Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping - Hardcover

Underhill, Paco

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684849135 ISBN 13: 9780684849133

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1999

Synopsis

A witty and pragmatic report from the retail trenches on consumers' tastes and habits--what makes them tick, how to influence or change customers' buying habits, and how to win--and keep--customer loyalty.

About this title

Review:

In an effort to determine why people buy, Paco Underhill and his detailed- orientated band of retail researchers have camped out in stores for over 20 years, dedicating their efforts 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 shopper/store interaction. They've discovered that men who take jeans into the fitting room are more likely to buy then females (65 percent to 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, employees/shopper contact, 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 capitalise on a shopper's unspoken inclinations and desires.

Underhill--whose clients include McDonald's, Starbuck's, Estee Lauder, and Blockbuster-- stocks Why We Buy with a bevy of retail epiphanies, 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 ageing baby-boom population and predicting how online retailing will affect shopping malls. This lighthearted look at the shopping is highly recommended for anyone who buys or sells. -- Rob McDonald, Amazon.com

Review:

M.G. Lord author of "Forever Barbie" In "Why We Buy," Paco Underhill, who invented the science of shopping, turns state's evidence, alerting consumers to the traps retailers set for them. The book is always eye-opening, sometimes chilling, often funny and never dull. It will change the way you experience department stores, supermarkets, even racks of men's underwear -- behind which one of Underhill's researchers may well be taking notes on "your" behavior.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0684849135
• ISBN 13: 9780684849133
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 255