VOODOO WINDOW

Smiggle's voodoo display catches attention, but unless you know the product on offer, the message is a little obscure.  it does, however,  have cut-through.  Broadway mall.

HIP MELBOURNE

Amazing hip area of Melbourne CBD, Centre Place,  shows why the city centre is such a retail magnet, offering customers a wide variety of experiences to suit eclectic tastes.   The city has done a great job of using lanes and alleys to create retail precincts (mostly around food and specialty boutiques) which are an excellent counterpoint to the more traditional high street and mall fare.  While this one is more 'hip', many of the others are in a more traditional European style.

INTELLIGENT CO-HABITATION

A great example of retailers' intelligent use of their neighbours, and development of  a mini precinct.  Intrepid Travel draws the adventurous independent traveller, Kathmandu sells the gear, and A&R provides the travel books - good use of pavement signage and window display to maximise the benefit.  C/o Bourke and Elizabeth St, Melbourne CBD.  

SWEET SALE OR TOOTHACHE ?

An attractive sweet shop in Melbourne's Southgate complex - great use of colours and innovative window display use - see how they are angled, which maximises impact and space.  However, it must be a sign of retail pain when a sweet shop is 'on sale'.

ELEGANT GPO

Best use I have seen for an old GPO - Melbourne's old GPO is a stunning renovation of the main post office into an upmarket 'galleria' of specialty shops.  More observational footage to come in 'Dissection of a Shoe Store' (to be posted later).

WORLD ON SALE

<<DSC00045.JPG>> A striking image from a luggage shop window, World Square, Sydney. Simple, yet effective, it shows importance of dramatic lighting.

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IT'S NOT A FILTER IT'S A CHOICE

http://www.servantofchaos.com/2009/03/its-not-a-filter-its-a-choice.html

Some very useful insights here into the dynamics of using social media.

PLAYING GAMES ?

Visually cluttered store Moore Park that has commoditised its exciting product.

FREEDOM FOR COUPLES

Moore Park store, Monday lunch-time, a quiet day in the store which is undergoing a major merchandising re-lay, probably to reflect new seasonal stock coming in (autumn look).

It's interesting how couples shop together to reduce the perceived risk of major purchases, typically for the home. Contrast the first vignette where a woman is shopping alone - her body language is quite introspective. Now watch the second vignette - the sales assistant is engaging the woman, but he is clearly pretty disinterested, maybe a bit embarrassed by the discussion about the duvet set. In the third snippet, she asks him if he is worried, but he is leading her into the linen department. All in all different dynamics. What could the retailer do differently to reduce perceived risk for 'blokes' in this situation, or at least increase their comfort levels ? They're a tough audience.

ANACONDA - THE GRASS ON THE SNAKE

Anaconda recently opened a huge new store at Moore Park to huge fanfare. The Shoppologist cruised through there on a Monday lunch-time. The store was predictably quiet.

The huge barn-like atmosphere shouts range and low price but lacks ambience and theatre. The no-frills features like concrete floors and high stud lights reinforce the low price proposition. The wooden check out and service counters are a bit hokey, as are the staff members' vests.

However, I found the staff member I encountered friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

The advertising is of the unfortunately ubiquitous 'shouting deal' variety.

This is undoubtedly a destination if you are looking for any camping or outdoor leisure gear, a traditional category killer model - they feel a bit like the Super Cheap Auto of camping, which is ironic as that business has its own BCF (Boating, Camping, Fishing) large format business.

It will be a haven to blokes looking for a male-friendly environment, but a turn-off to those looking for a more engaging shopping experience.

WINDOWS THAT SELL- SHOPPOLOGIST REVIEW

Some observations while drinking a coffee in the Broadway mall - just off city centre, a strong fashion mall, mainly mid-market, with a sprinkling of more upscale stores. dotti is a national womenswear fashion chain owned by Just Group, and is experiencing strong growth. The core target market is the 25 year old working woman. Merchandise is reasonably priced, and of a reasonable quality. In the Broadway mall, the store is located on the top floor, in the specialty fashion precinct - its neighbour immediately left is Esprit.

I was struck by the impact the windows had on passing foot traffic. The store gets a disproportionate share of the passing traffic in a relatively quiet area of the mall, and leaves its far larger Esprit neighbour for dead. The contemporary fashion direction (return to hippies/60s era) was well demonstrated. The clear background to the display lends impact.

The window display was mirrored with key items merchandised at the front of the store (next to the security bollards). The video below also shows the importance- long understood by successful retailers - of strongly merchandising the 'facing' wall - that is the one facing the highest traffic flow - in this case from left to right.

The video shows about 2 mins of continuous running footage taken at approx 2pm - 2.15pm on a recent Thursday.

UPDATED: A BASIC NUMERIC ANALYSIS

• In the 2 mins of this observation, 24 consumers passed or entered the store, or 1 every 5 secs.
• Of these, 13 were from the left, 11 from the right side of the store.
• Of the 24, 17 (71%) were female, 7 male.
• Of the 24, a staggering 11 looked at the window (7 from the left, 4 from the right)
• Of the 11 looking at the window, 10 were female, meaning that 10/17 (59%) female customers observed the window.
• Of the 10 who observed the window, 7 (70%) went into the front of the store and examined the merchandise displays.
• Thus of the original 17 female customers (target market), 7 (41%) were converted into examining the displays at the front of the store.
  

SOLE-FUL CHEMIST

(forgive the double entende) Chemist, Soul Pattinson, Miranda Mall is obviously big into orthotic shoes - this window looks more like a shoe-store - perhaps forgot to sell the health benefits, but gets ticks for trying to make an unsexy category fashionable.  It will be interesting to see how they go. 

THE 60s ARE BACK

Latest seasons look at Forever Young Miranda mall

OFF BRAND OFF TARGET

Poor promo concept inconsistent with brands on display Myer Miranda

RIVETTING

New Levis store format good use of brand iconography Miranda mall

A STEP AHEAD

Strong use of background colour Quiksilver Miranda mall

Mmmm CHOCOLATE

Good merchandising Lindt store Miranda mall

DREAM

At David Jones good use of security bollards Miranda mall

FISHY BUSINESS

Impressive range and display Miranda mall, service was good too

THE TOPLESS LATTE

(Source: CNN) http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/02/27/topless.coffee.shop/index.html

• 
  STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Men, women without tops wait tables at Maine coffee shop
  
• Owner says high number of applicants a reflection of tough job market
  
• Staff hired on basis of friendliness and willingness to "treat everyone equally"
  
• "People leave here happy and can't wait to come back," owner says

Video report here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0flr8790g0