Paco Underhill's intention is not to manipulate the customers. He believes it is the seller who must conform to the needs of the buyer, not the other way around. Sellers must be aware of people's habits and their though process in order to make a good sale. They cannot win people over by forcing them to conform to their standards. If they are able to really understand the customer and his or her tendencies, then they can manipulate their store and their products in the appropriate manner.
More and more stores are trying to find new ways to increase their sales because nowadays, according to the author, customers are unpredictable and more complicated. The seller has to keep up the pace and realize that not everyone has the time to ask for customer assistance or shop for hours on end. The retail business is starting to change little by little, therefore sellers are forced to find new and easier ways to get people to buy things.
For example, in grocery stores, the food that little kids are more likely to want is put on low shelves so they can access it. When a little kid has an easy-to-reach bag of candy in his hand, he'll try to convince his parents to buy it. And more than likely, if the parents are lenient enough, the kid will get his way and the store will have made yet another sale.
Some sellers are trying something called "typing." It's their way to figure out what kinds of products people are more susceptible to buy based on where they live, or based on how they answer a few short questions.
The author then goes on to talk about the shopping gender gap, how women account for seventy percent of the dollar value of all purchases. Women spend more average time in a store than do men, partly because they are more patient, more tolerant, and less easily distracted. Because of this, stores are more likely to be "female friendly." They won't make their displays more geared towards men, or more manly looking.
His next point is about "destination items." These are items that people intend to buy before they walk into a store. These items are most likely to be placed in the back of a store intentionally, so that the customer has to walk past all of those items that they never intended to buy, but that they are tempted to buy once walking past them. On that same note, the most desired products, the items that are most in style at the time, are placed in "zone 3 and 4." These zones are to the right immediately after the entrance, because this is the place where the human eye tends to wander first and everyone is sure to see it. The environment of the store, including the lighting and the color scheme, all have the ability to add or subtract from the overall look of an outfit. They also have the power to alter the way people feel when they walk into a store; a store may seem more or less inviting or overwhelming depending on the environment, and the more inviting a store, the more likely it is that it'll make a sale.
2. How much do you personally feel you are influenced by a store's design?
I am not the type of person who is easily persuaded at first. When I walk into the store knowing exactly what I want, I usually am able to go straight to where it is I can find that item. Once I find that item, then I am more likely to be persuaded to buy something in the hot zone. My attention is definitely shifted toward the right when I walk into a store, however I do not feel like I go there right away and end up buying items on impulse. I am manipulated to a certain extent, but it takes a while before I fall into the trap that retail stores set up.
I am easily overwhelmed if a store has a lot to offer and it's not spread out. In cases like that, I almost always just walk in, go to where I know I can find what I'm looking for, then leave once I make a purchase. If a store was more spread out, more inviting, and less cluttered, I would definitely spend more time in there. I do think that I am more likely to buy more items that could go together when they are placed within close proximity. If my intent is to buy a winter jacket, and winter boots are on sale right next to it, I am probably going to at least look at the boots.
I am not the type of person who is easily persuaded at first. When I walk into the store knowing exactly what I want, I usually am able to go straight to where it is I can find that item. Once I find that item, then I am more likely to be persuaded to buy something in the hot zone. My attention is definitely shifted toward the right when I walk into a store, however I do not feel like I go there right away and end up buying items on impulse. I am manipulated to a certain extent, but it takes a while before I fall into the trap that retail stores set up.
I am easily overwhelmed if a store has a lot to offer and it's not spread out. In cases like that, I almost always just walk in, go to where I know I can find what I'm looking for, then leave once I make a purchase. If a store was more spread out, more inviting, and less cluttered, I would definitely spend more time in there. I do think that I am more likely to buy more items that could go together when they are placed within close proximity. If my intent is to buy a winter jacket, and winter boots are on sale right next to it, I am probably going to at least look at the boots.
I'm that shopper that doesn't have much patience when I walk into a store. I don't have the time or want to spend the time looking around for what I need. I don't like things that I don't have any intention to buy to get in my way because it's inconvenient. While some are easily manipulated into buying those unnecessary items, I just think putting the essentials in the very back where people tend to go to last is inconvenient for people like me. However, I do think it works, just not for me.
3. Make a check list you can use to analyze a retail store like Paco Underhill does.
1. Welcoming environment; a store is not overwhelming; the design is customer friendly, designed for the customer and not based on the seller's needs.
2. The seller knows what the customer needs. They make it easy for someone to get what they need. They offer assistance and make sure that the essentials are easy to find, and the non-essentials not so obvious, because that's what the customer is there for half the time. However, in the case of a clothing store, it is okay to put the non-essentials towards the front, where they are more recognizable, in order to make a sale.
3. A store knows their audience. If the store is more frequently visited by women, then the displays will be "female friendly" while simultaneously catering to male needs.
4. The store has a target audience in mind and sticks to that target audience when thinking of price and style.
1. Welcoming environment; a store is not overwhelming; the design is customer friendly, designed for the customer and not based on the seller's needs.
2. The seller knows what the customer needs. They make it easy for someone to get what they need. They offer assistance and make sure that the essentials are easy to find, and the non-essentials not so obvious, because that's what the customer is there for half the time. However, in the case of a clothing store, it is okay to put the non-essentials towards the front, where they are more recognizable, in order to make a sale.
3. A store knows their audience. If the store is more frequently visited by women, then the displays will be "female friendly" while simultaneously catering to male needs.
4. The store has a target audience in mind and sticks to that target audience when thinking of price and style.
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