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01/02/2002 Entry: "2-Jan-2002 -- Why We Buy"

WebWord Comment -- I just finished reading Why We Buy by Paco Underhill. It is an excellent book about the science of shopping. Underhill and his associates at Envirosell have done thousands of hours of research on how people shop for items. It was short, easy to read, and interesting.

Paco Underhill and his colleagues at Envirosell have written several articles.

Posted by John S. Rhodes @ 01/02/2002 10:53 PM EST

There are several points Underhill raises that are relevant to the internet environment, even when he's talking about the physical environment. For instance, expectations that processes will be slow inhibit a shopper from visiting a store. Font sizes on the labels of analgesic bottles being too small for elder customers. Putting shopping baskets throughout a store to allow buyers to buy more than they initially planned on (akin to linking to customer service & search on every page). Items too close to the front door being poorly attended to, because the shopper is on an initial 'mission' and won't see them - - having implications for where someone might put cross sell on a web site. Etc. A great read all around.

Posted by Frank Lynch @ 01/03/2002 10:12 AM EST

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