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Description of the Setting
This paper is a detailed description of a Walmart supermarket setting in the United States. On this day, the intention for a visit was to purchase vegetables like tomatoes, onions, and other groceries for making food for Christmas. The supermarket had many shelves with different products for buyers. Each category of products was placed in one place to ease access and purchase by clients. For instance, they located all fresh vegetables in the fresh food area. In this area, all kinds of vegetables were available with their price tags placed on them to enable the customers to identify the prices and choose to buy. Apart from that, there were supermarket attendants, all in uniforms, standing at strategic points in the store to check for any illegal activities such as shoplifting and helping clients identify and buy different products (Kumar et al., 2018). To aid in this, many cameras were installed to capture live pictures, which then get monitored in the control center for any suspicious activities.
At the supermarkets entrance, there were security personnel who were equipped to manage and prevent illegal activities such as theft and terrorism by unwarranted individuals. Many companies had their products on the shelves and adjusted to one another for easy purchasing and easy decision-making. The stalls were arranged correctly, and the floors were sufficiently cleaned, as identified by the radiant floors. The lighting and ventilation are also perfect, and many air conditioners supplement airflow in the building. The customers were moving up and down to different areas in the store to purchase other goods to suit their needs. Every customer had a shopping basket and trolley where they put the things they had purchased. It was interesting to note that people that came with children frequented the confectionery and sweets area when compared to those without children. Once the buyers had collected their products, they would then approach the cashier at the counter, where they would pay for the items shopped. After paying up for their purchases, the buyers leave the trollies and buckets behind to be collected and used by other people.
Apart from the price labels next to the products being sold, there were other labels and markings in the supermarket meant to pass information. Many posters displayed the products that had discounts and how one could win the coupons and deals. Occasionally, an attendant made announcements on the speaker to communicate either to fellow workers or a particular buyer. For instance, at that moment, the attendant on the speaker announced that assistance was needed near the chocolate shelf because some boxes had fallen off the shelves. The attendants to the area and put things for the continuity of work. Hardly anyone spoke to anyone in the supermarket except family members or customers asking for the attendant. There was a high level of orders in that Walmart supermarket.
Patterns and Rules
As observed on that visit, there were many rules and patterns that buyers and attendants followed in the supermarket. One of the rules that are not written but still govern operations is the issue of silence. Hardly anyone talks while in the supermarket except for family members and workers. Not even the children make noise in the supermarket; not even children. Was it not for the noise from the attendant on speaker and children that creamed when their parents failed to get them some candy, the place was as silent as a library (Hynes and Manson, 2016)? This rule is because noise is irritating, and individuals need a quiet place that allows concentration to budget themselves well and buy products (Pajovi, 2017). Besides, the noise will make it hard for attendants to manage the supermarket and prevent cases of theft and rowdiness.
The other pattern or rule within the store is not eating or using anything before paying. Even the children that had their parents buy them snacks did not try to open them to eat while in the store. This rule or pattern is mainly for accountability. If people are allowed to open whatever they have bought, for instance, candies, they can eat them up before getting to the cashier. There is a high chance they may not include that in their bill (Jarvis and Williams, 2017). Many supermarkets would have made millions of losses if this rule was not implemented.
The other pattern is cleanliness and tidiness. Like any supermarket, Walmart is also well organized and clean despite the vast number of people that visit the stores. Any waste items are put in dust bins in and outside the store, and all products should be returned to their respective positions. Supermarkets are considered high-end areas for shopping since most of the things bought there can be found in other retail stores, and thus managers have to keep the places high class. One of the ways of doing this is by keeping them clean (Gustavo Jr et al., 2018). This pattern also attracts high-class customers that like comfort and order.
Methodological Issues Identified
During the collection of this data, various methodological issues arose regarding observation. One of the significant issues identified in the observation methodology was biasness (Mueller et al., 2018). I have been going to supermarkets my whole life, and some things were patterns and rules that I chose to ignore or disregard because they seemed obvious to me. This disregard of some information which could be critical in the study due to biasness and deliberate assumptions makes the data collected unreliable (Padrao et al., 2022). Besides, there was the methodological issue of not observing everything. Since I was in very few areas in the supermarket, I might have missed a chance to monitor other activities that would have informed the study better. Apart from that, I identified the issue of how time-consuming the method was. I had to stay in the supermarket for up to 4 hours to observe these patterns and trends (Mohajan, 2018). I had to also move around the supermarket, and staying that long in a supermarket makes people suspicious of you. However, it was an inexpensive and straightforward method and would have been perfect if these methodical issues were abated.
Sociological Concepts that Derive from Identified Patterns
I was particularly intrigued with the pattern of the silence of people in supermarkets, and I believe there is something to it that has not been researched before. What was the reason why people kept quiet while shopping in supermarkets? Does silence in supermarkets increase the chances of someone spending more money or impulse buying? Even though research by Yanar (2019) have identified silence to be critical in shopping, they have been insufficient in connecting the noise and psychology of buyers. It would be interesting to see such questions answered through research as they will provide data that might change the whole shopping experience or model. For instance, if the research suggests that silence increases buying, then it will make shopkeepers ensure that their shops are as quiet as possible.
References
Gustavo Jr, J. U., Pereira, G. M., Bond, A. J., Viegas, C. V., & Borchardt, M. (2018). Drivers, opportunities and barriers for a retailer in the pursuit of more sustainable packaging redesign. Journal of Cleaner Production, 187, 18-28.
Hynes, N., & Manson, S. (2016). The sound of silence: Why music in supermarkets is just a distraction. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 28, 171-178.
Jarvis, J. E., & Williams, I. A. (2017). A case study exploration of strategies to improve first-line supervisor problem-solving abilities in the retail supermarket industry. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), 6.
Kumar, V. S., Renganathan, R., VijayaBanu, C., & Ramya, I. (2018). Consumer buying pattern analysis using apriori association rule. International Journal for Pure and Applied. Mathematics, 119(7), 2341-2349.
Mueller, M., DAddario, M., Egger, M., Cevallos, M., Dekkers, O., Mugglin, C., & Scott, P. (2018). Methods to systematically review and meta-analyse observational studies: a systematic scoping review of recommendations. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1), 1-18.
Mohajan, H. K. (2018). Qualitative research methodology in social sciences and related subjects. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 7(1), 23-48.
Padrão, E. M., Rahhal, H., Valente, F. S., & Besen, B. A. (2022). Methodological issues in meta-analyses of observational studies: the need for attention to the details. British Journal of Anaesthesia, 128(5), 303-305.
Pajovi, S. (2017). The longevity of the supermarket as a non-place in Don Delillos white noise. FACTA UNIVERSITATIS-Linguistics and Literature, 15(2), 235-243.
Suselj, K., Posselt, D., Smalley, M., Lebsock, M. D., & Teixeira, J. (2020). A new methodology for observation-based parameterization development. Monthly Weather Review, 148(10), 4159-4184. Web.
Yanar, M. (2019). Don Delillos White Noise: The untrue, unreal end of the subject. Interstudia (Revista Centrului Interdisciplinar de Studiu al Formelor Discursive Contemporane Interstud), (25), 107-119.
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