Field Research Plan to a Best Buy Store to Determine who will be the Best Customers to Use Sales Mobile Phone App
(Student’s Full Name)
Field Research Plan to a Best Buy Store to Determine who will be the Best Customers to Use Sales Mobile Phone App
Description of the Space at Best Buy
The location of the Best Buy store that I chose to visit is the store located at Miami International Mall. I thought this store would be the best store for me to check out this store because it has a mobile trade-in center and it sells many mobile phones. Since the app that I plan to create is a mobile phone app and the Best Buy store has a habit of keeping weekly sales, I felt that it was best for me to visit a Best Buy store.
The store is not one of the largest Best Buy stores that I have visited. This is understandable since the store is located in a mall. The square footage is definitely smaller than most Best Buy stores that are housed in their own buildings. However, it is large enough to sell large appliances such as washers, dryers, large smart televisions and refrigerators. There are many advertisements located in the store. It’s obvious that the best deals that are advertised are cell phone deals. The store offers free WiFi access to its customers, which is the case for all Best Buy stores. Therefore, this helps to encourage mobile media use while the customer is in the store.
Many of the customers located in the stores were white persons. There were also a few black and Hispanic persons. I noticed that there were mainly men shopping in the store. The customers were dressed in a very casual and relaxed way. Many of them were wearing jeans and a simple graphic t-shirt. I visited this store during the winter season. Therefore, all the customers had on overcoats, puffer jackets, and puffer coats. There were also wearing scarfs, hats, and gloves. There was hardly anyone showing any bare skin because they were dressed for the weather. I saw a couple standing together while looking at a phone. Most persons were by themselves while looking at a phone. I observed some persons talking to sales clerks who were positioned all over the store.
The Ways in which People Interact with Each Other and with Mobile Devices in Best Buy Store
The main mobile devices that were used in the store were smartphones. However, there were other mobile devices that were used included tablets and notebooks. The most popular that I saw many persons using in the store was the iPhone. I also saw a number of Samsung Galaxy phones being used by some customers. It should be noted that there is a Samsung Experience Shop located inside of the store. It was while in this particular space in the store that I saw that some of the customers attempt to use innovative products, such the Level U Pro headphones and the watch Gear S2 Classic watch. These gadgets allow a customer to take calls and use their voice to create text messages without having a phone. I observed a few customers looking at the Gear S2, which can allow a person to access text messages, calls, and notifications. It also allows one to use apps, such as Maps, Uber, Lyft and other apps. I observed some customers trying to connect the Level On Pro headphone to the Samsung Galaxy S7 so that they can listen to music without any cords. One customer was attempting to find out how to use Samsung Pay on the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge instead of using credit, gift and membership cards.
Incidents that took Place While at Store
I used the opportunity to ask the customers who were purchasing the Gear S2 watches, headphones, and smartphones how they can benefit from a mobile app that compares sales from all over the world. Some expressed an interest in the mobile phone app but some were already using similar mobile apps, such as Flipp, Shopular, and ShopSavvy. However, I asked to them if they would be interested in an app if it was able to show when a place offers a sale on an item that is not real and when it does not. Many of them were interested. I then asked them why they were interested. They said that they were instances where they were fooled by a sale that was offered online only to find out that it was not a real sale. I then asked at what times during the year they noticed that these fake sales were happening very often. The customers told me that it was during the Christmas shopping season that they noticed that these fake sales were happening very often. I asked them if they had ever bought anything at Best Buy where there was a fake sale. They told me that they had notice a fake sale when looking at the website for ads offering a reduction in the price, but when they went to the store they saw no such price reduction.
What Ideas for My Design Project My Observations Lead to?
My observations at Best Buy reveal that “needs and opportunities” are understood when a business or individual commits itself to “systematic innovation” (Kasper & Clohesy, 2008, p. 4). I felt that it was important to approach customers who were open to using the most innovative products because they would not only be willing to try something new, but they would be willing to identify what they need as a consumer. Benard Yannou, Marija Jankovic, Yann Leroy and Gül Kremer (2013) mention that when developing a technologically innovative product, it is important to find out “what people fundamentally need or expect” (p. 19). While visiting the store I was able to come up with a design while engaging in a “traditional brainstorming” session (Toubia, 2006, p. 411). My intention is to create a mobile phone application (app) that helps its users to find information about any “big sale” that is happening anywhere in the world. This mobile phone application, while integrating information about any large sale that is happening in the world, will allow users to find any type of item that they desire to buy in a sale. People are often on the lookout for a huge sale, as I found out while at the Best Buy store. Therefore, some stores use a huge sale to attract potential customers. However, when the stores put on these huge sales, a customer would go to the store only to find out that product, which the store said was being placed on sale, was not on sale. The mobile phone app will allow customers to determine if a sale is real or not. In addition, this app will allow shoppers to make comparisons among all the huge sales that are being conducted on a given day.
References
Kasper, G., & Clohesy, S. (2008). Intentional Innovation. Battle Creek: W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Toubia, O. (2006). Idea Generation, Creativity, and Incentives. Marketing Science,25(5), 411-425. doi:10.1287/mksc.1050.0166
Yannou, B., Jankovic, M., Leroy, Y., & Kremer, G. E. (2013). Observations From Radical Innovation Projects Considering the Company Context. Journal of Mechanical Design,135 (2), 021005. doi:10.1115/1.4023150
