The Science of Shopping

You walk into a store in search of a sweater and leave with a suit, skirt and T-shirt — but no sweater. How many times have you done that — leave a store having spent far more than you intended and come out without the one item you really wanted? Urban geographer and retail anthropologist Paco Underhill has spent 15 years researching this phenomenon and unleashes his findings here. In Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, he explains why men who take jeans into the fitting room are twice as likely to buy them as women, how men are beginning to learn to shop like women and why the Internet will never replace the good old-fashioned shopping mall.

Is there a method to our madness when it comes to shopping? Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "a Sherlock Holmes for retailers," author and research company CEO Paco Underhill answers with a definitive "yes" in this witty, eye-opening report on our ever-evolving consumer culture. Why We Buy is based on hard data gleaned from thousands of hours of field research -- in shopping malls, department stores, and supermarkets across America. With his team of sleuths tracking our every move, from sweater displays at the mall to the beverage cooler at the drugstore, Paco Underhill lays bare the struggle among merchants, marketers, and increasingly knowledgeable consumers for control.

In his quest to discover what makes the contemporary consumer tick, Underhill explains the shopping phenomena that often go unnoticed by retailers and shoppers alike, including:

* How a well-placed shopping basket can turn a small purchase into a significant sale

* What the "butt-brush factor" is and how it can make sales plummet

* How working women have altered the way supermarkets are designed

* How the "boomerang effect" makes product placement ever more challenging

* What kinds of signage and packaging turn browsers into buyers

For those in retailing and marketing, Why We Buy is a remarkably fresh guide, offering creative and insightful tips on how to adapt to the changing customer. For the general public, Why We Buy is a funny and sometimes disconcerting look at our favorite pastime.

Retail anthropology is a relatively new field of study, where researchers observe the habits of shoppers in a retail environment. The author is a pioneer in this field, and his book is based on thousands of hours of data collected by his team of retail detectives. Whether you are a shopper or a retail employee, this book is a revelation. Written in a breezy, jargon-free style, this is an entertaining and fascinating look at the methods behind that fine madness known as shopping.

With clients ranging from McDonald''s to Starbucks, Estée Lauder to Blockbuster and Citibank to Wells Fargo, Paco Underhill has been profiled in The New Yorker and Smithsonian Magazine, has written for American Demographics and Adweek and lectures widely. He is based in New York City.