The Science Of Shopping Summary

The article “The Science of Shopping” written by New Yorker staff writer Malcom
Gladwell, is based on retail anthropologist and urban geographer Paco Underhill. Underhill studies the shopping characteristics through frequently watched surveillance tapes to help store managers improve the setup of their goods and services. Through those footages he evaluated his observations and the statistics to help define his theories with the purpose to make sellers conform to the desires of the shoppers. Underhill, an insightful and revolutionary man, provides a view of science to displaying merchandise and creates a positive experience for both the buyer and seller. I agree that Underhill’s scientific theories; the Invariant Right, Decompression

Gladwell mentions that designer Guru
Weishar states that the concept of Invariant Right has to do with the functions of our brains. His reasoning for this is the left side of our brains absorbs information, whereas the right side then uses that information. Which is why it is normal for us to scan things from left to right, and still fix our eyes on the subject to the right. Underhill and Weishar make valid points for the Invariant
Right theory, however I believe a reason for this could be because it is easier on individuals since no one wants to make the effort to change lanes nor bother to dodge other shoppers.
Underhill had it right when he said we are normally on the right side of the road, therefore it is a habit to do so anywhere else we go. Experts such as Underhill know shoppers are drawn to the right when walking in a store and that is why most stores place their clearance or promotional items to the right. Shoppers normally do not pay attention to the items displayed in the entrance area, which is known as the Decompression Zone. Underhill suggests that store managers do not

It takes a little time to adapt to the stores surroundings and if there were clothes right when I step in, I feel like they are pushing their merchandise too much.
The Decompression zone is to gear down and adjust from the transition of an outdoor to indoor environment, so that individuals are able to focus on their shopping preferences. The Butt-Brush Theory or according to Paco, known as “le facteur bousculade,” emphasizes on how quickly women can turn from a browser to a unpromising buyer if she is brushed or touched on the butt by any item in a store while shopping. That will only lead to a women to running out of the store. Everything theory he comes up is due to his observations in footages, however he cannot explain why this is an issue. The only reasoning is because women are “more sensitive back there” (96). I myself do not get it as well, considering that I am a woman. For me it would not necessarily be because I got brushed the wrong way by an item, but because I am being brushed at all. I generally prefer to have space and not be crammed in between an aisle. Underhill states that a women’s product should not be placed in a narrow side and I agree in the sense that aisles should be simple, spacious, and