Consumer Behavior

Why We Buy— the science of shopping

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The Author—Paco Underhill
 Founder of Envirosell, a behavioral research and
consultancy firm
 An expert on consumer trends & Retail management
 From buying behavior to consumerism in the modern
world; Paco has presented ground breaking
observations in his books and speeches
 Other books:
 Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping 
 What Women Want: The Global Market Turns
Female Friendly
The Book—We We Buy
 Underhill describes himself as an urban geographer and retail
anthropologist
 Fundamental research methodology is to track customers
 Unobtrusively observe consumers with:
 Time spend in each area of the store
 what they touch and look at
 what they buy
 how much they spend
 After 20 years of research and huge database of shopper behavior—The
science of shopping was invented
A Science Is Born
Chapter 1
Anthropology
Anthropology—study of humanity; all aspects of society and culture.

Study of Modern shoppers in situ—Shoppers’ interaction with retail environment

Studythe environment for the consumer from the farthest reach of parking lot to
the store itself including:

◦Shelf
◦Counter
◦Table
◦Display of merchandise
◦Banners
◦Entrance and exits
◦Cashier
◦Teller

How human interact with these things

◦
Anthropology—The Begining of The Science
of shopping
 Anthropology does not cover the anatomical mechanics and
behavioral psychology of the consumer.

 Where they go and don’t go

 By what path they go there
 What they see and failed to see
 What they read and decline to read
 How they deal with the objects that come upon.

What human beings do in the store? How do They

Shop?
Need for the Science of Shopping
 Anthropology is not paying attention in collating, digesting,
tabulating and cross referencing every little bit of data—to the
extreme narrow.

For example:
 How many people enter the store in morning?
This sould be broken down by:
 Gender

 Age
 Socio cultural factors
If Anthropology had been paying attention
on all these aspects then we wouldn’t have
had to try to invent the
“Science Of Shopping”
Science of Shopping
Trackers

Research Tools/ Hardware

Track Sheet

Job Captain
Trackers
Field researchers.

How they Work

A tracker begins by wandering near a store’s entrance.

Trackers stick with the shopper as long as he/she is in store

and record virtually everything an individual does.

Trackers work in a team if the store is large

Research Tools/Hardware
Handheld computers
Cameras
Laptops
Tripods
Tapes
Mount
Lenses
Other Camera Accessories
Hard shell cases
Track sheet (a low tech piece of paper)
Track Sheet
• Low tech piece of paper

• It contains
• Map about the store or premises
• Shopper details like, sex, age & other variables.
• What he/she does in the store

• Tracker uses the system of shorthand notations.

• Over the time more variables have been evolved.

• Currently up to 40 variables are monitored.
Job Captain
Spends a day “cleaning” the forms.

Provides data to be entered into the database.

Mainly SPSS and MS Excel are used for data analysis

Butt brush effect
 Shoppers don’t like being brushed or touched from behind

 They even move away from the product to avoid it.

 Example: Neck wear issue

 Therefore proper placement of product is required.

Live Examples
 Waiting time at cash counter
 Complicated transactions should be distinguished and separate
counters should be there.
 Display of new releases hidden behind the crowd at cashier.
 Aspirin placed near Beverages section. Elders get irritated and walk
away empty handed. (Modified version of Butt-brush effect)
The obvious isn’t always apparent
Changing Trends

Generations ago, only big brand goods were

advertised.

Today, we are dangerously over retailed.

Too much is for sale through too many outlets.

Changing Trends

Early generations stuck to the brands that they

chose early in life.

Today it is difficult to convince consumer.

The store itself is important medium for

transmitting messages.
The science of shopping tells us:
How to
Attract customers
Ensure that each message is at appropriate place
Ensure that each part of store is reachable

The longer the shopper stays, the more he will buy

Time spent in store depicts the extent of enjoyment
Science of shopping creates better retail environment
What Retailers Don’t Know
Chapter 2
Retailer-The practitioner
 Buyer-Supplier relationships
are one of the most
important elements that
influences the purchasing
process.
 Establishing & managing
effective relationships at
every link in the supply chain
is becoming the pre-requisite
of “Business Success”
So..how much doesn’t the RETAILER already
know??
The Concept of Conversion Rate
 Shoppers somehow need to
be transformed into buyers.
HOW?
 Change in:
1. Store layout
2. Display
3. Merchandising & Staffing
Amount Of time a shopper spends
Direct Relationship with how much a customer may
buy.
In some stores buyers spend three or four times as much
times as non buyers.
Advice to Retailers:
Get shoppers to shop
longer.!!!
The Interception Rate
Implies the percentage of customers who have some
contact with the store employees.
The more shopper-employee
contacts take place,greater the average
sales.
Success Secret:
Talking with an employee draws a
customer closer!
The Waiting Time
 Most important factor in customer satisfaction
 Nobody likes to wait-Be it some busy executive or a normal
housewife
 When made to wait for too long,the impression of overall service
plunges.
SOLUTION:
 Work on shortening the wait
And Most Importantly…
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS..!!!