#156 Paco Underhill on the Psychology of Shopping and How to Use it to Get More Sales

Jun 8, 2021

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Have you ever read a book that’s just stuck with you over the years?

I have, and this week’s Beyond Influential guest is the author of one of those books! I first read Paco Underhill’s Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping when I was in high school, and it was one of my first introductions to marketing and the psychology behind it. And to this day, it’s still my go-to book recommendation whenever someone asks me for suggestions on how to learn about customer research.

This book has been in continuous print for over twenty years, has been published in 28 languages, and still sells over 100,000 copies per year... and for a good reason.

Paco Underhill created the field of retail anthropology and the science of shopping. He is the founder of Envirosell, a global retail consulting firm that has worked with the biggest companies you can name, including Microsoft, McDonald's, Adidas, and Estee Lauder, and across every kind of retail location you can think of—malls, department stores, supermarkets, airports, theme parks, and more—to study their customers' browsing and buying habits in order to learn the best way to lead them to make purchases.

He’s also the author of Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping and What Women Want: The Science of Female Shopping, an international keynote speaker, and a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

I was really honored to be able to have this conversation with Paco because of the depth and breadth of his knowledge. His work has really been before its time and he continues to innovate and bring fresh ideas to the biggest businesses in the world.

On Ep. 156, we cover:

How Paco created the science of shopping and the study of the consumer
His secret to growing his business and winning clients at the Fortune 50 level
How the digital world is having an impact on how we shop and why small businesses are uniquely positioned to be successful
Why the US is actually behind other countries when it comes to the retail experience
How women are critical to the retail economy and why it’s necessary for businesses to cater to them specifically
The tipping point when businesses make a change that the rest of the industry follows, and more!

Check out Paco’s books!

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping https://amzn.to/2T3ipBp
Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping https://amzn.to/3z1HNbb
What Women Want: The Science of Female Shopping https://amzn.to/3w1GjeZ

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