Customer Case

Category observed: Chemist shop

No. of consumers observed:

Saturday evening: Shop 1- 14 (1 hour)

Shop 2 -12 ( 1 hour)

Sunday evening: Shop 1 - 20 ( 1 hour)

Shop 2 - 15 ( 1 hour)

Gender Distribution of sample observed:

The distribution was very random with both females and males visiting both the stores under observation. Although amongst the youth a majority of boys was observed during our time of observation.

Age distribution of sample observed:

The sample age varied from 15yrs to 85 years. Where majority of the visitors were in the age group of 35-55 year olds.

Organize and conduct your observation along following lines using AEIOU framework for observation. There are few pointers given against each criterion. These are only suggestive and may not include all aspects of that criterion. Therefore groups can organize their observations along these specific criteria.

Activities: sets of action happening, things people want to accomplish, preference for specific brands, type of product, decision-making process etc.

The people who visited the store had come with the specific need of buying either medicines or medicated skin care products. Almost all the people with prescription slips were visiting this shop on reference from Kokilaben Hospital which was very close by. The others were regular customers living in and around the area who bought regular non-prescription drugs and syrups from these stores. They were very particular about specific brands in case of skin care products, shampoos and other toiletries although with respect to medicines in case the particular prescribed medicine brand wasn't available they would discuss with the chemist for his suggestion of the next best option.

There was also a trend observed - In case of customers with prescriptions they would rarely deviate from their list (1-2 cases), whereas the customers who came to purchase common medicines like Crocin, Disprin etc would also end up buying toothpaste and skin creams that were on display. These impulse buys were purely based on the visibility of the products reminding the customers of their needs of the commodities on display.

In case of adult customers the decisions were individual where as in case children came to buy on behalf of parents waiting in the car due to lack of parking area in peak traffic time, they would consult the parent before purchasing the item (like chocolates)

Environment: Entire arena where activities are taking place, store layout, structure, internal and external ambience, display etc.

Both the stores under observation were located in highly residential areas and therefore were not very huge. The approximate size would be 20x10ft. The store was very well lit with the cross symbol for chemists. The store was located in a complex on the ground floor with a grocery store next door. There is some leeway between the store and the pavement which is laid with cement tiles.

Outside the store there was an upright board facing the direction of the movement of the traffic close to the pavement.

The store was strategically located next to a popular local grocery store. Although ironically