In the 1970s the American Paco Underhill created the field of “retail anthropology”, using observation to analyse what worked and didn’t work in stores.
His findings showed that we all tend to behave in shops in certain ways.
Firstly when people stroll down shopping malls they keep to the right – the Invariant Right rule.
Also when they enter a store it takes them 5 to 15 paces to move from walking speed to shopping speed – Transition Zone.
So shops should be put at the end this Zone or to the right.
This is why we find the fast-food restaurants on left.
People will readily cross a line of pedestrian traffic to eat but rarely to make an impulse buy.
Secondly items that require perusal should be placed in wide aisles without danger for customer of being bumped into or being touched from behind– the Butt Brush Factor.
Thirdly signature items- the stores famous brands- should be at the back of the store, so that shoppers will have to pass the whole range of goods.
For the same reason many clothing stores place the fitting room at the back of the store.
It some ways to manipulate our retail psychology by shops.
April 2017
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