The Salvation Army, Singapore 2019

Changing behaviours towards reuse retail.

Developing strategies that help The Salvation Army tackle issues including a lack of awareness and education, as well as a negative stigma towards second-hand shopping. Our strategies aim to re-educate the public, encourage customer interaction, and to help rebrand The Salvation Army, with the intention of promoting their community services and to inspire positive experiences.

Initial scope of the project

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is an international Christian-based not-for-profit organisation that provides community services, support, and advice to those who are less fortunate and marginalised.

The initial project problem

The Salvation Army in Singapore receives tonnes of donations from the public. However, The Salvation Army would like to increase the amount of sales and foot traffic in their stores (their stores are also referred to as Family Hubs). We need to know what is causing the lack of foot traffic in order to know what we can do to address it. Trying to find the answer to this question is what drove us in our research.

The Design Process

What we discovered through our research

Before we embarked to Singapore we researched into how the Salvation Army was doing in Australia. In Australia, the Salvation Army is quite popular. Their stores draw in many customers a day, and the brand itself is very widely renowned. We conducted our research at five store locations across Western Australia (WA), finding that the demographics generally associated with the stores are women in their late 30s to 40, which are lower to middle class shoppers. We found that the stores are very big, they are generally in close proximity to other thrift/second hand stores and the product and store quality isn’t incredibly high.

By going to Singapore and conducting research there through interviewing stakeholders and people in the community, we gathered important information that informed the progression of the project. We learned that there seems to be an established opinion within Singapore’s culture about second-hand clothes - that customers will generally donate items rather than purchase them. In interviews with people in public settings, they said things like “people like buying things that are new” and “second-hand belongings are haunted”.

Learning about this community helped us to understand how to progress with the project.

Understanding the people affected by the project

A large number of people are involved in this issue, and in our strategies it was important to take these people into our consideration:

Customers - low/middle/high income, physical (retail stores and family hubs) and digital (e-commerce).

Beneficiaries - those who receive assistance from the services provided by the Salvation Army (3rd world countries, low income individuals and families, mental health clients, single mums and dads, elderly, homeless).

Donors - families, people with financial freedom.

Retail Shops - managers, sorters, transporters, cleaners, call centres and public relations.

Sponsors - local and larger businesses, trendsetters and influencers, government departments.

Clarifying the project problems

Our research helped us to discover the core problems regarding our initial issue; the lack of foot traffic. The three main problems include a lack of brand awareness, the negative stigma around second-hand shopping and a lack of education surrounding The Salvation Army.

These redefined problems directed the development of our concepts for a potential campaign as we had a clearer understanding of the areas we could address to assist with the initial problem.

Generating ideas and concepts to help

After all of our research, redefining of the problem and reframing our thinking, it was time to develop concepts and strategies that could potentially assist with the core problems.

What we made ...

Footprint Concept

This idea has the potential to engage a new range of customers, help customers to navigate to and inside the store, and question their preconceptions about second-hand items.

To test this idea, we propose that The Salvation Army in Singapore print out the footprints as stickers to place on the ground outside of bus stops, train stations and any heavy foot traffic areas; the placement of the footprints can be altered and adjusted. It is important to monitor and evaluate how and where their customers come in contact with the footprints. The Salvation Army would need to acquire a permit or license to place the footprints onto the ground outside of their stores. The footprints can also be placed inside the stores to direct customers to specific areas, such as women’s, men’s and homeware.

Minimalistic Branding

This concept focuses on reducing the negative stigma surrounding second-hand shopping in Singapore by creating minimalistic photographs that allow customers to see the products first; they will judge the product, not the place it has come from.

We suggest utilising the social media page to test this idea as social media allows the admin user to see the statistics regarding each post. This will help to see what posts work better and what products are interesting or appealing to certain audiences. The Salvation Army will be able to find their audience and create a positive customer experience through this. Printing posters and catalogues would be the second phase of the testing and we suggest finding sponsors to help with the printing costs.

Shop Display

This idea aims to encourage interaction with The Salvation Army and increase awareness and education the the brand.

To test this concept, we propose that The Salvation Army contact shopping centres to discuss booking a space to set up the display. The shopping centres could provide this an in kind sponsorship and The Salvation Army could negotiate for a goods or service to provide in return. Scheduling volunteers to stand at the stalls to talk to directly to potential customers and answer any questions or concerns they may have. The Salvation Army would need to print out the panels to set up the interactive display; we suggest utilising a sponsorship to assist with the printing costs as mentioned with the minimal advertising.

What happens next ...

The Salvation Army project is being implemented over time in incremental steps to ensure minimal disruption to the existing customer and professional service spaces and to allow for ongoing evaluation and adjustments to the campaign to guarantee its success. The Salvation Army team were invigorated by our collaborative and innovated design approach as it opened up many more ideas and concepts from their staff to expand its effectiveness further. We will continue to support them in gaining more reach in the incredible human focused work that they do!