Malcom Gladwell The Science Of Shopping

“‘My mother says that I’m the best-paid spy in America,’ he told me. He laughed, but he wasn’t entirely joking” (Gladwell 98). The ‘he’ referred to is retail anthropologist and urban geographer, Paco Underhill. In “ The Science of Shopping” by Malcom Gladwell, Gladwell gets an inside look on the specific reasonings of why each store is set up the way that it is. There is a true science to how every single shopping location displays it’s products. Concisely, if they were to stray from this science at all, their business would most likely begin to suffer. Something that a lot of people are probably unaware of is the fact that many shop managers have to hire consultants, such as Paco, in order for their stores to become successful. It is only because of people with the natural curiosity of why people shop the way that they do, that Paco is able to help struggling businesses.

Although I have known for many years that stores did not place things randomly, I was completely unaware that there are people whose specific job is to study a particular store and figure out where to place certain products to allow for the store to become more successful. Some people may argue that this science is a waste of time and money because when they go shopping, they are there for one purpose only and no matter how the items are placed throughout, it will not influence their purchase. I, however, am not one of those people. I would agree that the science of shopping is vital in a successful business. I have come to this conclusion due to various facts that I have read in Gladwell’s