"The Science of Shopping" by Malcolm Gladwell

1.  What points from this article do you feel are the most important?

            Although this article was extremely thorough about the “science of shopping,” covering a wide variety of topics, the one I feel is most important is how Paco Underhill’s theories “seek not to make shoppers conform to the desires of sellers but to make sellers conform to the desires of shoppers.” Gladwell describes how, due to observations made by people like Underhill, sellers learn the best ways to plan the layout of a store, place certain items, attract specific audiences, and elicit particular emotions. For instance, stores have learned to place items that they know their consumers desire near the back of the store because consumers must walk through the entire store – thus passing other items that might attract them – in order to get to the back.

2.  How much do you personally feel you are influenced by a store’s design?

            If I am walking into a store that I am not familiar with, I feel that store design is a big influence. Because I do not know where things are, I will most likely focus more on items that are attractively displayed and easy to access instead of heading straight for where I know I will find what I am looking for.

3.  Make a check list you could use to analyze a retail store like Paco Underhill does?

·         Is the store’s layout overly complicated?

·         Are the clothes laid out in a neat and attractive way, or do the displays look cluttered and messy?

·         Are prices/signs well-placed and easy to read?

·         Are the employees friendly and helpful?

·         Is the store’s overall atmosphere inviting? (i.e. not ridiculously dim lighting or painful music)