I decided to turn my hobby into a more formal hobby (if there's such a thing).
Please follow me at ayamontebon.com for my thoughts and insights about shoppers, channels and shopper marketing in general.
Please follow popcreativepop at Instagram for interesting photos of merchandising execiutions and retail activations.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Monday, January 23, 2012
Starbucks Now Served in a Cargo Container (Yahoo)
By Susan Galleymore, Inman News
Made out of four shipping containers, this Starbucks is also unique for being made entirely out of recycled materials.
Photo: Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
The store features a drive-thru, but no inside seating.
Photo: Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
Unused containers languishing in ports can be used as literal building blocks for shops.
Photo: Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
"We can put a store like this on a lot that will be developed someday but is free for two or three years, and then we can move it." Architect Tony Gale III says fast-moving baristas are Starbucks' solution to customers idling their cars as they await their "cup of morning joe." The company's next goal in sustainable thinking: By 2015 it intends to make 100 percent of its cups reusable or recyclable.
Original Link: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/starbucks-now-served-in-a-cargo-container.html
January 19, 2012
Photo: Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
You've heard the popular refrain that Starbucks is everywhere. There may be some truth to that -- the massive coffee retailer has even set up shop in a shipping container.
The now-one-of-a-kind drive-thru/walk-up Starbucks coffee outlet off Interstate 5 in Tukwila, WA, which opened Dec. 13, is constructed from four modified shipping containers, including one 20-foot container and three 40-foot containers.
And while novel for Starbucks -- this is the company's first foray into a trend gathering momentum for shipping container constructions, but perhaps not the last -- other stores built from shipping containers include a grocery in Seattle and a series of restaurants in San Francisco.
Spokesman Alan Hilowitz described the Tukwila store as another step in fulfilling Starbucks' core mission -- providing a gathering place for communities, using Starbucks' scale "for good," and reducing the corporation's carbon footprint -- while also recycling "the same kind of shipping containers that transport our coffees and teas around the world."
Tony Gale III, Starbucks corporate architect and architect of record for the project, described the mindset with which he and his team tackled the store's design. "We were able to open our minds to the use of very common elements destined for the landfill as structure for a high-quality, drive-thru coffeehouse design -- essentially creating an industrial beacon for sustainable thinking."
This reflects Starbucks focus on conservation-minded building initiatives that serve a dual purpose: helping to reduce operating costs and leading by example topush "the environmental design envelope in retail."
Photo: Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
With many containers scrapped at the end of an average lifespan of 20 years, the Starbucks solution served to convert a potential waste stream from the company's supply chain into shop space.
This Tukwila store is also the first LEED-certified structure in town. It uses fully reclaimed material for the exterior. Rainwater collected from the roof reduces water consumption and nourishes surrounding "xeriscaping" -- landscapes and plants that naturally require less water.
Even the signage promotes environmental consciousness.
While this is not Starbucks only drive-thru/walk-up store, it is rare among the company's 17,000 stores worldwide in that it offers no inside seating. Hilowitz said the prototype is easy to break down and transport, and may usher in more container stores.
Photo: Tom Ackerman, Starbucks
"We can put a store like this on a lot that will be developed someday but is free for two or three years, and then we can move it." Architect Tony Gale III says fast-moving baristas are Starbucks' solution to customers idling their cars as they await their "cup of morning joe." The company's next goal in sustainable thinking: By 2015 it intends to make 100 percent of its cups reusable or recyclable.
Original Link: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/starbucks-now-served-in-a-cargo-container.html
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Shopping Carts Can Change Your Behavior (Shopper Culture)
One of the world's largest shopping cart manufacturers has found that "if the cart is double the size of our regular one, we buy an astounding 40 percent more than we usually do."
Similar results are found with popcorn buckets at the movie theater: people finish the whole bucket, regardless of how huge the bucket might be. And when asked, they claim that the size of the bucket has no influence on how much they eat. Of course not! We eat when we're hungry and stop when we're full. Right?
Similar results are found with popcorn buckets at the movie theater: people finish the whole bucket, regardless of how huge the bucket might be. And when asked, they claim that the size of the bucket has no influence on how much they eat. Of course not! We eat when we're hungry and stop when we're full. Right?
So many things influence shoppers subconsciously. And they're incredibly hard to study in a survey: no one would say that the cart size influences how much they buy. Of course not! We shop when we need things and stop when we have them.
This is why controlled experiments and direct observations are so important.
Source: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e008cd6c2b88340154383ef115970c
10 Ways Retailers Will Reinvent the Store from Shopper Culture
by Nate Holmes on JANUARY 18, 2012 in MOBILE, ONLINE-OFFLINE INTEGRATION
In the 20 or so years leading up to the Great Recession, retailers went through massive store expansion in developed markets like the US, UK, and Canada. It was a period of optimization (find the right formats and perfect the model) and replication (open more stores in more markets).
Over the last several years, the combination of the recession, explosive growth in e-commerce, and other emerging shopper behaviors has led some to question whether most developed markets are actually over-stored.
In RNG’s view, the answer is “Yes!”–we are headed to a modern retail landscape with fewer stores, smaller stores, and very different formats. Some stores will go away or will massively reduce their footprint (Borders, Blockbuster, Gamestop, FYE, etc). Others will survive or even thrive without deep technology integration given their unique positioning (Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Dollar General).
Most retailers, however, will have to adopt new strategies to provide compelling reasons for shoppers to keep coming and buying in stores. Here are 10 strategies you can expect to see retailers pursue.
1. Site and Store Integration
Tesco Direct
While retailers will continue to feature and stock high-velocity products in-store, they will increasingly offer an “endless aisle”of additional SKUs online, letting them grow selection without taking on the additional cost and risk of stocking products in-store. The low-commitment model will simply use signage to guide shoppers to the extended online assortments, but some retailers will dedicate space to let shoppers order from inside the store.
While retailers like Kohl’s and JC Penney have rolled out proprietary kiosks for their websites, the huge capital investment and inferior UI in these makes it likely that retailers will begin turning to a $500 iPad instead.
2. Automated Retail
As the online share of some categories continues to grow, retailers’ appetite to manage and merchandise those categories will diminish. Retailers will deploy more self-service technology that enables shoppers to select, buy, and take products away, often without even having to manage the assortment or take the product into their distribution network.
Macy’s is already doing this with Best Buy kiosks inside its stores, enabling them to expand into new categories with attractive margins.
Automated retail is also getting traction in locations outside of the store, like airports, malls, and college campuses.
3. Prepared and Ready-to-Heat Food
The last few years have seen retailers across channels–drug, mass merchandise, discounters–expanding their assortment of food and other essentials. The goal is to drive trips and increase basket sizes. Prepared food in particular, whether it be ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat, or counter prepared, has become a popular addition to stores. By shifting some of the work of meal preparation from the shopper to the retailer, many retailers have increased the convenience of their offer and given shoppers another compelling reason to stop by.
Examples include Target’s new CityTarget format and CVS’s urban format, which are attempting to attract on-the-go city shoppers with quick meal options. Marks & Spencer and Morrison’s have gone so far as to break out their on-the-go food offerings into standalone stores.
4. Instructional/Educational Space
Whole Foods Cooking Class
Many retailers are trying to go beyond a merely transactional relationship with their shoppers to help them learn and get the most value from the products they buy.
Lululemon has found great success with its yoga classes. High end grocers like Wegman’s and Whole Foods offer cooking classes, and Loblaw’s recently opened a Toronto flagship with a large department devoted to classes. By offering classes like these, retailers can attract a devoted shopper base to spend more time in-store while building brand loyalty.
5. Interactive Space
Think of this as the Apple approach applied more broadly. Instead of stacking shelves high with boxes, why not lay products out in a more attractive environment and let shoppers trial them? This approach will go along well with having the site in store, as devoting space to less products will require the endless aisle.
Disney Experiential Environment
6. Retailtainment
One way to get shoppers in the door is to provide an immersive, entertaining shopping experience. This is something that retailers like Disney and Cabela’s know well. Of course, the strategy has huge implications for space productivity on a micro level. And it won’t work if the brand, assortment, or experience aren’t strong. But creating a destination that’s entertaining to visit will remain a key strategy.
See our sister blog, In-Store Trend’s post on retailtainment here.
7. Services
In the new retail world, brick-and-mortar stores need to master one of two things in order to win–being low price or being differentiated. One way to differentiate is to offer a unique set of services in-store. The right services will drive incremental trips, increase loyalty, and multiply a shopper’s annual spend.
Space will be dedicated to health (e.g. diagnostics), financial, technology, home energy, transportation, and more. The key will be to link these services to the retailer’s overall offering.
8. Showroom
E-commerce and price comparison apps are turning some retailers into showrooms. Some retailers will embrace this and convert their space or open new formats to take advantage of it, enabling big box retailers to manage inventory risk with space productivity or online retailers like Taobao to have a physical presence.
These showrooms will have little or no inventory and will offer options for ordering and delivering to home, the store, or a third party location.
Some retailers have recently experimented with this strategy, like Taobao in China and Walmart in the US. The key will be to create a compelling enough mix of products, service, and fulfillment options to make the approach pay out.
9. Social Space
While nothing new, providing social space in the store will become more popular. By having places for people to just hang out–bars, restaurants, coffee shops–retailers can get shoppers to spend more time in their stores. Ikea has taken an interesting approach and opened a Manland, offering guys a place to hang out while their significant others shop. Manland features arcade games, comfortable sofas, magazines, video games, and free hot dogs.
10. Store-Within-a-Store
Sephora in JC Penney
Renting space to trip-driving brands within big box stores is likely to become extremely popular over the next few years. Target just announced that they will be taking this approach with Apple as well as local boutique shops across the country. Look for retailers to take a highly rotational/seasonal approach with these mini-stores and focus on showcasing innovation.
What other strategies have you seen? Why do you think shoppers will still visit stores?
Source: http://connected.retailnetgroup.com/index.php/2012/01/18/10-ways-retailers-will-reinvent-the-store/
In the 20 or so years leading up to the Great Recession, retailers went through massive store expansion in developed markets like the US, UK, and Canada. It was a period of optimization (find the right formats and perfect the model) and replication (open more stores in more markets).
Over the last several years, the combination of the recession, explosive growth in e-commerce, and other emerging shopper behaviors has led some to question whether most developed markets are actually over-stored.
In RNG’s view, the answer is “Yes!”–we are headed to a modern retail landscape with fewer stores, smaller stores, and very different formats. Some stores will go away or will massively reduce their footprint (Borders, Blockbuster, Gamestop, FYE, etc). Others will survive or even thrive without deep technology integration given their unique positioning (Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Dollar General).
Most retailers, however, will have to adopt new strategies to provide compelling reasons for shoppers to keep coming and buying in stores. Here are 10 strategies you can expect to see retailers pursue.
1. Site and Store Integration
Tesco Direct
While retailers will continue to feature and stock high-velocity products in-store, they will increasingly offer an “endless aisle”of additional SKUs online, letting them grow selection without taking on the additional cost and risk of stocking products in-store. The low-commitment model will simply use signage to guide shoppers to the extended online assortments, but some retailers will dedicate space to let shoppers order from inside the store.
While retailers like Kohl’s and JC Penney have rolled out proprietary kiosks for their websites, the huge capital investment and inferior UI in these makes it likely that retailers will begin turning to a $500 iPad instead.
2. Automated Retail
As the online share of some categories continues to grow, retailers’ appetite to manage and merchandise those categories will diminish. Retailers will deploy more self-service technology that enables shoppers to select, buy, and take products away, often without even having to manage the assortment or take the product into their distribution network.
Macy’s is already doing this with Best Buy kiosks inside its stores, enabling them to expand into new categories with attractive margins.
Automated retail is also getting traction in locations outside of the store, like airports, malls, and college campuses.
3. Prepared and Ready-to-Heat Food
The last few years have seen retailers across channels–drug, mass merchandise, discounters–expanding their assortment of food and other essentials. The goal is to drive trips and increase basket sizes. Prepared food in particular, whether it be ready-to-eat, ready-to-heat, or counter prepared, has become a popular addition to stores. By shifting some of the work of meal preparation from the shopper to the retailer, many retailers have increased the convenience of their offer and given shoppers another compelling reason to stop by.
Examples include Target’s new CityTarget format and CVS’s urban format, which are attempting to attract on-the-go city shoppers with quick meal options. Marks & Spencer and Morrison’s have gone so far as to break out their on-the-go food offerings into standalone stores.
4. Instructional/Educational Space
Whole Foods Cooking Class
Many retailers are trying to go beyond a merely transactional relationship with their shoppers to help them learn and get the most value from the products they buy.
Lululemon has found great success with its yoga classes. High end grocers like Wegman’s and Whole Foods offer cooking classes, and Loblaw’s recently opened a Toronto flagship with a large department devoted to classes. By offering classes like these, retailers can attract a devoted shopper base to spend more time in-store while building brand loyalty.
5. Interactive Space
Think of this as the Apple approach applied more broadly. Instead of stacking shelves high with boxes, why not lay products out in a more attractive environment and let shoppers trial them? This approach will go along well with having the site in store, as devoting space to less products will require the endless aisle.
Disney Experiential Environment
6. Retailtainment
One way to get shoppers in the door is to provide an immersive, entertaining shopping experience. This is something that retailers like Disney and Cabela’s know well. Of course, the strategy has huge implications for space productivity on a micro level. And it won’t work if the brand, assortment, or experience aren’t strong. But creating a destination that’s entertaining to visit will remain a key strategy.
See our sister blog, In-Store Trend’s post on retailtainment here.
7. Services
In the new retail world, brick-and-mortar stores need to master one of two things in order to win–being low price or being differentiated. One way to differentiate is to offer a unique set of services in-store. The right services will drive incremental trips, increase loyalty, and multiply a shopper’s annual spend.
Space will be dedicated to health (e.g. diagnostics), financial, technology, home energy, transportation, and more. The key will be to link these services to the retailer’s overall offering.
8. Showroom
E-commerce and price comparison apps are turning some retailers into showrooms. Some retailers will embrace this and convert their space or open new formats to take advantage of it, enabling big box retailers to manage inventory risk with space productivity or online retailers like Taobao to have a physical presence.
These showrooms will have little or no inventory and will offer options for ordering and delivering to home, the store, or a third party location.
Some retailers have recently experimented with this strategy, like Taobao in China and Walmart in the US. The key will be to create a compelling enough mix of products, service, and fulfillment options to make the approach pay out.
9. Social Space
While nothing new, providing social space in the store will become more popular. By having places for people to just hang out–bars, restaurants, coffee shops–retailers can get shoppers to spend more time in their stores. Ikea has taken an interesting approach and opened a Manland, offering guys a place to hang out while their significant others shop. Manland features arcade games, comfortable sofas, magazines, video games, and free hot dogs.
10. Store-Within-a-Store
Sephora in JC Penney
Renting space to trip-driving brands within big box stores is likely to become extremely popular over the next few years. Target just announced that they will be taking this approach with Apple as well as local boutique shops across the country. Look for retailers to take a highly rotational/seasonal approach with these mini-stores and focus on showcasing innovation.
What other strategies have you seen? Why do you think shoppers will still visit stores?
Source: http://connected.retailnetgroup.com/index.php/2012/01/18/10-ways-retailers-will-reinvent-the-store/
Friday, January 13, 2012
POP UP STORE: I think a have a new pet project!
One of those days when I have fireworks inside my head.
I need to get started then.
I need to get started then.
POPUPHOOD from Eva Kolenko on Vimeo.
Speed-sale site gives shoppers four seconds to grab a bargain
REPOSTED FROM: http://www.springwise.com/retail/speedsale/
It’s commonplace for “deal a day” sites to set a time limit on the opportunities they present, but it’s safe to say that few go as far as Swedish site Speedsale does. In fact, visitors to Speedsale get just one fleeting chance to grab each bargain on the site; once those four seconds have elapsed, the opportunity is gone forever.
The brainchild of Swedish retailer Papercut, Speedsale presents visitors with a series of sale products in rapid succession, complete with frantic background music to heighten the tension. Each time a new product appears, its regular and sale prices are shown, and visitors have four seconds to decide if they want to grab it at the current discount. If they do, they simply click on the sale price, and the item will appear in their cart. Otherwise, Speedsale will continue with its sequential presentation. Not only that, but visitors who try to call up the presentation of products for another try get disappointed: “You had your chance but blew it!” a message says. “Welcome back in a billion years.”
Much like planned scarcity, limited-time availability is a tactic that’s sure to increase any product’s appeal, though we don’t remember seeing it used with such emphasis ever before. Retailers around the globe: a fun — and potentially lucrative — model to try out on your own bargain-minded customers? (Related: High-end clothing brand only sells on tour dates — Luxury etailer focuses on planned scarcity.)
Website: www.speedsale.se
Contact: info@papercutshop.se
Contact: info@papercutshop.se
Spotted by: Katharina Kieck
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Holiday Season Gives Birth to New Shoppers (source: yahoo)
Bargain timers, midnight buyers, returners and 'me' shoppers show up in droves
Four new types of American shoppers have emerged this holiday season.
There's the bargain hunter who times deals. The midnight buyer who stays up late for discounts. The returner who gets buyer's remorse. And the "me" shopper who self-gifts.
It's the latest shift by consumers in the fourth year of a weak U.S. economy. Shoppers are expected to spend $469.1 billion during the holiday shopping season that runs from November through December. While it won't be known just how much Americans spent until the season ends on Saturday, it's already clear they are shopping differently than they have in years past.
"We're seeing different types of buying behavior in a new economic reality," says C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group.
The Bargain Timer
Cost-conscious shoppers haven't just been looking for bargains this season. They've also been more deliberate about when to find those deals. Many believe the biggest bargains come at the beginning and end of the season, which has created a kind of "dumbbell effect" in sales.
For the week ended on Nov. 26, which included the traditional start of the holiday shopping season on the day after Thanksgiving, stores had the biggest sales surge compared with the prior week since 1993, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Stores Sales Index. The cumulative two-week-sales drop-off that followed marked the biggest percentage decline since 2000. Then, stores had another surge in the final days, as retailers stepped up their promotions again.
"Shoppers are budgeting their money and time," says Paco Underhill, whose company, Envirosell, studies how consumers behave in stores. "They're focused on being opportunistic bargain shopping vultures."
Kalilah Middleton, 30, of Queens, is one of them. Starting late on Thanksgiving night, she spent five hours and $400 at Wal-Mart and Target. She bought a TV and clothing at 50 percent off. Then, she waited until Christmas Eve to shop again because she believed she'd get better deals later in the season.
"This is when you get the best deals," says Middleton, an office manager, about her holiday shopping.
Going forward, shoppers are expecting even bigger discounts. According to America's Research Group research firm, 34 percent of shoppers say they want to see post-Christmas discounts of about 70 to 80 percent, up from 20 percent last year.
The Midnight Buyer
Used to be, bargain shoppers would wake up at the crack of dawn to take advantage of big discounts on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. This year, some shoppers instead stayed up late on Thanksgiving night to get deals.
This behavior was in large part due to retailers' efforts to outdo each other during the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. Stores like Macy's, Best Buy and Target for the first time opened at midnight on Thanksgiving night, offering deals that once were reserved for the next day.
Twenty-four percent of Black Friday shoppers were at stores at midnight, according to a poll by the National Retail Federation, the industry's biggest trade group. That's up from 9.5 percent the year before when only a few stores were open during that time.
Of those shopping at midnight on Black Friday, 37 percent were ages 18 to 34. That percentage was higher than among 35- to 54-year-olds, of whom 23.5 percent were in stores by midnight.
Macy's, for one, drew 10,000 people to its midnight opening. Terry Lundgren, Macy's CEO, says many of them were young people who turned out for the Justin Bieber $65 gift sets and discounted fashions.
Anika Ruud, 15, of Boca Raton, Fla., went out with her four cousins to Macy's at midnight and then shopped at Target until 2:30 a.m. She picked up two bras at Macy's for $10. Then, she and her cousins went home to bed.
"It's always been inconvenient," Ruud says of the traditional 4 a.m. Black Friday openings of years past. "No one likes to wake up early."
The Returner
Shoppers who were lured into stores by bargains gleefully loaded up on everything from discounted tablet computers to clothing early in the holiday season. But soon after, many of them were rushing back to return the items they bought.
For instance, Elizabeth Yamada, 55, of Fort Lee, N.J., says she got caught up with the shopping frenzy over the Thanksgiving weekend and picked up a $350 coat that was marked down more than 50 percent off at Macy's. She ended up returning the item one week later.
"It was nice, but I didn't need it," says Yamada, who works part-time as a waitress and a hospital aide. "It was impulsive shopping. But I am doing more reflecting."
It's all about buyer's remorse.
For every dollar stores take in this holiday season, it's expected they will have to give back 9.9 cents in returns, up from 9.8 last year, according to the a survey of 110 retailers the NRF. It would be the highest return rate since the recession. In better economic times, it's about 7 cents.
Stores have themselves to blame for the higher returns. They lured shoppers in with deals of up to 60 percent off as early as October. Because of the deals, shoppers spent more than they normally would. And retailers' return policies have been more lax since 2008, with some sweetening their policies even more this year.
The "Me" Shopper
One for you; one for me.
After scrimping on themselves during the recession, Americans turned to shopping for themselves. It's a trend that started last year but became more prevalent this season.
According to the NRF, spending for non-gift items will increase by 16 percent this holiday season to $130.43 per person. That's the highest number recorded since it started tracking it in 2004.
"This season, the consumer put herself ahead of the giving," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst with market research firm The NPD Group.
Betty Thomas, a health care coordinator at a hospital in Raleigh, N.C., says she spent $1,700 on a ring and bracelet for herself and a rug for her home during the holiday season. That's up dramatically from the $200 she spent last year.
"I have been putting other people first," Thomas says. "I definitely felt I earned it."
Stores have been encouraging such self-gifting.
AnnTaylor's campaign "Perfect Presents: One for you. One for her" highlighted merchandise like brightly colored sweaters. Brookstone's print ads urged shoppers to get accessories for their iPads and other electronics with the words: "gifts for your gadgets." And Shopittome.com, an online site that alerts consumers to clothing sales they're interested in, launched "Treat Yourself Tuesday" after Thanksgiving weekend.
_____
Anne D'Innocenzio reported from New York.
Christina Rexrode in Raleigh, N.C. contributed to this report.
This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit
FIND THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Group Buying Sites: The bad and the good (experiences)
Now I'm not sure if I'm really getting good value from these group buying sites. I'd rather buy from reputable merchants next time to save up on emotional trauma.
BAD:
Metrodeals.com - D`Spa and Skin Center (Room 1508 Amorsolo Street cor Dela Rosa Street Legaspi Village Makati City)
I was led to a small, cramped room with dirty sheets and towel on the recliner.
The skin treatment, supposedly worth P1500 which I bought for P175 didn't even seem worth more than P50. I looked at the machines inside the room --- everything was so dirty and the ultrasound gel bottle I saw on the table was a bit muddy.
The "therapist" didn't look so credible. She sang out loud while she was doing the treatment and was chatting with the other employees from the next room as she went about her business.
GOOD:
DealGrocer.com - Lisa Macuja Swan Song Series
My husband and I bought Lisa Macuja Swan Song series tickets from Deal Grocer. We were very happy coz they were so organized. They had a separate line and reserved seats for Deal Grocer voucher holders.
No headache there and the shows were great!
BAD:
Ensogo.com - The Beauty Room/Embassy Spa Manila Pavilion Hotel
My appointment for treatment was at 2PM afternoon. I arrived at 1PM to make sure I don't miss my appointment because Malate is really far from my place. At 3PM, the doctor hasn't arrived yet. It was already an hour after my set appointment so I requested the receptionist to call the doctor to check if she's near. The doctor was caught in traffic, she said. I was really upset and asked if I can talk to the doctor (Dr. Christina V). The doctor wasn't apologetic and even had the gall to ask me, "Why were you so early?" I got mad at that point and demanded for an immediate refund. Which they did give me actually, (even if it's not the usual policy) probably because my face was red with fury.
I guess the key learning is to carefully select the deals from these sites. Do not buy from unknown merchants. And be careful with your credit card details. It might be better to pay using paypal or bank over the counter systems. I read a lot of payment horror stories.
Now, what do I do with my remaining vouchers?
BAD:
Metrodeals.com - D`Spa and Skin Center (Room 1508 Amorsolo Street cor Dela Rosa Street Legaspi Village Makati City)
I was led to a small, cramped room with dirty sheets and towel on the recliner.
The skin treatment, supposedly worth P1500 which I bought for P175 didn't even seem worth more than P50. I looked at the machines inside the room --- everything was so dirty and the ultrasound gel bottle I saw on the table was a bit muddy.
The "therapist" didn't look so credible. She sang out loud while she was doing the treatment and was chatting with the other employees from the next room as she went about her business.
GOOD:
DealGrocer.com - Lisa Macuja Swan Song Series
My husband and I bought Lisa Macuja Swan Song series tickets from Deal Grocer. We were very happy coz they were so organized. They had a separate line and reserved seats for Deal Grocer voucher holders.
No headache there and the shows were great!
BAD:
Ensogo.com - The Beauty Room/Embassy Spa Manila Pavilion Hotel
My appointment for treatment was at 2PM afternoon. I arrived at 1PM to make sure I don't miss my appointment because Malate is really far from my place. At 3PM, the doctor hasn't arrived yet. It was already an hour after my set appointment so I requested the receptionist to call the doctor to check if she's near. The doctor was caught in traffic, she said. I was really upset and asked if I can talk to the doctor (Dr. Christina V). The doctor wasn't apologetic and even had the gall to ask me, "Why were you so early?" I got mad at that point and demanded for an immediate refund. Which they did give me actually, (even if it's not the usual policy) probably because my face was red with fury.
I guess the key learning is to carefully select the deals from these sites. Do not buy from unknown merchants. And be careful with your credit card details. It might be better to pay using paypal or bank over the counter systems. I read a lot of payment horror stories.
Now, what do I do with my remaining vouchers?
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
GOOD IDEA: Chocolate impulse zones
Parents will always prefer to bring their children when purchasing children’s shoes. Of course the wearer will somehow have a say on the purchase – ensuring the right style, fit, comfort.
So when you place a chocolate impulse display within the section --- near the cashier where everyone will most probably go --- expect to hear a lot of kids playing up their pester power.
I saw a lot of kids flocking around the impulse display. I also saw a lot of parents ending up adding a box or two together with the shoe purchase.
This is a simple example of how shopper insights can lead to simple but very effective executions.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Listen to your brain
I'm reading Dr. Pradeep's The Buying Brain and can't get the "Listen to your brain" song out of my head. I have an autographed copy of the book, it still makes me giddy remembering the time I got to chat a bit with him in Sydney. Nerds rule!
Anyway, just sharing with you Neurofocus' video, cracks me up every time I watch this:
Anyway, just sharing with you Neurofocus' video, cracks me up every time I watch this:
Friday, September 9, 2011
Shopper Marketing is growing in India
Shopper Marketing is a mantra consumer goods companies have been chanting for sometime now and it really began in modern trade outlets in the last decade. Off late companies have started consciously investing in general trade to drive sales. Brands are doing everything from sampling, making testers available and reinventing the way their packs look to get shoppers to notice them. Nikita Rana says companies like GCPL and Marico are reporting a substantial increase in sales as a result of shopper marketing in local stores.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDwqzVLrO0
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LDwqzVLrO0
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The national pastime by Randy David
This kind of reminds me of how I equated malls as replacement for parks in the Philippines.
Read this blog entry.
The National Pastime
By: Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The issue first dawned on me many years ago when, in response to my criticism of billboards that have engulfed the city, people from the outdoor advertising industry told me that without them, Manila would be a very dark and unsafe place. Billboards, they said, are what light up the streets and enliven the cityscape. So, did the city’s dark and unlit avenues make commercial billboards a necessity? Or, has the proliferation of billboards relieved the government of its duty to light up and take care of public space? Which one is cause, and which one is effect?
The same issue confronts us when we contemplate the role that gigantic shopping malls play in our national life. One can ask which came first: the failure of government to cultivate alternative venues for public culture and recreation, or, the extensive commercialization of private leisure instigated by capitalism. If these malls did not exist, would we find it necessary to invent them?
It cannot be denied that malls have become so integrated into the rhythm of our daily existence that it is difficult to imagine how Filipinos would use their free time if other options were made available. Would they be spending more time in museums and libraries? Would they be visiting more historic places and heritage sites? Would they be taking more strolls in wooded parks, gardens and public promenades? Would they go to theaters and coliseums, festivals and public lectures, rather than spend a whole day at the mall gawking at people and dreaming of goods they cannot have?
Mall owners would surely say that without the malls, most Filipinos may not know what to do with their time. Their lives would be impoverished and miserable in more than an economic sense. Life in the metropolis would be so drab that, in quest of excitement and the sheer need to break routine, people might instead turn to drugs, gambling, drinking and prostitution. Worse, they could turn to militant mass politics.
Indeed, to the extent they promote the illusion of equal access to the good life, shopping malls in societies like ours have become the most effective instruments for the pacification of class conflict. Unlike the traditional promise of religious salvation in the afterlife, modern consumerist gratification is instant. The levels of fulfillment it offers are matched with one’s current purchasing power. Inside the malls, the good life is not a pie in the sky. It assumes the form of an overflowing cornucopia of material things, whose real value and connection to our lives we are not prompted to reflect upon or examine.
I thought that religion finally acceded to the colonizing power of commerce when Sunday Masses began to be held inside shopping malls. From its pre-eminent perch as the seat of the sublime, religion in the malls became just one of the many events organized by commerce to draw in consumers. In biblical times, the temples of worship drew hordes of vendors and money lenders into their sacred space. Today, it is the other way around.
These cavernous structures we call malls now host the broadest range of activities one can imagine, attesting to the power of a consumer-driven economy. Here you find not just physicians’ clinics but mini-hospitals complete with laboratories. They operate alongside beauty salons, massage parlors (now called spas), children’s playrooms, bowling alleys, techno-game stations, bingo salons, restaurants, movie houses, fast-food joints, banks, ATM cash dispensers, and a wide array of shops selling virtually everything. The malls are the new cathedrals of the consumerist life form, not only aggregating all entrepreneurial activity within their reach, but also significantly turning every facet of social life into their component.
Be that as it may, do we have any reason to complain? Anyone who has ever stepped into these colossal markets, not explicitly to shop but to watch how modern Filipinos have shaped leisure, would be amazed by the manner in which we have constricted the horizons of our being. We have become a people that fatally equates growth with material acquisition, and fulfillment with consumption. This immediately shows in the shallowness of our sense of identity. But, we cannot talk about culture in isolation from the economy.
It is certainly not a coincidence that “malling” emerged as a national pastime at around the same time we started to deploy large numbers of Filipinos for overseas work. Sadly, the billions in remittances that our hardworking OFWs send back have not been utilized to capitalize economic production at home. Instead, they have fueled the growth of a consumer-based economy driven by imports. The more workers we send abroad, the more we consume at home. But, since this consumption is primarily based on imports, the more we consume, the more we need to send people to work abroad.
The foreign origin of most of the goods sold in our malls—from fruits to clothes to gadgets—betrays the gross disconnect between the nation’s productive labor and its consumption. This is not sustainable. People are formed primarily by what they produce, not by what they consume. It is work that builds their culture and makes them into what they distinctly are. All over the country, more shopping malls are being built, yet everywhere our capacity to produce and supply our needs has steadily dwindled. Surely, there is something fundamentally wrong with this kind of development.
Read this blog entry.
The National Pastime
By: Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
The issue first dawned on me many years ago when, in response to my criticism of billboards that have engulfed the city, people from the outdoor advertising industry told me that without them, Manila would be a very dark and unsafe place. Billboards, they said, are what light up the streets and enliven the cityscape. So, did the city’s dark and unlit avenues make commercial billboards a necessity? Or, has the proliferation of billboards relieved the government of its duty to light up and take care of public space? Which one is cause, and which one is effect?
The same issue confronts us when we contemplate the role that gigantic shopping malls play in our national life. One can ask which came first: the failure of government to cultivate alternative venues for public culture and recreation, or, the extensive commercialization of private leisure instigated by capitalism. If these malls did not exist, would we find it necessary to invent them?
It cannot be denied that malls have become so integrated into the rhythm of our daily existence that it is difficult to imagine how Filipinos would use their free time if other options were made available. Would they be spending more time in museums and libraries? Would they be visiting more historic places and heritage sites? Would they be taking more strolls in wooded parks, gardens and public promenades? Would they go to theaters and coliseums, festivals and public lectures, rather than spend a whole day at the mall gawking at people and dreaming of goods they cannot have?
Mall owners would surely say that without the malls, most Filipinos may not know what to do with their time. Their lives would be impoverished and miserable in more than an economic sense. Life in the metropolis would be so drab that, in quest of excitement and the sheer need to break routine, people might instead turn to drugs, gambling, drinking and prostitution. Worse, they could turn to militant mass politics.
Indeed, to the extent they promote the illusion of equal access to the good life, shopping malls in societies like ours have become the most effective instruments for the pacification of class conflict. Unlike the traditional promise of religious salvation in the afterlife, modern consumerist gratification is instant. The levels of fulfillment it offers are matched with one’s current purchasing power. Inside the malls, the good life is not a pie in the sky. It assumes the form of an overflowing cornucopia of material things, whose real value and connection to our lives we are not prompted to reflect upon or examine.
I thought that religion finally acceded to the colonizing power of commerce when Sunday Masses began to be held inside shopping malls. From its pre-eminent perch as the seat of the sublime, religion in the malls became just one of the many events organized by commerce to draw in consumers. In biblical times, the temples of worship drew hordes of vendors and money lenders into their sacred space. Today, it is the other way around.
These cavernous structures we call malls now host the broadest range of activities one can imagine, attesting to the power of a consumer-driven economy. Here you find not just physicians’ clinics but mini-hospitals complete with laboratories. They operate alongside beauty salons, massage parlors (now called spas), children’s playrooms, bowling alleys, techno-game stations, bingo salons, restaurants, movie houses, fast-food joints, banks, ATM cash dispensers, and a wide array of shops selling virtually everything. The malls are the new cathedrals of the consumerist life form, not only aggregating all entrepreneurial activity within their reach, but also significantly turning every facet of social life into their component.
Be that as it may, do we have any reason to complain? Anyone who has ever stepped into these colossal markets, not explicitly to shop but to watch how modern Filipinos have shaped leisure, would be amazed by the manner in which we have constricted the horizons of our being. We have become a people that fatally equates growth with material acquisition, and fulfillment with consumption. This immediately shows in the shallowness of our sense of identity. But, we cannot talk about culture in isolation from the economy.
It is certainly not a coincidence that “malling” emerged as a national pastime at around the same time we started to deploy large numbers of Filipinos for overseas work. Sadly, the billions in remittances that our hardworking OFWs send back have not been utilized to capitalize economic production at home. Instead, they have fueled the growth of a consumer-based economy driven by imports. The more workers we send abroad, the more we consume at home. But, since this consumption is primarily based on imports, the more we consume, the more we need to send people to work abroad.
The foreign origin of most of the goods sold in our malls—from fruits to clothes to gadgets—betrays the gross disconnect between the nation’s productive labor and its consumption. This is not sustainable. People are formed primarily by what they produce, not by what they consume. It is work that builds their culture and makes them into what they distinctly are. All over the country, more shopping malls are being built, yet everywhere our capacity to produce and supply our needs has steadily dwindled. Surely, there is something fundamentally wrong with this kind of development.
Friday, July 15, 2011
SPOTTED: Shopwise premium packaging for private label egg products
Shopwise has taken a different route for its private label (SureBuy) egg products. It's still priced lower than branded eggs but the packaging (which has a halo effect on perceived quality) is very premium. I easily replaced my usual brand and grabbed a box.
Since the usual egg packaging is translucent plastic --- the clean, transparent egg box sent neuro signals of "premiumness" and "quality" to my brain. Maybe because it looks a bit like the Bountry Fresh egg packaging (photo stolen from welovejenni.blogspot.com).
This marks a new trend in the Philippines (this has been happening for a while in NA, Australia and Europe): private label brands are aiming to be perceived much more than a cheap alternative. Supermarkets are starting to see a big opportunity in repackaging and retailing. The own brand labels just need premium space within the category, riding on the halo effect of the supermarket branding.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
SPOTTED: Puregold Corner for Traditional Trade Owners
I always wished for my very own retail lab in the office. With a Traditional Trade set-up, just like Puregold's SSS Corner.
This effort reflects that the management has a good understanding of Puregold shoppers.
This branch is located along Commonwealth Ave. in Tandang Sora, highly targeting Sari Sari Store Owners. They have the SSS Corner at the transition zone of the supermarket, it's literally the first thing that would greet you when you enter.
I love how it helps Sari Sari Store owners figure out the best SKUs (especially single-use sachets or as we fondly call it in the Philippines, "tingi") that they can sell in their stores. It also showcases how different products can be efficiently displayed in a very cramped SSS.
I didn't ask them if they have programs that support this kind of effort. I'm sure they have loyalty cards or some sort of wholesale deals. I got so excited that I just stole a shot then ran out.
This effort reflects that the management has a good understanding of Puregold shoppers.
This branch is located along Commonwealth Ave. in Tandang Sora, highly targeting Sari Sari Store Owners. They have the SSS Corner at the transition zone of the supermarket, it's literally the first thing that would greet you when you enter.
I love how it helps Sari Sari Store owners figure out the best SKUs (especially single-use sachets or as we fondly call it in the Philippines, "tingi") that they can sell in their stores. It also showcases how different products can be efficiently displayed in a very cramped SSS.
I didn't ask them if they have programs that support this kind of effort. I'm sure they have loyalty cards or some sort of wholesale deals. I got so excited that I just stole a shot then ran out.
Too bad I missed the Puregold Sari Sari Convention this year! Click here for a related article.
I want a set-up like this right beside my corner in the office! Universe, thank you!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
EYE TRACKING DEVICE
I was skeptical at first. My colleagues have long been asking me to explore the use of Eye Tracker device for my shopper-in-shopping-mode research. I was thinking it will only be useful for retail stores especially modern trade channels (to gauge premium shelf placement, guarantee best facings and help sell impulse zones). What else can I do with heat and gaze point maps?
It was during the 2011 Shopper Marketing Conference in Sydney, Australia when I met two groups offering this kind of service.
The first was EYE (www.eyecorp.com). Their eye tracking device was a bit big and the receiver console was bulky --- you have to hold it with both hands. I tried it on and noticed that I didn't really mind as I walked around the exhibit area. I was looking at the things I would normally look at, I wasn't really distracted by the device.
I realized that typical advertising research are designed to find out what consumers are thinking about communication, messages and impressions. But we rarely figure out what parts of the ad they look at and which parts they don't look at. When I watched the playback of my "tour" around the exhibit area using the eye tracking device, I was amazed about the length of time I spent looking at communication materials and what counted as "visual noise" in my line of sight.
I was also invited to visit the Objective Eye Tracking booth and they lent me their eye tracker. It was lighter than Eyecorp's device and the receiver console was just a bit bigger than the prehistoric Palm handhelds. But I wasn't allowed to tour the entire exhibit hall wearing it so I just viewed a shelf with different products. A data collection program will show the results of the most, longest, least, etc. viewed products.
Although Objective Eye's Tobii glasses were lighter, it didn't really feel much different from Eyecorp's. But their selling point is that with a less conspicuous pair of glasses, at least the other shoppers won't notice the device. But if you ask me, big difference was the data collection console. It was much smaller and I could keep it in my pocket.
Eye tracking is a good way to augment data when it comes to shelf planogram, packaging designs and in store media placement. But I really think qualitative research is still a valuable tool to contextualize data and give more insightful conclusions.
It was during the 2011 Shopper Marketing Conference in Sydney, Australia when I met two groups offering this kind of service.
The first was EYE (www.eyecorp.com). Their eye tracking device was a bit big and the receiver console was bulky --- you have to hold it with both hands. I tried it on and noticed that I didn't really mind as I walked around the exhibit area. I was looking at the things I would normally look at, I wasn't really distracted by the device.
I realized that typical advertising research are designed to find out what consumers are thinking about communication, messages and impressions. But we rarely figure out what parts of the ad they look at and which parts they don't look at. When I watched the playback of my "tour" around the exhibit area using the eye tracking device, I was amazed about the length of time I spent looking at communication materials and what counted as "visual noise" in my line of sight.
I was also invited to visit the Objective Eye Tracking booth and they lent me their eye tracker. It was lighter than Eyecorp's device and the receiver console was just a bit bigger than the prehistoric Palm handhelds. But I wasn't allowed to tour the entire exhibit hall wearing it so I just viewed a shelf with different products. A data collection program will show the results of the most, longest, least, etc. viewed products.
Although Objective Eye's Tobii glasses were lighter, it didn't really feel much different from Eyecorp's. But their selling point is that with a less conspicuous pair of glasses, at least the other shoppers won't notice the device. But if you ask me, big difference was the data collection console. It was much smaller and I could keep it in my pocket.
Eye tracking is a good way to augment data when it comes to shelf planogram, packaging designs and in store media placement. But I really think qualitative research is still a valuable tool to contextualize data and give more insightful conclusions.
Friday, June 10, 2011
INNOVATION: Energizer Inductive Charger
I wonder how this new technology will impact the retail displays, store technology and even shopper-in-shopping mode research gadgets and technology...
Thursday, June 2, 2011
SPOTTED: Datu Puti maximizes Pacquiao endorsement on-pack.
We often forget about the packaging whenever we do campaigns. In my opinion, on-pack communication is the most powerful in-aisle communication.
A colleague forwarded to me this photo of the most recent Datu Pati packaging. I love that it maximized Manny Pacquiao's endorsement on-pack. I also loved the execution! Mukhasim talaga!
A colleague forwarded to me this photo of the most recent Datu Pati packaging. I love that it maximized Manny Pacquiao's endorsement on-pack. I also loved the execution! Mukhasim talaga!
SPOTTED: Venetian Macau Mall Trail Guides
How do you help tourists not look too touristy when they're lost inside your gigantic mall?
Simple yet innovative, this was the first time I've seen anything like this. Or maybe I just don't go out too often.
When you get to the mall, you choose the trail you want to follow. It really depends which trail the shop you want to visit falls on. Then all you need to do is follow the color-coded line.
Simple yet innovative, this was the first time I've seen anything like this. Or maybe I just don't go out too often.
When you get to the mall, you choose the trail you want to follow. It really depends which trail the shop you want to visit falls on. Then all you need to do is follow the color-coded line.
How do the blind go shopping?
Whenever we study consumers and shoppers, we always get into Bachelors, HCMs, Teens, Seniors, etc.
I have never thought about how people with disabilities shop.
Seeing this braille mall floor map in Hong Kong got me thinking: How do the blind go shopping?
And yes, kudos to the mall planners who planned with them in mind.
I have never thought about how people with disabilities shop.
Seeing this braille mall floor map in Hong Kong got me thinking: How do the blind go shopping?
And yes, kudos to the mall planners who planned with them in mind.
I searched the web and found this insightful interview in youtube:
How do people who are blind go grocery shopping?
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
SPOTTED: Coca-Cola Check-out merchandising in Disneyland
Coca-Cola has always had the best point of sale merchandising designs. A lot of it has to do with the fact that Coca-Cola has a well-defined brand core. Communication may change and evolve but deep inside we still get the same feeling about it, it still conveys the same message.
I was fascinated with how Coca-Cola can take on the theme of the Disneyland without losing its brand equity. Of course I had to grab a Coke red while lined up on the check out!
I was fascinated with how Coca-Cola can take on the theme of the Disneyland without losing its brand equity. Of course I had to grab a Coke red while lined up on the check out!
SPOTTED: Cute Pork por kilo @ Rustan's Shangri-La
I honestly don't know if I would want to eat pork after seeing this.
It got my attention, alright. But I didn't want a kilo of any part of cutie in my casserole!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Shopper Truths From Around The World | Nielsen Wire
Shopper Truths From Around The World | Nielsen Wire
A jar of mayonnaise or a package of tea is a straightforward product. But if manufacturers market those products in the U.K. the same way they do in the U.S., they are probably making a mistake. Nielsen has compiled the following “shopper truths” from around the world to help consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers successfully navigate consumer shopping behavior:
- Same category, different market: often requires a different shopper strategy — While some universal truths exist within categories across borders, success of activation strategies relate to a variety of factors such as local culture, evolving retailer dynamics, pre-store/in-store decision-making, historical promotion strategy, etc. Nielsen’s cross market and cross-category Shopper Modality studies reveal significant differences in levels of category involvement, experimentation and choice drivers.
- In-store is usually not the best place to start selling — A huge amount of shopper decision-making is made on auto-pilot. Nielsen DeltaQualTM tells us that shoppers don’t evaluate all products in-store to make the “perfect” choice-they accept the acceptable, according to sub-conscious choice rules which become ingrained over time to form habitual shopping behavior.
- The best shopper activation strategy is to meet consumer needs – Success is more about meeting consumer needs rather than hitting price points. Ensure an appropriate consumer fit for pack size/count/variety/range through understanding occasionality and/or needs-and as those needs change overtime, build in flexibility to adapt.
- Too many promotions are detrimental to brand and category health in the longer term — Scale and frequency of promotions will set up shopper expectations and create a behavior in shoppers which encourages deal-seeking. Empirical data shows that the more shoppers get used to the deals offered by sales and promotions, the more resistant they are to paying full price.
- Siting matters as much as depth of discount for in-store promotions — On average, feature and display alone provides 66% of sales uplift regardless of discounts offered. Focus investments on securing site rather than diluting price point, and shift the discussion and quantify the opportunity with a discount versus no discount.
- Shopper perceptions do not always equal reality — It’s not always about reality, but what consumersbelieve. Align in-store execution with consumer perceptions-or address the root cause of perceptions: deeply-held beliefs can be hard to overcome.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
WHAT WORKS: The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt
Red Mango is still my favorite yogurt place ---because it's the first ever frozen yogurt I really liked.
But I also go to White Hat.
What I like about White Hat is they already have suggested yogurt combos. It's just much easier to order. Especially if your 2 year old keep on asking, "Where is it (yogurt)?" while you're ordering.
White Hat Choco-Loco is our super favorite. She eats all the Oreos and mini kisses while I eat the yogurt and the brownies.
They also have magazines --- probably for the likes of my husband who needs a place to hang-out while waiting for me to finish shopping.
But I also go to White Hat.
What I like about White Hat is they already have suggested yogurt combos. It's just much easier to order. Especially if your 2 year old keep on asking, "Where is it (yogurt)?" while you're ordering.
White Hat Choco-Loco is our super favorite. She eats all the Oreos and mini kisses while I eat the yogurt and the brownies.
They also have magazines --- probably for the likes of my husband who needs a place to hang-out while waiting for me to finish shopping.
*Menu photos courtesy of patikimako.blogspot.com
Thursday, February 17, 2011
SPOTTED: Globe Telecom opens newly-renovated Business Centers
It's refreshing to see that even local service industries are starting to realize the importance of Shopper Marketing. I recently saw the newly-renovated Globe Telecom Business Center in SM Taytay and the new look motivated me to go inside the store.
First off, there was no glass wall. It seemed more inviting. It kind of extended the store.
You could easily see and hear whatever's going on inside, which may trigger Shoppers to look at the available units.
Second, all demo units are actual celphones. You can try the units (yes, even the iPhone 4G) and explore the features.
Then there are the guards dressed in barongs (not the usual intimidating guard uniforms).
They act like an extension of the salesforce, too --- they are well-informed, polite and helpful. They know which flyers to give out, depending on your inquiry. Yes, I didn't get the usual, "Please just ask inside."
The sections are also clearly grouped according to Shopper needs/inquiries.
The model unit section is out front and center, with the accessories right behind it. A waiting area at the side, with a comfortable couch for those waiting for their numbers to be called out. Business and Personal Customer Service inquiries are separate. They even have mood lighting so you feel comfortable spending time there.
Usually, business centers make me feel like I'm in a hospital. But this time, I felt like I was in a mac showroom, free to explore the available units.
You could easily see and hear whatever's going on inside, which may trigger Shoppers to look at the available units.
Second, all demo units are actual celphones. You can try the units (yes, even the iPhone 4G) and explore the features.
Then there are the guards dressed in barongs (not the usual intimidating guard uniforms).
They act like an extension of the salesforce, too --- they are well-informed, polite and helpful. They know which flyers to give out, depending on your inquiry. Yes, I didn't get the usual, "Please just ask inside."
The sections are also clearly grouped according to Shopper needs/inquiries.
The model unit section is out front and center, with the accessories right behind it. A waiting area at the side, with a comfortable couch for those waiting for their numbers to be called out. Business and Personal Customer Service inquiries are separate. They even have mood lighting so you feel comfortable spending time there.
Usually, business centers make me feel like I'm in a hospital. But this time, I felt like I was in a mac showroom, free to explore the available units.
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