STEPHANIE CHING
'Sophisticated Fashionista' A student who loves brands such as Lipsy, Zara & Miss Selfridge.
OBSERVATION DAY
The subject (Stephanie Ching) is Charmaine’s close friend. She is a student and loves different brands that are fashion-forward. She was aware that she was being observed, however the observation was to be treated like a normal activity with her friend and she had no clue of the brand Charmaine was studying.
Friday, 25th January 2013
The observation started at 3.30pm when I met Stephanie at Raffles City Shopping Centre after her school ended. She first asked me to accompany her to Topshop to try two items she had tried in the morning and reserved at the Tampines One outlet as she was on her way to school.
As she went to pick out those two items, she also browsed for other items like a sheer military top and another polka dotted dress. She also mentioned that she spent about half an hour trying out the two pieces of clothing in the morning: a white chiffon top with small floral prints and a long-sleeved sheer black blouse with floral prints and polka dots. She asked me for my opinion and I gave rather positive comments. She eventually bought the two items at the outlet at Tampines One.
She walked past Mango, glimpsed and walked by before walking over to Stradivarius. She was first attracted to walk into Stradivarius because of the Sales sign. She looked at the plain black T-shirt on sale before looking at printed items like Houndstooth pants and floral shorts. She decided to look for red jeans and checked if it was available on the sales rack but did not buy eventually since she had already bought many new pairs of jeans during her recent trip to the U.S.
After that, she walked into Aldo to browse at casual shoes for her boyfriend. She browsed and shortlisted potential shoes for her boyfriend to try so that he can buy them when they go shopping over the weekend. She did it this way as her boyfriend is a working professional and has very little time for shopping. Hence, she window-shops for him and shortlists items which he then can decide if he likes it or not as they go shopping during the weekend.
Thereafter, she went to Starbucks to share a Raspberry White Chocolate Cheese Brulee cake before going over to McDonalds to have twister fries as she was craving for it.
IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
What motivated you to go shopping today?
I was just browsing around since I had time, I was on my way to school in the morning and passed by Tampines One. In the afternoon, I walked around with my friend as it is common for us to go shopping when we meet and I wanted to ask her opinion regarding the items I was intending to buy.
How urgent/important is it for you to get the items? Why?
It is not important, I wanted to get the items as they caught my eye. I like the design and I thought they were easy to match. There was also a promotion in Topshop for CNY where buying 2 pieces would entitle me to more discount. I wanted to wait to see if my friend wanted to buy anything from Topshop then perhaps we could combine and get the discount.
What brands/shops you considered when getting this item?
I did not consider any other brands as I was just browsing and window- shopping and didn’t intend to buy anything.
Why did you list these brands?
N.A
How important are these attributes to you?
N.A
What made you enter the store/mall?
I entered the store as I wanted to browse for any new items in store that I might like or want to buy as I shop at Topshop often.
Is this always the case for you?
Yes, I frequently go window-shopping to see if there’s anything that I like.
What did you buy today?
I only bought food today as I felt like eating them.
Are you happy with your purchase?
Yes, it satisfied my craving.
Why did you not purchase the items?
I intended to buy the items from Topshop and I was still considering if I should get it so I reserved those items first.
