Introduction
The interaction subject that I have chosen for this assignment was the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee. I chose the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee for my scenario because I work there and I know the store. There are a variety of areas of interaction that can be observed, and since I work there I know the majority of areas that customers interact with well and interact with poorly. With this location, there is person to person interaction, such as the customer and the sales associate, and person to environment interaction, such as how the customers find their way through the store or how the workers find their way through the store. The Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee is a fairly busy location in a small town where there is only one other shoe store, Hibbets, which only offers athletic shoes.
Purpose
The purpose of this Interaction Report is to observe the interactive elements of the store floor at the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee. This Interaction Report will also observe the layout of the store and how easy it is for the customers to navigate on their own without asking for help.
The Scenario
The floor of the Shoe Sensation Store is in the front of the store, right where the store doors open up. It is accessible as soon as a customer steps inside the store. The store’s floor consists of several areas. These areas are broken down to the following categories and subcategories:
Women’s Floor
Women’s Athletic Wall
Women’s Work and Safety
Men’s Floor
Men’s Athletic Wall
Men’s Work and Safety
Kid’s Floor
Kid’s Wall
Kid’s Accessory Wall
Accessories
The layout of the store, as shown in Figure 1, is set up so that you have to walk through or look down every aisle while you are in the store. The registers are set in the middle of the store, which makes it so the customer’s can see down all of the aisles while standing at the registers. There are two registers, one on each side of the counter. One register faces the women’s department and the other register faces the kid’s and men’s departments.
Figure 1: Store Floor of Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, TN
Customer Demographics
There were three separate observation sessions that took place. The first session was on Monday, March 8, 2021, from 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM. The second session was on Sunday, March 14, 2021, from 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM. The third session was on Saturday, March 20, 2021 from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM.
The customer demographics for the first session consisted of young couples, older couples, and single men. The customer demographics for the second session consisted of older ladies and families (two young children and two parents). The customer demographics for the third session consisted of teenagers (both single and groups), working adults, and families (two children - young and old - and two parents.)
The age range of the families varied from young adults in their mid-twenties or early-thirties with younger children in the 3-6 year old range to adults in their late-thirties or early-forties with older children in the 10-15 year old age range. The young couples' age range varied from couples in their late-teens to mid-twenties. The older couples' age range varied from late-forties to early-sixties. The single men age range varied from mid-teens to early-thirties. The older ladies age range varied from late-sixties to early-eighties. The teenagers' age range was from sixteen to nineteen, when they can drive themselves to the store and were not with a parent. The working adults age range was typically between early-twenties to early-fifties. (See Table 1.)
Table 1: Demographic Breakdown
Observations
Figures 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 show the elements of the register. Figures 2.1 and 2.2 are from the worker’s perspective, while Figures 2.3 and 2.4 are from the worker’s perspective. Figure 2.1 shows Register 1 from the worker’s view. Figure 2.2 shows Register 2 from the worker’s perspective. Between Figure 2.1 and 2.2, there is a slight difference in the set up of the registers which is a small detail that affects how the workers interact within the environment. In Figure 2.1, the register is surrounded by open space, the CC machine is on the left, the mouse, scanner, and receipt machine are on the right side. In Figure 2.2, the register is less open due to a wall on the right side. In Figure 2.2, the CC machine is on the right with the mouse, scanner, and receipt printer. In Figure 2.2, the set up of the register makes it seem more crowded and harder to use for the worker. It also throws the worker off a bit due to them being set up differently. For example, if the CC machine is typically on the left and the worker goes to the left side to use it, but it isn’t there, it causes confusion.
Figure 2.3 shows the customer’s perspective during the checkout process. Figure 2.3 allows you to understand what the customer sees when checking out, which is nothing but the back of the computer. The CC machine is behind the counter where the workers take the debit/credit card and enter it into the CC machine themselves. The customers have no way of knowing if their card was accepted/declined or what the total is other than what the worker tells them and what the CC slip they must sign says. This is an issue, especially since the store located in Fayetteville, Tennessee has a variety of customers who do not speak English or are deaf and cannot understand what the worker is trying to tell them.
Figure 2.4 shows what the customer can see when checking out, in this case it is a mat that advertises a sale of the week. While Figure 2.4 shows what sale is currently happening in the store, it is not very helpful for multiple reasons. For example, the mat in Figure 2.4 says “50% off any full price skechers hosiery.” in big letters and “with a footwear purchase” in tiny letters. The mat does not provide any explanation as to what hosier is or to the other terms for the coupon. The worker, on the other hand, has a piece of paper behind the register that tells them the terms for the coupon, but it is often difficult to explain to the customers. Also, the customers often only see the “50% off” and “Skechers” and assume it means 50% off any Skechers purchase and are upset to learn otherwise.
Figures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, and 3.5 show the elements behind the checkout counter that the workers deal with on a daily basis. Figures 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 show the storage area behind the checkout counter. The storage area is supposed to have doors that close, but they don’t have the doors on, allowing the customers to see the unorganized mess that it is. Typically the storage area has mismatched shoes, empty boxes, damaged shoes, returned shoes, orders, etc. out in the open for everyone to see. Also, in Figure 3.2 you can see that one of the bins is labeled “Rubber Bands” but there are not any rubber bands in there. Instead of rubber bands, there are stickers, which can be confusing for the workers.
Figure 3.4 shows another storage bin where the employee purchases receipts, coupon receipts, returned receipts, receipts from opening the cash drawer, and all nightly paperwork is kept. Figure 3.4 also shows you the disorganized mess below that storage cabinet that has open shoe laces, various unlabeled cords, clorox wipes, face masks, etc. Figure 3.5 shows more of the worker’s area behind the checkout counter. In Figure 3.5, the most prominent thing is the multiple, unlabeled cords plugged in everywhere. This is an issue for the workers when it comes to the register going offline. IT usually tells you to turn off and unplug several things to try to fix the issue, but unless you are a computer whiz it is very confusing and frustrating to understand.
Figures 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, and 4.9 show the different clearance areas around the store floor. Figures 4.1 and 4.2 show the two clearance bins that sit in the front of the store, by the registers (one on each side.) Figures 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5 are all in the same aisle. The aisle is split into three sections: 1) Kid’s Clearance, 2) Men’s Clearance, 3) Kid’s Single Shoes. When looking at the shoes, the customers can tell the difference between the kid’s and men’s shoes, but there is no signage depicting where one section ends and the other begins. There is also the issue of trying to distinguish between the Kid’s clearance shoes and Kids single shoes that are full price. The only difference between the two sections is one is full price and one is clearance with a little sticker in the top left corner of the shoe boxes (as shown in Figure 4.3). This aisle often causes confusion among the customers.
Figure 4.6 shows the work and safety clearance area, which is not marked in any way except for the stickers on the box. This section is often not noticed by the customers unless they specifically ask for help in finding a cheap work shoe. Figure 4.7, 4.8, and 4.9 show the different areas of the women’s clearance. Figure 4.7 shows a rack of women’s spring clearance shoes that sits in the front window of the store. Figures 4.8 and 4.9 show the women’s clearance aisle, in the women’s floor (on the right side of the store). This can often be confusing to the customers because there are so many different places for clearance shoes. They cannot just look in one area, they must travel through the whole store to look at all of the clearance items.
Figure 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 show the different areas that the sports shoes are displayed around the store. Figure 5.1 shows sports shows displayed on the women’s floor instead of the women’s athletic wall with the rest of the tennis shoes. They are also in a position that is often overlooked because if a customer is looking at the athletic wall, their back is turned towards the end cap with the sports shoes on it. Figure 5.2 shows the kid’s athletic wall where all of the sports shoes for children are kept. This area is easily identifiable by the yellow signs that say “Kids.” However, there is also a blue sign that says “Cleats” which gives the impression that all of the cleats are there, not just Kids’ cleats. Figures 5.3 and 5.4 show where the men’s sports shoes are portrayed on the Men’s athletic wall. On the men’s wall, the shoes are kept together by brand, not separated by sports shoe, walking shoe, running shoe, etc. This causes confusion for the customers who have to search all over for cleats.
Figures 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 show the “Employees Only” door that leads to the store’s bathrooms and extra storage area. Figure 6.1 shows the door with the sign “Employees Only.” Figure 6.2 shows Bathroom 1 that is meant for the employees to use. Figure 6.3 shows Bathroom 2 that is meant for the customers to use. However, as it is behind our “Employees Only” door and in an area without cameras where we keep extra shoes, the workers are instructed to tell the customers that there is not a public restroom in the store. This deeply upsets customers, who sometimes call customer service to complain about there being no bathroom.
Interview: I asked three customers, one from each day observed, how they felt about the store not having a public restroom. The first customer was a mom in her mid-twenties, with a little girl, around the age of 3, and a little boy, around the age of 1. She responded with, “I find it hard to believe that a store does not have a restroom at all. I understand you having one and it not being public because of COVID-19 precautions, but to not have one at all? That seems unreasonable and unbelievable. I don’t like that I have to stop shopping and leave the store to take my children to Subway next door for a restroom, and then come back to continue shopping.” The second customer was an older woman in her mid-forties. She responded with,”If there’s no restroom, then where do the workers use the bathroom all day? I think you aren’t telling me the truth. What store doesn’t have a restroom?” The third customer I interviewed was a man in his thirties. He responded with, “It’s alright that there isn’t a bathroom, I understand. There’s one at Subway right next door, I’ll be right back to continue shopping.”
Figures 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 show the Men’s Athletic Wall and the signs which are supposed to signify to the customers where each brand is in the store. However the signage is incorrect. As you can see in Figure 7.1, there is an Under Armor sign, but Puma shoes. In Figure 7.2, there is a Nike sign, but Under Armor signs. In Figure 7.3, there is a Puma sign, but FILA shoes. This is very misleading to the customers, who then have to ask for help locating the brand they are searching for.
Figure 8.1 shows the Infant (Baby) shoes section in the store. This section is on the Kid’s Accessory Wall, instead of on the floor with the rest of the children’s shoes. This section is often missed entirely and the workers are frequently asked if the store even carries baby shoes.
Figure 9.1 shows the Bump Table. The Bump Table is one of the first things that customers see when stepping into the store. It is located right next to the registers, and displays accessories and shoes that are involved in the sale occurring each week. The bump table gets changed every Sunday when the sale changes. It shows the customers what sale is happening, what shoes we have in, etc.
Figures 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 , 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, 10.11, 10.12 , and 10.13 show the different areas in the store where accessories are displayed. Figures 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, and 10.8 are all near the register (either right underneath the checkout counter or right across from it.) Figures 10.6 and 10.7 show the athletic slides on an endcap in the Women’s Floor. Figures 10.9, 10.11, and 10.12 show the accessories on the Kid’s Accessory Wall, ranging from bags, purses, socks, and athletic slides (separated by girl and boy accessories.) Figure 10.13 shows more Women’s accessories on the Women’s Floor. Figure 10.10 shows the Men’s Accessory Wall, which also has women’s accessories on it. The Men’s Accessory Wall also has Crocs hanging up, even though the rest of the crocs are in boxes and kept in their own designated aisle on the Men’s Floor. The accessories are spread out in multiple sections throughout the store, which makes it difficult for customers to know where to look when they stop in the store.
Conclusion
Overall, the Shoe Sensation in Fayetteville, Tennessee is set up nicely, but could certainly be reorganized and labeled clearly to make the store more user-friendly to the customers. In its current state, the design of the store causes the customers and the workers a large quantity of confusion that can be solved quite simply. Changes should be made immediately so as to avoid driving customers away from the feelings of confusion and frustration that occur while in the store.
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