The Science Of Shopping Essay

987 Words2 Pages

When people enter into retail shops, they can sometimes find cameras on the corner of the ceiling. People usually guess that the purpose of the cameras in stores is to monitor and protect criminal activities. In addition to preventing people and shop being stolen, it gives a lot of information to retailers and gives safety environment for customers to shop. But, some people insist that it can be used to manipulate customers and is unethical. However, I disagree with the idea that the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical. It plays an important role in both retailers and customers. It is more beneficial than manipulative according to the right use of it. The surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists …show more content…

In “The Science of shopping” by Malcolm Gladwell, the author gives an example of Paco’s teaching to the clients to support the idea. The author insists that knowing the customer is what retailer have to do by saying, “In such a competitive environment, retailers don’t just want to know how shoppers behave in their stores. They have to know” (p. 96). In other words, It is important and mandatory to know about customers’ behavior for retail shop owners to succeed in their businesses. The author also asserts that understanding the shopper’s whim through surveillance is the effective way in business by saying “What paco is teaching his clients is a kind of slavish devotion to the shoppers every whim” (p. 100). In other words, retailers need to analyze customers’ behavior and mood to achieve in business. By studying the patterns of customers’ behavior in the stores, it helps to learn how to treat customers in a different mood. It provides more information according to the patterns of behavior in a different mood in customers which will help the staffs to achieve better service quality and more satisfaction to the customers. For example, when my friend who is easy to be irritated went shopping, and the clerk forced her to buy or suggested items, so she did not buy anything in the store despite she liked

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