EBISUYA JAPANESE MARKET REDESIGN

Ebisuya is a family-owned market offering a delightful mix of Japanese products, fresh grab-and-go food, household items, clothing, and educational supplies for children. Our project aims to analyze the layout's impact on the consumer's shopping experience through observations and interviews. With this, we'll provide valuable suggestions for an even better shopping journey at Ebisuya.

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DELIVERABLE

Layout redesign suggestions

SETTING

Group project with Niki Alden and May Lam

TIMELINE

8 weeks

Brand

Ebisuya prides itself on upholding Japanese traditions, fostering a strong sense of community, and promoting a deep cultural connection to its roots. The brand emphasizes a joyful shopping experience, offering light, comfortable, and stress-free surroundings that reflect the essence of Japan's heritage and hospitality.

Style Choices

Carts

Smaller carts = For purchase of single-use items, children friendly

Lights

Dimmer at outskirts, more direct on special items and areas, natural for leisure eating

Colors

Green = Airy, simple, light, naturistic

Beige tones = Casual, stress-free

Family Based Groups - Community Bonding - Middle Age Parents

  • Drive vans to hold lots of relatives

  • Work 9-5 stable jobs, medium income of 60k

  • Cook often

Peer Friend Groups - Shared Learning Experience - College Students

  • Take public transportation or walk, nearby, and don’t drive

  • Need food and buy a few items, from studying and loans

Single - Running Errand - Working Adult

  • Rush on time, work nearby, pick up lunch

  • New worker, low salary of 30k, have loans

Audience Demographic

Audience Psychographic

Long-term: Traditional, Stable, Family-Oriented

Loyal to particular items to make traditional dishes, reminisce memories of food connected to culture

Short-term: Explorative, Adventurous, Fun

Sporadically buys products for the experience, treats grocery shopping as an adventure

Navigation and Information

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  • Systems within the store encourage consumers to shift from one area to another during their visit.

  • Food court area with two counters: one for sushi (order-pay at side register) and one for noodles/bento (order-pay before pickup or staff delivery).

  • Food orders placed using checkbox menus and supported by posters showcasing dish images and appealing colors.

  • Eye-catching colors and phrases like "discount" or "sale" draw attention.

  • Hanging signs indicate open/closed status and hours of food counters.

  • Pre-packaged food shelves offer grab-and-go convenience with detailed signs, instructions, and no need for weighing/pricing.

  • Language options and picture instructions cater to a diverse consumer base.

  • Fresh food counter wait times lead customers to the grocery section.

  • Store layout includes confusing placement of products in different areas.

  • Aisle signs are too high and lack attention-grabbing colors, making navigation challenging.

  • Prices are displayed with small black text tags, and lack of barcode scanners.

  • Density of people shifts from food areas during meal times to grocery shopping areas during wait times.

  • Interviews reveal typical shopping durations of half-hour to one hour.

  • Long-term users find products easily due to familiarity.

  • Limited staff presence due to their section-specific responsibilities.

Interior Design

Food court (Open kitchen & Sitting area)

A place to rest in the middle of the shopping

Booths (Promotions & Sales)

Use booths for the sale items instead of end caps

Phonic wall (Vibrant illustrations)

Unique wall printed with Japanese phonics

Checkout area (Far from the Entrance)

Columns cover up sections of food

Meat & Diary (Near the front end)

Need to relocate as far as possible from the entrance

Aisle area (Necessity order)

Odd combination of seaweed with chocolate

Research Method

Personal Testing

  • Make layout after walking through

  • Compare to actual layout

  • Note differences

  • Research layout information to base question to base questions off of

Interview Questions

  • Demographic information

  • Frequency/ length of patronage

  • Traditional store or specialty store

  • Time spent in the store

  • Navigation ease

  • Impulse purchase

Results & Takeaways

Personal Testing Results

  • Navigation is more complicated

  • Different use case

  • Need to preserve cultural aspects of the store

  • Need to adopt a plan

Interview Results

  • Spend $50-$100 per trip

  • Mostly come with the intent of impulse purchase

  • Mostly buy specialties

  • Social shopping

  • Little to no issue navigating

Top 10 Findings

Strengths

Food courter

Unique food selection

Authenticity

Location of Rice

Front Store sales

Shortcomings

Shopping carts

Signage

Lack of Signature

Organization

Physical Space

Five Improvements/ Suggestions

  1. Cart Use

    Encourage cart use by changing the placement of carts. Eventually, increase cart size.

  2. Existing Signage

    Make sure all signs are in both Japanese and English. Also, improve the readability of signs

  3. New Signage

    Try adding signs like:

    If you like ___ you should try ___

    ___ is great in ___

    Try pairing ___ with ___

  4. Rearrange

    Flip drinks with meat. Pair similar categories together consistently and complements nearby

  5. Store Interior

    Open up the store interior by removing some pillars to create a more open and welcoming feeling

Previous

Cub Crusade