Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping

The author stumbled upon this a few decades ago and with this experience of watching people shop has helped companies and retailers improve their layouts to increase the likelihood of someone buying products. Fascinating for those of us that work in ultimately selling goods to households (not companies) and trying to optimise those sales

paco underhill surely knows his stuff, but the title is misleading. it should read: "how we sell" and not "why we buy". it's written from the perspective of a retailer (mostly a supermarket or department store). but interesting nevertheless.

Good. Enjoyed it. It's a bit dated now but is certainly a reference book out on it's own.

If you want to know how to increase your sales this is the book to read.It gives you loads of information and ideas what to look for to find possible problems and it is written in an entertaining and interesting way.Very eye opening.

If you are involved or interested in retailing, in understanding just what it is that makes the difference at that critical "shall I.....shalln't I....." moment, you must read this book.It's a light read - insight into human behaviour is always amusing - but its message really strikes home. If you're in retailing, you'll look at your operation through new eyes. If you're a consumer or simply a people watcher, no shopping trip will ever be the same !

a***

While I have some reservations about the veracity of Mr. Underhill's arguments in the E-commerce section, I feel that, overall, this book is excellent. It's given me some great ideas about my own business which I can't wait to implement.It really is a study in the science of shopping. What do we do? What do we look at? How long for and why? How is a shopper's decision to buy affected by what they're already carrying, who they're with, where the product is in the store and what it's next to?Why is putting shopping baskets at the FRONT of the store a bad idea? Similarly, what do people take in about products and signage you put there? If someone has physically entered a shop, how long is it before they mentally enter?If you own or manage a retail concern, there are bound to be a few lightbulb moments in here for you.

The thesis behind this book is that by making the process of shopping easier and more desirable, and the choices clearer, the consumer will buy more. That's very similar to the observation that Taylor made about manual labor. Make it simpler and easier, and more work will get done. The methods are remarkably similar. Measuring the actions that the person under study makes, and changing the environment and process to see how the productivity is affected. I think this work is an important extension of behavioral economics, and hope it will be applied to more areas of business.Although a book like this could be written in a very technical way, the voice and perspective are quite approachable. Also, the book is written to be equally interesting to shoppers and retailers. I'm sure you notice a lot of new things about your own behavior and that of others the next time you go shopping.I also thought that the book was a good example of the way that stalled thinking holds back progress. For example, without this kind of observational measurement of shoppers, most retailers would never know which shoppers leave without buying and why. Or, why some merchandising experiments succeed or fail. In both cases, there are opportunities to accomplish more, if you can only grasp how your own decisions and behavior are helping and hurting your sales.One of the sections I enjoyed was an evaluation of why many book stores miss sales. I often notice the inconveniences mentioned when I am in a book store, and wondered why the stores persist in doing things that make the store hard to shop in. There's a lot of stalled thinking in the industry, which is why we are fortunate to have Amazon.com to help us.The book does a nice job of discussing how people with different perspectives shop differently. You'll probably get a laugh or two when you find yourself there. Do you secretly dig a sample out of the lipstick or the men's deodorant gel? Do you browse and rarely buy in Laura Ashley or in a computer store? When do you look at yourself in the mirror in a store? When do you not even go into a store because you can see long check out lines?Ultimately, almost everything in this interesting book is common sense. But chances are that your needs are not often well served in areas that are important to you in retail outlets. My favorite was the problem of people only having two hands, and all of the times that we need three or four to negotiate the retailer's set-up.A particular strength of this book was that it also pointed out that behavior is subject to change, as social patterns and values change. Men's jeans need to be in areas of wide aisles or fathers pushing their children in strollers will have to choose between looking at jeans and abandoning their children. That was not a very important problem 50 years ago.I have often noticed how much people like to sample things before buying them, and how difficult it is to sample in many situations. Do you really want to go through what it takes to take a test drive of 20 different cars in 20 different dealers? Probably not. Yet, I would certainly buy a car more often if I had an easier chance to try the new ones out. You are probably the same way.The main weakness of the book is that much less work has been done in looking at consumer behavior on the Internet, so the findings will hardly surprise you. You probably noticed these things years ago, like sites that are hard to navigate, have no site maps, and won't let you use the forms to buy.I encourage anyone who has an interest in being more customer oriented to read this book, and use it to reexamine what your customers have to go through to do business with you. How could you improve?Eliminate your stalls that make buying from you difficult, and rapid profitable growth should quickly follow.

I would've paid twice as much for a bullet pointed list of insights gained in reading this book instead of wasting the time reading the whole thing. Kept reading to the end in a futile attempt to unearth more of the gems found earlier in the book. (Spoiler alert: there aren't any...or at least none that the author is willing to share with paying readers vs his paying clients, it would seem).Though clearly written by an experienced retail professional, the graphic on the front indicating that it was "updated for the Internet and global consumers" is woefully overstated. Nothing of true use in either of those areas save for an itinerary of the authors' international outposts and page after page of what wrong with shopping online and the Internet in general.Donating my copy to the library so other hardworking entrepreneurs can save their hard-earned money on better books.

On the plus side, this book had alot of fascinating observations about a whole field of study about which I previously didn't really know even existed, much less had given any thought to. In addition, next time I go shopping, I will probably stop and consider the extent to which some of the author's recommendations have (or have not) been implemented. On the other hand, the book seemed much too long to me, and rather than hoping it wouldn't end, I more or less had the opposite reaction: after awhile, I found myself skimming over quite a few paragraphs, because I felt that the interesting points could have been stated in a more concise way. Repetitiveness was a problem too. Finally, it seemed as if the majority of the author's recommendations could be summed up as: Give the shopper lots of elbow room (e.g. for strollers, to avoid the butt-brush effect, etc.), and put all of the merchandise within easy reach (no stooping for older people, no unneeded reaching for children, etc.). This sounds fine in theory, but it would seem that, in practice, the author is effectively suggesting that in order to accomplish the above two goals, all retailers should either (1) double the size of their leasehold space, or (2) reduce the amount of their inventory in half. I doubt that either of these options would be feasible for most retailers, and that the reason that some of them don't follow the author's recommendations to the letter is not because they are unaware of them, or even disagree with them, but simply because neither of the above solutions would be considered feasible.

Underhill creates a compelling, readable reference for anyone interested in retail shopping and merchandising. The focus on shopper behavior is particularly useful; what I found most valuable from a sales training standpoint is:+ superb insights on optimal signage, pathing and display combinations+ dozens of insights into commonly-overlooked, yet critical to sales success, retail tips and concepts (eg seating, placement of displays, lighting, and other factors)+ very readable with dozens of anecdotes from actual client case studies.Superb book, highly recommended for *all* retailers to study. I found this one of the more useful, insightful books on retail sales training and retailing of all the dozens I've read.Excellent book - if you sell retail, you need this. Buy it now.Ken Calhoun

This book is focused on the development of a body of knowledge in how consumers shop from a physical standpoint. The main research methodology is that of general urban anthropology, meaning that the author bases his findings on thousands of observations of consumers in stores and then tries to synthesize his findings.I found the book very useful in drawing attention to the importance of observation in determining store layout, and some of the main conclusions are very enlightning, such as suggestions on how the different shopping behaviors of men, women, children and the elderly affect the optimal layout of a store. Issues such as shelf height and location, corridor width, and customer profiling are dealt with in many different examples, giving the reader a good understanding of the methodology and the main lessons learned.Overall, I recommend this book to someone who is somehow responsible for a retail environment. The lessons are good, the book is written in an engaging manner, and the method of thinking (observational) is presented in a convincing manner. The tone of the author is sometimes a little arrogant, and for that reason I took off a star, but otherwise it is a very useful book.

Paco Underhill's Envirosell has carved out a healthy and valuable niche in retail consulting - loosely, it's the 'science of shopping,' and Paco and team do impressive legwork to round up secret shopper-based observation and hidden video analysis.But, don't expect to read 'Science of Shopping' and come out with a gameplan for your small- or medium-sized chain (although there's certainly a fair share of pointers). 'Why We Buy' is more a walk through Paco's life work, the evolution of the science. And kudos to Paco for that: he literally invented the field. My hats off to him. Coming out with the book was a brilliant piece of marketing. Want proof of that? When I pulled up 'Why We Buy' here on amazon to write this review, I was met with a sponsored link to Envirosell. Sweet.

I have been a retail cashier for years and I thought I knew everything about shopping,especially dealing with the public, well, I can officially say, I was wrong. In this bookit really breaks down all the "whys", how we act and react when shopping. It's has aton of fun research and it's not boring stuff either.Read it with friends it's great conversation controversy that will make you look at yourself.It's really surprising the stuff we do when we shop in stores.

This book taught me that implementing an environment which promotes the consumers impulsive purchasing nature requires a scientific approach. I dont think I'll ever walk into a store with blinders on again.The author gives examples of changes/results that were made based on projects his consulting company EnviroSell worked on. However, these are very small tidbits of information. They serve to make points, not as a general framework of the science.Overall, I think the book is designed to raise awareness to a new field of study--the Science of Shopping. If applied, retail environments will increase sales, and consumers will be better served.I would have liked to see little sidebars with statistics relating to the authors consulting experiences.

Since I have never been an avid shopper (usually once or twice a year besides the grocery), I found this book absolutely enlightening! I find I "shop like the guys" in the stores the few times I go each year. Usually I give my neighbor money and she buys my clothes, etc., during her very frequent shopping trips.However, about a year ago I opened a Holistic Clinic and have started carrying items to fill needs of my bodywork clients and yoga students, etc. Paco's book really made a BIG difference in how I have done the presentation of products, signs, customer checkout, etc. My sales did indeed increase significantly!I'm in a Business Networking group and have recommended the book to the other 20 people in that group and loaned it to a few. I also recommended it to 3 of our local bookstores (including a very large chain), the post office, and have given it as a gift to two friends who are starting their own businesses.My husband teases me about "Well, what does Paco say?"This book is fun to read, extremely informative, and has made a great difference in my sales - and a newfound enjoyment in shopping for me!Thanks Paco!

I don't typically work with clients who have anything to do with retail, nor am I likely to be opening a retail store myself. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Underhill's book for the following reasons:1. The approach is useful to anyone in any field: Don't make decisions based on assumptions, question what you think you understand, and think from the point of view of the customer.2. It's fun reading. He includes a lot of anecdotes which made me laugh out loud (rare in a business book, I think). Even where he does resort to generalizations, you hear it coming from his years of experience in the field and I, at least, was willing to forgive him.A pretty great read, in total.

It's dated but interesting because the fundamentals of shopper's behaviors never change. Because it was written a long time ago, the examples and forecasting is old and questionable. You can tell the author really has his finger on the pulse of the shopper and if I owned a small business, specifically retail focused, the small price of this book is well worth it.

Was needed for a class I took. Didn't need it for class, but still intend on reading it one day.

I would think that most retailers could learn a huge amount about maximizing profits from this book. It was an eye-opening read for me. I am almost sorry that I am not a retailer so that I can't use this information. I wonder if the author has done any writing for professional journals. As others have noted, there isn't enough information on technique for anyone to really critique his methods. Still, though, that would be important mainly for an academician. The ideas themselves are what would be important to a retailer.

I was dissapointed with this book - there is plenty of HOW provided through observation, but really no WHY - after all, Why is about what we do when we get the stuff home (will the kids use Brand X toothpaste as it was discounted or will this pack size remain fresh until we consume it all ?) rather than the process of how we pick it up and drop it in the shopping trolley.The observation stuff was interesting but failed to provide a decision making model of Why we do buy stuff. Read it in the library if you can find a copy.

Average

Why We Buy brings to light the hows and whys of store set-up and design, I was intrigued right from page one. It gets into the psyche of shoppers by explaining why things are done the way they are and simple changes you can make to increase sales. They all make perfect sense! In understanding the psychology of consumers, one can increase sales by working together with the consumers' mind.After spending a whole semester studying consumer psychology, marketing and advertising, this is the book that I enjoyed the most. You will never look at the shopping experience the same way again.