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Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping
| In an effort to determine why people buy, Paco Underhill and
his detailed-oriented band of retail researchers have camped out in stores
over the course of 20 years, dedicating their lives to the "science of
shopping." Armed with an array of video equipment, store maps, and
customer-profile sheets, Underhill and his consulting firm, Envirosell, have
observed over 900 aspects of interaction between shopper and store. They've
discovered that men who take jeans into fitting rooms are more likely to buy
than females (65 percent vs. 25 percent). They've learned how the
"butt-brush factor" (bumped from behind, shoppers become irritated and move
elsewhere) makes women avoid narrow aisles. They've quantified the
importance of shopping baskets; contact between employees and shoppers; the
"transition zone" (the area just inside the store's entrance); and
"circulation patterns" (how shoppers move throughout a store). And they've
explored the relationship between a customer's amenability and
profitability, learning how good stores capitalize on a shopper's unspoken
inclinations and desires. Underhill, whose clients include McDonald's, Starbucks, Estée Lauder, and Blockbuster, stocks Why We Buy with a wealth of retail insights, showing how men are beginning to shop like women, and how women have changed the way supermarkets are laid out. He also looks to the future, projecting massive retail opportunities with an aging baby-boom population and predicting how online retailing will affect shopping malls. This lighthearted look at shopping is highly recommended to anyone who buys or sells. |
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