How Green is Your Shopping Bag ?

Broadway mall, top floor, Sunday afternoon.  I was interested to see how many shoppers were (not) carrying eco-friendly shopping bags.  The micro survey was a 3- minute video clip at a quietly busy part of the mall.  Here's the answer: 16 shopping bags were observed being carried, of these only 2 were eco-friendly bags (12%).  The site was chosen at random, influenced only by the proximity of good coffee nearby :).  The result was surprisingly low, given the Glebe market profile. Having said that, most carried bags from well known fashion retailers (Sportsgirl, Just Jeans, Forever New - the latter just in picture)

Simply Smiggle video

Smiggle, Broadway (video). (apologies for quality) Simple concept that is eye-catching.  They have done a consistently good job at using the plasmas in their windows.  They are also good at keeping the content fresh. 

Mall Rats II - the movie

A fun look at scenes from the mall.

THE RETAIL FRONTLINE

Betts footwear store, Bondi Junction, mid-week, lunchtime. This short video (2 min 24 secs) illustrates how valuable the front of the store is in real estate terms. Despite it being a pretty quiet day, this store was able to attract 20% of its passing traffic (this figure including some males) into the store, all of whom inspected product at the front of the store. Note this wasn't just the promotional product on the units, but also included the wall space product. It shows the importance of fully utilising this space with new arrival and best selling product, in addition to having 'value' items upfront.

Shoppers look at the front of stores for cues - what interests them. Specialty retailers, take note. It should be simple. Insight pays.

DIVA ACTION

Diva, Broadway. Video showing how busy the store was on a Thursday afternoon - rest of the mall was quiet by comparison.  Clearly a hit with their target market.

JB RUNS HOT

JB Hi Fi, East Gardens recently opened, store was buzzing (Friday afternoon), value for money recession-proof formula.

SMIGGLE'S MONEY TREE

Smiggle, Broadway. Fresh content on plasma screen catches attention.

PANTS OFF AT GENERAL

General Pants, Pitt St, video of eyecatching plasmas.

IMPROVED PORTMANS

Portmans, Westfield Chatswood. Shopper interview - it seems that despite the older fitout in this store, they've lifted their game in terms of quality of assortment and range. Tough to do in this market.

TIGHT TRADING JEANS

Jeans West, East Gardens, 3.30pm Saturday. Mall was pretty busy, but this retailer's attractive sale window and offer was obviously not enough to convert the traffic flow. Tough times.

SNAIL-SPRESSO

Slow espresso - this customer waited over 2 mins for this coffee (see left of screen), with no other customers in sight. Also, the other staff member loosening his neck while taking a customer's order signals total indifference - even if it has been a long day ! As an aside, the layout looks functional, well-considered. However, they probably don't merchandise and sell enough food items to make this mall site really pay. Saturday afternoon, 2.30pm, East Gardens.

YD ON THE RACK ?

YD menswear store, QVB,  Video shows foot traffic 4pm Thurs - only 2 customers converted to browsing, despite 'up to 50% off' sale offer.  Hard 'yakka' when the rent still has to be  paid.

LIFELESS BODY SHOP ?

Body Shop, Burwood - Saturday afternoon, very busy in the mall, but very low conversion of passing foot traffic.  The store is well located and very tidily presented.  Has the brand lost relevance in today's recessionary market ?  Certainly there is more competition for the 'conscience' dollar (eg. Oxfam).  Note the values or causes listed on the inside of the door.  The stores DOES look very corporate - perhaps too corporate for a business that is a 'challenger' brand  ?

Video: approx 2 mins long

LIFE'S A BEACH

CityBeach store, Burwood.  A very slick operation that engages the senses.  Quirky merchandising. Good customer service and presentation in-store.  Some problems with items not being priced correctly - discrepancy between sticker price and POS system, was fixed quickly. Interesting to note about the only store in a large mall that was hiring (see earlier posting).

JUST OLDER ?

Just Jeans, Miranda, Friday afternoon.  Note the majority of prospective customers entering the store are 35 years+ in sharp contrast to the brand's perceived younger target market and window imagery.  It would be interesting to note whether this is reflected in their sizing, or if there are lost sales opportunities.

MALL RATS

At Broadway food court, Saturday afternoon.  Sped up x 4.

SMIGGLE SPACE

Subtle change in emphasis for the innovative Smiggle LCD displays - now showing a white background, and more emphasis on product - stands out more than than the previous dark backgrounds.  (Service restored on this store's display - took a week - not good). (Smiggle, Broadway).

FOREVER BUSY

Forever New, Broadway.  This stand-out player in the tough apparel category knows how to create a buzz.  Great  windows, strong entrance, appealing brand, cool in-store decor, adds up to retail theatre that clearly meets with customer approval.

Target on speed

Sped up x 4 view of Target shoppers shows traffic flows through womenswear department.  Chatswood, Westfield. Thursday lunch time.

STROLLERMANIA !

There I was, sitting in Chatswood Chase mall (undergoing final stages of refurbishment) on a Thursday at lunch-time, minding my own business over a cappuccino - when I was overwhelmed by the audiovisual sensory onslaught of kiddies in strollers (see video clip).  A couple of retailers have picked up on the opportunity (upmarket boutique kiddie stores - an upmarket mall, Kikki.K but no Smiggle in sight ?), but I have never before seen so many strollers per square metre of retail space, insuch a short space of time, 80%+ of shoppers on the top level had strollers.  Unsuspecting visitors to the mall have been warned ...... (running time approx 2 mins). PG - Parental Guidance clearly required.