Telecom Stores - they work

Great design in a shops layout will both entice customers as well as make the shopping experience far more enjoyable for your customers.

I noticed a Telecom outlet store in Hamilton on the weekend and was blown away by how far they have come as a retailer.  Here's the lowdown on the store -

1.  It was well lit.  Everything was easy to see.
2. The shop was uncluttered.  All the products were located on the walls with one product per every 2 to 3 metres.  Products were easy to see, there were no distractions and it wa seasy to focus on exactly what you were looking at.
3. The centre of the shop was for sitting only.  There were no products or displays in the centre of the shop.  The shopper standing at the doors could see straight through the shop right up to the counter with no hindrances.

I recommend that ifyou are in the area (Centre Place Hamilton) go and check it out.  Retail success starts with the right design and layout of your store.  Note - the image above is not the exact store I saw but you get what I'm talking about  Right?

Product Design - Apple iPod Shuffle - Brilliant!

(Disclaimer - I am not prehistoric or a neanderthal as far as technology goes- just new to Apple).

Much of this post will be unashamedly a shout out to Steve Jobs and the awesome people at Apple.  I have read a lot about Apple and the products they make.  I have seen others using their products and at times have used the Mac and the iPod.

However today was the first time I had the privelage of opening a brand new package from Apple.  And to be honest everything I had read and heard proved to be true!

The box containing the iPod was impeccable.  The product was able to be seen through the clear box and the headphones were viewable also.  All of the initial packaging said - "Open up and use me.  Go on, you know you want to!"

Then once the initial seal was broken the internal contents were laid out in such a way as to make sense.  On top was the actual player, followed by the headphones and last but by no means least were the instructions.  The instructions were not some book or too-many times folded piece of paper with 6 different languages on it.  Nope.  The cover of the instruction bok has a simple message - "Start here".  No mucking around, nothing superfluous, just cut to the chase plug it in and go instructions.  And those are only the looks...

When playing the iPod all of the controls are located on the headphones.  Simple, clean design and easy to use.  Volume and song choice are determined by clicking a button that sits perfectly just below shoulder height when the ear pieces are being used.  The iPod even has the ability to tell you the name of the song and artist while the track is playing! Honestly whoever thinks of these things should be kinghted.

I am truly blown away by the sheer engineering brilliance and design pedigree that show through on the Shuffle.  What excites me the most is the fact that someone took the time to think about the basic things - the instructions, the packaging, the size, the convenience of use.  Fantastic!

If all of Apple's products are packaged as well and work as well as my humble iPod shuffle then I am a guarenteed customer for life.  And fingers crossed I might be able to convine my wife to buy me more Apple products as Christmas......

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asdesign46/3370492831/)