I was talking to Steve Denham about a presentation that I made earlier this year and he said that I should read Why We Buy by Paco Underhill, which is about the Science of Shopping. Steve was listening to me talking about how signs worked and how the outside of shops encouraged or discouraged a shopper.
Mr Underhill has great credentials and is one of the pioneers of using anthropology to understand how people shop and why. The science was born in the late 1990s and has spread rapidly. While experienced retailers will feel much of what the book tells them is common sense, I agree with Mr Underhill that experienced retailers often miss what is under their nose.
However, the following paragraph is a good example of what really works in the book and if you like this then it would be worthwhile to get a copy for yourself.
"Here's a good example of the terrible magic that smart merchandising can perform. I once heard a talk given by a vice president of merchandising from a national chain of young women's clothing stores in which she deconstructed a particular display of T-shirts.
" 'We buy them in Sri Lanka for three dollars each,' she began. 'Then we bring them over here and sew in washing instructions in French and English-French on the front, English on the back. Notice we don't say the shirts are made in France. But you can infer that if you like.
" 'Then we merchandise the hell out of them-we fold them just right on a tasteful tabletop display, and on the wall behind it we hang a huge, gorgeous photograph of a beautiful woman in an exotic locale wearing the shirt.
" 'We shoot it so it looks like a million bucks. Then we call it an Expedition T-shirt and we sell it for thirty-seven dollars. And we sell a lot of them, too!'
"It was the most depressing valuable lesson I've ever had."
Mr Underhill has great credentials and is one of the pioneers of using anthropology to understand how people shop and why. The science was born in the late 1990s and has spread rapidly. While experienced retailers will feel much of what the book tells them is common sense, I agree with Mr Underhill that experienced retailers often miss what is under their nose.
However, the following paragraph is a good example of what really works in the book and if you like this then it would be worthwhile to get a copy for yourself.
"Here's a good example of the terrible magic that smart merchandising can perform. I once heard a talk given by a vice president of merchandising from a national chain of young women's clothing stores in which she deconstructed a particular display of T-shirts.
" 'We buy them in Sri Lanka for three dollars each,' she began. 'Then we bring them over here and sew in washing instructions in French and English-French on the front, English on the back. Notice we don't say the shirts are made in France. But you can infer that if you like.
" 'Then we merchandise the hell out of them-we fold them just right on a tasteful tabletop display, and on the wall behind it we hang a huge, gorgeous photograph of a beautiful woman in an exotic locale wearing the shirt.
" 'We shoot it so it looks like a million bucks. Then we call it an Expedition T-shirt and we sell it for thirty-seven dollars. And we sell a lot of them, too!'
"It was the most depressing valuable lesson I've ever had."
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