Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping

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Summary: read this book
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. It gives the real meaning behind the shopping experience. It's not the orange. It's the vitamin C.

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Summary: Good, but repetitive
Review: A lot of interesting information, but it seems like an 80 page book was expanded to fill a full 220 pages - a lot of "as I said in chapter X, blah blah blah blah."

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Summary: A Great Book!
Review: A scientific research into buying behaviour of consumers, and what retailers should do. The Cyberspace section, i.e E commerce, are quite intresting facts enabled from the research. A Great Book! on the buying behaviour.

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Summary: Retailers can't lose, a must read!
Review: The retail industry has and will continue to face monumental challenges when it comes to getting customers to shop and purchase. As a consultant who has spent 20 years working with all types of retailers this book offers real tools and real life issues that this industry must face. No one has ever stepped out and quantified with hours of videotape how customers shop in such a realistic and engaging way as Paco Underhill. I applaud you for sharing your many years of research with us and supporting the research with commen sense! There is much to be learned by reading this book. For retailers of all kinds this book should be read before you re-merchandise your floor, make new signage, sign on for the next advertising campaign or send your staff to a training program. The most important aspect of this book is the concept that the store=brand. What happens within the four walls will make or break it. Read this book with the intention of trying something new or at the least, read this book and believe the greatest asset any retailer has is the store! If a book like this was not needed we wouldn't have 50% of retail businesses fail every year.Thanks Paco. Mindy Thompson, founder, Simply Retail Inc Mpls, Minnesota

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Summary: Reality of shopping
Review: I am a consumer and found this book intriguing so I bought it. I now think that every retailer should read this book because this book hits the nail on the head. Whatever size your business if you deal with consumers you should buy this book. It will open your eyes and increase your business I'm sure. The author shows how shoppers shop and I have to agree he is right. For consumers it is an interesting book to read and relate to. For retailers if you don't buy this book you are ignoring a very cheap way to get his advice without paying consulting fees. Whoever you are this book is very interesting and I recommend it.

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Summary: A good read about shopping AND human nature
Review: Okay, so you're thinking (unless you're a retailer like me) that you have absolutely NO interest in a book about shopping? Read this anyway; I guarantee that you will be not only entertained, but also educated about people's shopping habits -- and people. The author -- a self-proclaimed "urban geographer" -- is unusual in his approach to examine the shopping EXPERIENCE. And it's fascinating. For instance, he says people always look to the right when they enter a store. (Test yourself!) And, for the first 15 feet inside, they are somewhat disoriented (meaning oblivious to any products or signs). As others have said, this book DOES read like a long magazine article -- but I think that's a GOOD thing. And so did The New Yorker, which excerpted it. In fact, it's because of Underhill's great storytelling ability that this book is as much about people and human nature as it is about shopping. Truly enjoyable.

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Summary: More interesting and revealing than Seinfeld.
Review: I can only understand a negative review of this book in the context of the reviewer already knowing this incredible information or being a competitor of Paco's. I am a music wholesaler to retail stores and everything I read rings true to my experience. Thank you, Paco, for shining a bright light on what everyone takes for granted without really understanding. I can't imagine any retailer not finding something in Why We Buy that he or she doesn't already know and, having applied the knowledge, couldn't recover the cost of the book and the time to read it many times over.

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Summary: Shallow, self-serving drivel.
Review: Simply a book full of self-serving, brochure-ware material. The author's research techniques are sophmoric and obvious and his conclusions are predictable and bland. The entire treatise is self-promoting and less than enlightening.

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Summary: 255 page advertisement for the author
Review: While Underhill has some good insights, these nuggets are buried beneath the author's self-promotional advertising--repeatedly telling us how his is the "only company doing this kind of research" and congratulating himself on his well-done job. Why would I pay for HIS advertising?

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Summary: Great for Managers!
Review: If you would enjoy having a shallow and superficial tour of retail stores, this is a great book for you. If you are looking for in-dpeth analysis of why people buy,how people shop,what people do when they shop, etc. so that you can understand shopping patterns, then look else where (like Daniel Millers book - A Theory of Shopping). But for easy answers to difficult problems, this book can't be beat.