Why We Purchase: The Science of Procuring–Up to date and Revised for the Web, the World Shopper, and Past

The best book on User Research, ever
I need to ask Amazon how many copies of this book I’ve ordered over the years, but I guess at least a couple of dozens. I am a professional User Researcher, and I both practice and teach research techniques daily. I marked this book as “the ultimate book on User Research” on my LinkedIn profile, and I stand by my recommendation. If you are a user researcher, a designer, or anyone who is interested in people’s behavior and making sense of it, this is a must-have book for a number of reasons:- It opens your eyes to the hidden life of everyday things and everyday people’s behavior. You will start noticing things around you that you’ve never noticed before.- It teaches you the art of observation, how to see things beyond simply looking at them. Even if people-watching has never been your favorite pastime, it may well be now. The book is about shopping, but what you learn applies to observing any human activity.- It’s equally educational and entertaining. It’s not a text book on user research techniques, and that’s why I love it. It reveals to you many useful tips and techniques on doing research, particularly observation, without actually “teaching” or patronizing you in any way. You learn because you are engaged, fascinated and can’t wait to turn the page. This is the best learning of all.- It’s a mirror. Even if you don’t want to learn how to observe others, you’ll laugh at noticing your own shopping behaviors you may have never thought about.Stop reading reviews and start reading the book. Honestly.

he explores some of the numerous factors that cause consumers to purchase a good or service or deter them from making an acquisi
In Paco Underhill’s informative text, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, he explores some of the numerous factors that cause consumers to purchase a good or service or deter them from making an acquisition. Through detailing way sin which stores craftily set consumers up to buy as ways in which they may inadvertently be driving shoppers away, Paco Underhill writes to both retailers and consumers. Explaining the value of the science of shopping to those on the business end of purchases and making consumers aware of ways in which stores and companies target them are his objectives for writing this book. Unconventional ideas that he shares, some he openly admits to varying greatly from that of his peers, combined with proof and examples from his time working in the industry of analyzing consumers allows Why we Buy: The Science of Shopping to be a page turning informative text with shocking insight about scenes that we see every day and rarely think twice about. It is rare for me to flip through a three-hundred page book in the span of two days, but I was very interested in Underhill’s style of writing as well as how affected I have been by some of the methods he mentions as a consumer. This text goes beyond textbook information and uses workplace examples of those who track shopping habits as a living to explain the prominence of this “science” in the modern era.The first point that is brought up for evaluation is the importance of understanding customer behavior in a given store and adjusting it accordingly. Paco Underhill gives multiple examples of ways in which he has increased stores sales by 20% or higher through moving displays, changing signs and other small corrections. Validating these points, it is explained that customers may not enter a department from an anticipated angle and displays should accommodate the most common entry into a section. I found the idea of personal space as an issue to be very interesting and did not expect customers being bumped once to deter them from an entire section of a store. Furthermore, it is interesting how much goes into planning the layout of a store and that simply moving a rack out of a high traffic area can be extremely effective in boosting its sales.Another reoccurring point that is brought up is the changing dynamic of customers and of shopping in general. Previous to reading Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, I had not given much, or any, thought to why certain products were placed at designated shelf heights or that stores would have to change in the not so distant future to accommodate the large, rising market of elderly baby boomers. Underhill refers to the video tapes he studies for various stores throughout his text and utilizes one of an elderly woman unable to reach the dog treats that she wants and of the child who shares a similar problem. This ties into the section in which senses were emphasized as extremely important to the facilitation of sales. After walking past countless mirrors in Macy’s and other retail stores enticing me to try on necklaces and picture how I would look walking around with various handbags on my shoulder, it never occurred to me that this was exactly the store’s intention. Being able to touch items, see them up close and for some products even smell them increases the chance that they will buy something. The examination of comfort and ease of shopping was a fascinating section of this book, and has made me a more aware shopper. Signs being broken up for easy comprehension, space between clothing sections and clear packaging have all stood out to me recently and realize that they are influential in the shopping process. Moreover, I was interested in the differences that are described between men and women in their shopping habits. Men asserting a sense of pride and not asking for help while women will not hesitate a help desk create a stark contrast. Underhill uses this to highlight how different groups have to be marketed to in different ways and that two people can go through the same store and have entirely different experiences. Overall, Paco Underhill is extremely successful in validating the claims that he makes as he backs them up with real examples as well as results. Every assertion that he makes is followed up by some recorded instance in a real store that he has worked with and is followed up with the solution and result of the solution on the store’s profit. Even bringing attention to some everyday observations and supporting them with logic were effective ways of conveying his ideas. For example, to explain how the placement of goods in supermarkets can affect sales, Underhill brought attention to the fact that all supermarkets put milk in the back because it is one of the most commonly purchased goods and this causes customers to go through the entire store before finding what they came for, and hopefully they’ll purchase something else.The only part of this book that I did not find interesting or helpful were the concluding chapters. It felt like he ran out of ideas, but felt the need to fill more pages due to the fact that the beginning of the book was filled with valuable information. A few pages were largely dedicated to the plane industry and the world cup with very little information about marketing. But, the preceding chapters would cause any reader to think back to a time when they perhaps have fallen victim to one of the marketing schemes that apparently most stores utilize. Many sections I just found to be shocking and was even provoked to reread. Who would have thought that there would be a drastic difference in the percentage of women who will purchase jeans that they bring into a fitting room versus men would be 65% to 25%? (Underhill 10). After reading Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, I feel as though I have gone through countless stores and have witnessed and made too many purchases to have never noticed the consumer behavior that I am surrounded by. This text is eye opening and a bit concerning as it makes you realize how much you haven’t noticed about the world around you. Paco Underhill is extremely effective in conveying to readers the ways in which businesses encourage shopping and how important certain overlooked aspects are. Emphasizing comfort and ease of shopping, product placement and predicting customer’s actions are all focal points of Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. I would recommend it to anyone, even someone with no interest in marketing or shopping, simply to make oneself more aware as a consumer. Particularly, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys walking around the mall, like myself, because it was fun to make self-realizations and understanding why I make some purchases while simultaneously gaining insight about retail marketing.

Good read
Glad I purchased this book for my collection. Great information. Knowledge is power.

Un libro indispensable si te gusta el tema

Es un libro grandioso, el estudio y análisis que han realizado al respecto es increíble. Se puede notar el amplio uso de temas como Big Data, minería de datos, la parte social y emocional de una compra. Cómo el espacio del lugar, la ruta que recorre el cliente influencia una compra y en ocaciones potencializa la misma.

Per tutti i retail manager e i visual merchandiser un libro da possedere, la bibbia delle abitudini di acquisto che ti spiega perché il posizionamento della merce ne decreta il successo o l’insuccesso. Frutto del lavoro decennale della società di valutazione delle performance di Paco Underhill, una personalità nel settore del retail. Lettura obbligatoria.