Hypothesis
People do the activity of grocery shopping everyday whether it is a weekly shop or only for a few items. It's a time consuming task we all have to do at some stage of the week that is a necessity. To understand how people use shopping trolleys and shopping baskets, We will be observing people's behave and reaction with their approach of how they use shopping trolleys and shopping baskets in supermarket
We expect to observe the particular habits individuals have while interacting with these throughout their shopping experience in supermarket. We believe people who plan to do weekly shop will presumably requaire the aid of a shopping trolley for the amount of items they are purchasing.
Our Observations
Trolleys Vs. Baskets
We observed how people use shopping trolleys and baskets. We discovered that people initially decided to use a shopping trolley or basket before entering the store if they are doing weekly shop, this cause of action is because the store we were observing place their shopping trolleys and baskets specifically located at the front of the store. Some people who do not choose to use basket or trolley shopping at the start will come back to take one of them because they decided to purchase more than two or three items.
Supermarket in Suburb
http://youtu.be/DXlYLTWLPA0
http://youtu.be/veXZ3ZagjCw
http://youtu.be/WEcf2_q7SBA
http://youtu.be/regdopspG24
Photo
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| This customer places their fruit and vegetables in the main body of the trolley |
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| Gradually stacking up the items layer by layer |
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| This particular customer places their fragile items such as bread and eggs in the child seat |
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| They place soft items such as biscuits on top , above the heavier item |
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| Heavier items such as bottles of mineral water, milk and canned foods were placed on the bottom of the trolley. Lighter items such as biscuits and bread were placed on top to avoid damage |
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| Front section of the trolley was used to place the laundry powder to one side and other side was used to place the heavy bags of rice. |
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| End result of how this customer utilises the use of a shopping trolley |
Trolley
Video
http://youtu.be/u0xOU__i1lw
Photos
Because this trolley does not have any sections to separate the customer's shopping, she would have to put dangerous chemical, such as Raid, at the front part of the trolley and foods or non toxic items at the back part.
This customer decided to put all foods, include fragile ones such as eggs at the back of the trolley and heavy products at front part of the trolley.
This customer place her soft items, such as sushi and yakult, at the bottom of the trolley. After that, she put dangerous chemicals near her dairy products.
This customer has not bought a lot of items so far. He just got tissues and put them on top of the others.
This customer has not got a lot of items either, when i took a picture of his basket. He just bought some tissues and plastic plates.
The customer put heavy items, such as cans and bottles, at the bottom of the basket and he also put soft items, such as bread, on top of the heavy items.
This customer did not take a basket or trolley but she used her own trolley. I saw her put some items in it.
Our Discoveries:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ21aj9Qoic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG1JDzkIrS8
- People, who did the weekly shop plan on buying a numerous amount of necessities so they knowingly chose to use a trolley to facilitate for all their items.
- Couples or families who shop together we noticed the men generally pushes the trolley around the store, while the women selected items/products from the shelves and places them into the trolley.
- Roughly some of men and some of women use trolleys when they shop because they need to buy lots of item.
- Women do shopping on their own generally chose to use a trolley, the main reason is because they were doing their weekly grocery shop
- People who carry many things, such as laptops and books, prefer to use trolley because they can put their things in it.
- Disable people often need an assistance to help them doing groceries shopping.
- We also noticed that some of disable people put their shopping basket on their lap.
- People who bought 15 items or less such as buying lunch or dinner for the day chose to utilise a shopping basket for ease of carrying their groceries throughout the supermarket.
- Men generally carry the shopping basket using their hands to grasp the handles of the basket.
- Women usually carry the basket by letting it hang off their arm
- Some women use their both hands to carry the basket because it is too heavy for them.
- Some supermarkets do not provide trolley in their stores such as Coles at Elizabeth st so customers have to use basket instead.
- Some people usually push their basket with their foot while waiting in line for payment
How people carry their groceries without the need of a trolley or basket
- People usually carry their groceries using their hands or place items underneath their arm while shopping
- They bring their own re-usable bags or own shopping trolley
- The majority of elderly people use a shopping jeep to place all their shopping in.
- Women who bring their baby/young child with them while shopping will place their groceries inside the pram/stroller
- In some Supermarkets they provide empty cardboard boxes
What is the use of trolleys and baskets?
Trolley
- Shopping trolley help people easily carry their shopping in the supermarket. Especially for people who do weekly or monthly shopping.
- It helps people who shop with their children because they can put their children inside the seat section.
- Instead of using their hands to carry all their shopping bags to car, they can use trolley to make their shopping experience efficient.
- Majority of eldery people cannot carry heavy items inside shopping baskets, although they only purchase few item (6-7 items), therefore trolley can help them a lot to carry all their items.
Conclusion : Generally, we observed people who are going to buy heavy items, such as 2L bottles, 10kg Rice,etc in their weekly grocery shopping will utilize a shopping trolley because baskets are too small, heavy, and cannot cater for all these extra items.
Basket
- People who only purchase few items (6-7 items) will use basket
- People who are in hurry will use basket instead of trolley because easy to grab
- People who purchase daily shopping needs, such candy, tissues, bread, milk, etc, they do not need a shopping trolley
- People who only purchase quick meal of the day will use basket.
Conclusion : Majority, people we saw who are in rush or only buy few items (5-6 items) will use shopping basket because it is quick and easy to grab and it has the ideal space and size for express shopping.
- People who only purchase few items (6-7 items) will use basket
- People who are in hurry will use basket instead of trolley because easy to grab
- People who purchase daily shopping needs, such candy, tissues, bread, milk, etc, they do not need a shopping trolley
- People who only purchase quick meal of the day will use basket.
Conclusion : Majority, people we saw who are in rush or only buy few items (5-6 items) will use shopping basket because it is quick and easy to grab and it has the ideal space and size for express shopping.
Survey
- From a short survey we conducted, a large proportion of people preferred to have sections within their trolley as they said it would make it much more easier to unload their trolley at the checkout, with less effort of having to go through and organise all their groceries.
- Most people said they would like a cooler section to keep all their cold/frozen items in a 'cooler section' eg. their milk, yoghurt, meat, fish fresh during their shopping trip.
- Mainly elderley people found the height of the trolley a concern because this caused them to bend down into the trolley when unloading as well as placing items into the trolley
- From our past observation, we found out that majority of people place their shopping randomly in the trolley.
- Some people intuitively separated their non-food items (cleaning chemicals etc.) from the fresh and packaged foods.
