My Travels to Istanbul--------

Robin TeiglandStanford Crash Course in Creativity

Assignment 2October 30, 2012

Assignment 2 Are You Paying Attention?

1. Go to at least 6 different stores. They can be at the same shopping center or different locations. Spend at least 15 minutes in each store making OBSERVATIONS using the lab guide for reference. Take photos to capture your observations.

2. Create a presentation that captures your INSIGHTS and HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES. What types of things had you missed before? What were your biggest surprises? Are there opportunities hidden in plain sight?

https://venture-lab.org/creativity/index

A day as a traveler

For my assignment, I spent a day exploring stores in an upscale neighborhood in Istanbul, Turkey and comparing these to the stores in an equivalent area in my hometown of Stockholm, Sweden and in other cities such as San Francisco, USA.

I found several opportunities, but here I will only present one – for neighborhood grocery stores.

Neighborhood grocery stores in Istanbul

Going to the local grocery is a chore.• The atmosphere is like a warehouse.

– The stores are overcrowded with produce crammed onto non-descript shelves.– The floor plan is very cramped and makes you want to move through it as quickly as

possible.– The stores are very generic in that you cannot tell one from the other.

• The product offering is very commoditized. – All the aisles look the same in terms of produce. – The products are primarily Turkish with few international products other than those

by US FMCG companies, e.g., Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble. – The fresh produce is very limited and the deli only offers what you could buy from

the shelves, except that you could order a specified amount.

• Customer service is limited. – In some stores, the customers are well-known by the storekeeper and receive

friendly service. – However, in the larger stores, the staff is almost invisible and do not greet the

customers. In some cases, it even seemed as if they hid from their customers.

Hidden Opportunity?Is it possible to turn

shopping at theneighborhood grocery store

in Istanbulinto an experience

for all the five senses?

Tantalizing your senses?

Examples from neighborhood grocery stores in USA

And not to forget – something for our ears

Examples from neighborhood grocery stores in USA

Is there an unmet need for ready-made meals?

Examples from neighborhood grocery stores in USA

What do the locals say?In our local stores, the aisles are so

narrow – it is almost like a fight to get through them.

One thing that I miss, and a lot of others who have lived abroad and return to Turkey, is an international selection of products that I can

just get at a nearby store.

When I come home tired from work, I would like to have good quality pre-

made food that is not this crappy frozen stuff.

YES!!YES!!

YES!!

Hidden Opportunity?Is it possible to turn

shopping at theneighborhood grocery store

into an experience for all the five senses?