Butt-Rush Theory Of Surveillance Of Consumers

Decades ago, shopping activity was very limited due to many difficulties in economy, geography, and transportation; as a consequent, people just could meet one or twice a day in a town market in order to exchange foods or buy their basic necessities. Today, in contrast, the drastic development in economy and technology has changed shopping into a common, daily activity. It is obvious that people pay more attention to where to shop, what to buy, and how to buy than in the past, thereby having a higher requirement to the stores where they shop or buy services. Thus, retail stores and business rely on the surveillance of consumers that is usually conducted by retail anthropologist in order to understand more about the customers as well as to satisfy

In fact, with a desire for easing customers’ shopping activity, retail stores may find it essential to conduct surveillance in order to identify their customers’ shopping behavior and attitude, thereby satisfying their customers. To illustrate, storeowners will apply the “butt-rush theory” of Paco Underhill, a famous retail anthropologist, which states that a women shopper will find it annoying if she is jostled while checking out a product. Therefore, storeowners know that “a women’s product that requires extensive examination should never be placed in a narrow aisle” (qtd. in Gladwell 96). In other words, women customers will have more space to closely examine any product before they decide to buy it. The action of surveillance aids storeowners to anticipate their customers’ desires, to facilitate as well as to create a convenient shopping environment for

Ray Burke, the E. W. Kelley Chair of Business Administration, believes that watching shoppers will give storeowners real insights into customers, thereby improving customer experience as well as increasing customer satisfaction. In fact, when retail storeowners or a business managers closely studying the videos that are recorded by surveillance cameras, they will have a thorough understanding of their customer’s shopping habits. Then they can make their customers more satisfied with their service by optimizing store traffic patterns and improving product diversification. For example, if a store manager look at the surveillance camera and know that his store is currently crowded in the peak hours, he will open more cashier counters in order to help customers check out their merchandise quickly; thus, it can save the customers’ shopping time. Or he can assign more staff to assist customers to find out the products that they are looking for. Hence, by conducting surveillance of consumers, retail stores and business can support their customers on time as well as make sure that their customers are properly treated, thereby improving customer