Cool Juice

Boost Juice, East Gardens.  Some cool images for the refurbished Boost Juice kiosk, which  show some brand 'attitude'. (apologies for low quality pics).

EVIL FINE PRINT

Zamel's Jewellers, East Gardens.  This type of fine print gives retailers everywhere a bad name.  I wouldn't be surprised if it attracts the regulator's attention.  for the record, or those with poor eyesight it says the offer excludes catalogue items and watches.

Digital window that sells

Smiggle, East Gardens  
digi window from Stephen Saunders on Vimeo.
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A Tale of Great Customer Service

The Body Shop, East Gardens.  I don't hand out bouquets easily.  However I was very impressed by this store on Christmas Eve.  We had headed out to the shops at about 11am for those last minute gifts, hoping, optimistically, to get in and out before the major rush.  

This store, in contrast to many other retailers, was properly staffed - there were five staff members including the manager who discreetly hovered in the background.  Staff were well presented - with the possible exception of the tinsel (which I have previously mentioned is perhaps not in keeping with The Body Shop values).  They were enthusiastic and friendly, and despite one or two minor glitches were keen to help.  Also impressive, was the 'build your own gift' (at no extra cost) section at the back of the store, which really removed any reason not to purchase.    

As an aside I noticed the pre-made gift sets, which came in different sizes, varieties, and pricepoints, were selling best, but those over $100 were not moving at all.  The beauty of their approach is those can be 'dissembled' after Christmas and the stock redeployed.

We were in and out there relatively quickly, with beautifully wrapped gifts - and having bought an additional 'impulse' gift after we were prompted.

Kudos to The Body Shop - they stood out.

Boring - must be for Blokes

Myer, East Gardens.  They surely don't expect to sell anything from this display for Christmas ?

Not something you see everyday

East Gardens. His and hers foot spa treatments ?

The Boost Juice lighting saga: conclusion

Boost Juice, East Gardens.  Regular readers will recall my ongoing comments about Boost Juice here: http://shoppologist.blogspot.com/2009/11/saga-of-blown-light-bulb.html

which prompted their response here: http://shoppologist.blogspot.com/2009/11/boost-juice-reply-here.html

Suffice to say, on my Friday visit to East Gardens I noticed they have now refurbished the store - although in a relatively minor way - and the offending light fitting has been removed.  It will be interesting to see how the store is maintained going forward.  As previously mentioned, retail is detail.

Smiggle takes on Kris Kringle

Smiggle, East Gardens. Clever marketing for a recession-affected gift giving season.

An Admirable Goal

Target, East Gardens.  An admirable goal for this retailer - do YOU think they deliver ?

Shh It's a Smiggle secret

Smiggle, East Gardens.  Some sort of book cover thingie from Smiggle - not sure how it will go, at first I thought they were selling books :\  Maybe a bit tooo clever ?

Buy Two Get One Free

JB Hi-Fi, East Gardens.  Having previously mentioned how difficult it is to get into some JB Hi-Fi stores, I thought I would share this deal.

It is a classic retailer ploy to upsell the customer, which is any tactic designed to get a shopper to spend more than they would have, thus increasing the average sale or the number of items per basket. I think for the category it is a very strong deal, unlikely to be matched by competitors. So, it does seem to pay to get past the entrance and into the store.

The Hanging Gardens of JB Hi-Fi

JB Hi-Fi, East Gardens.  Don't get me wrong I enjoy shopping at JB Hi-Fi, but some days I do wonder why.  The sheer amount of visual clutter at the entrance is sometimes overwhelming - especially on those days when you haven't had enough coffee :)  If I feel that way at 5'4", what do tall customers think ?   

And then there's the security guard at the entrance who guys you the evil eye on the way in.  He made me feel guilty just for thinking bad thoughts about the posters hanging from the ceiling. 

Sportsgirl goes lifestyle

Sportsgirl, East Gardens.  I was intrigued to see that Sportsgirl has gone into lifestyle gifting.  It makes sense for Christmas given their clear customer profile and positioning, and their history in selling accessories.  However, it will be interesting to see how they go in this competitive market - not many apparel retailers have successfully added a lifestyle dimension.  I give them a better chance than most.

The Saga of the Blown Light bulb

Boost Juice, East Gardens. The regular reader might have been following this story for a while. In essence, it is about how a blown light bulb at a Boost Juice franchise has remain unrepaired for the last few months. (It could be a faulty light fitting - but it still remains unrepaired). Not exactly high drama, I know, more like a soap opera. But I now find myself questioning whether their product is the quality they claim it to be - after all, retail is detail. And based on my experience this is an indication of a franchise system not operating as it should.

(Some researchers would call this a longitudinal study - I call it customer experience).

It still remains a problem - but contrary to previous occasions, this time I walked away without purchasing anything - if they can't be bothered, neither can I.

I have just written per email, to the Boost Juice customer service team. Let's see how long it takes to get a response.....

Here is the history of the posts for your convenience:

October 28, 2009

October 6, 2009

September 16, 2009

The Wall

Kikki.k, East Gardens.  This is a great example of using colour blocking to create a 'power wall'.  The effect of this is to concentrate the eye, and draw you into the store.   There is a lot of innovative stuff happening in the once boring social stationery category.  This business is a leader, in my opinion,

Magical Christmas display

East Gardens.  Credit to Westfield for this magical Christmas display. I am sure it will prove very popular with the kids.

Dumping Christmas

PostShop, East Gardens.  I was amazed to see how poorly Australia Post was merchandising Christmas Cards - in dump bins at the front of the store. I could understand discounting them in the immediate run-up to Christmas, say a few weeks to go, but I would have thought they should be a 'hero' product right at this point.  It does after all use their core product/service - ie snail mail.  They should not be surprised that people are sending fewer cards if this is how they treat them - they should be special after all - or have they, too, commoditized Christmas ?

The Classic Twoo-Fur

Jay Jays, East Gardens.  It's been a long time since I have seen a 'Twoo-Fur' (two for the price of one) deal executed this well.  Made my day :) But then I probably need to get out more ....

License to sell ?

Temporary kiosk, East Gardens.  These guys got very upset with me taking a photo (occupational hazard), which started me wondering whether they were selling properly licensed merchandise ?  Any thoughts ?

The Core of It

Mobile shop, East Gardens.  I could NOT believe this guy serving a customer while he was eating an apple - would you buy a cellphone (in fact ANYthing) from someone eating food ?