Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping - Softcover

Underhill, Paco

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684849143 ISBN 13: 9780684849140

Publisher: Touchstone, 2000

Synopsis

A riveting read for anyone who has ever shopped for anything or tried to sell something--as well as the culmination of 15 years of meticulous research and observation--this book offers hilarious anecdotes and amazing hard facts about one of America's favorite pastimes.

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

R. J. Igneizi"The San Diego Union-Tribune"No matter which point of view you're coming from, shopper or shopkeeper, you'll find Underhill's tips are often funny, sometimes provocative, and almost always usable. Erica Marcus"Newsday"What Underhill offers in this delightful and engrossing book is a primer in the science of shopping....The effect of reading this book is that of being alternately entertained by hilarious stories and enlightened by trenchant observations. Erica Marcus"Newsday" What Underhill offers in this delightful and engrossing book is a primer in the science of shopping....The effect of reading this book is that of being alternately entertained by hilarious stories and enlightened by trenchant observations. R. J. Igneizi"The San Diego Union-Tribune" No matter which point of view you're coming from, shopper or shopkeeper, you'll find Underhill's tips are often funny, sometimes provocative, and almost always usable.

Edition details

• Publisher: Touchstone
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0684849143
• ISBN 13: 9780684849140
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256