrance  door  reporting  that  it  was  among  the  old  shops  of  Milan.  

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   A  lot  of  attention  (and  probably  time)  had  also  been  put  in  the  way  things  were  displayed  inside  the  shop.  Unfortunately,  small  details  were  not  coherent  with  the  general  atmosphere  transmitted  by  the  shop,  such  as  for  example  the  shelves  holding  rolls  of  fancy  paper  seemed  straight  out  of  a  warehouse,  metallic  and  not  decorative  at  all.  On  the  one  hand  it  had  a  carefully  built  cozy  home  vibe,  on  the  other  behind  the  counter  one  could  see  a  very  modern  office,  with  computers  and  glass/metal  windows.  If  they  could  match  all  aspects  of  the  shop  their  message  would  not  be  diluted  and  the  shop  would  have  a  more  fitting  characterization.    Finally,  I  went  to  a  bookstore  and  I  immediately  noticed  a  difference  from  the  other  shops.  The  personnel  was  helpful  and  soon  approached  me  to  see  whether  they  could  be  of  help.  Eveything,  from  colors  to  signs  to  product  disposition  seemed  to  have  been  pondered.  The  creative/artsy  section  had  artistically  painted  walls  and  the  overall  feeling  was  of  a  pleasing  place  to  spend  time,  not  only  enter-­‐purchase-­‐exit.    

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   This  feeling  was  strengthened  by  the  presence  of  a  small  bench  to  rest  on.  Unfortunately,  the  bench  was  in  an  uncomfortable  position,  right  in  front  of  the  cashier,  making  it  unsuitable  for  some  reading.  I  think  more  could  be  done  to  involve  clients  into  spending  time  in  their  shop.  I  often  saw  in  Germany  bookstore  where  people  can  sit  in  living  room-­‐like  areas  and  read  as  long  as  they  want,  confident  that  people  will  sooner  or  later  buy  the  book  if  they  like  it.