Inside the Mind of the Shopper

Inside the Mind of the Shopper – Herb Sorensen

What really happens when shoppers walk into a store? Retailers spend enormous sums on products, displays and promotions, yet they often know surprisingly little about how customers actually move through their aisles and make decisions. In Inside the Mind of the Shopper: The Science of Retailing, Herb Sorensen, a scientist and retail researcher who has studied shopper behavior for decades, shares what his research has revealed.

Using technologies that track shoppers’ paths through stores, along with observation, eye tracking and purchase data, Sorensen and his team have analyzed the behavior of very large numbers of shoppers. Their findings challenge many common assumptions. Shoppers spend much of their time in a relatively small part of the store, many purchases are made quickly and with little deliberation, and much of the store goes largely unvisited.

Sorensen explains what these patterns mean for retailers, and offers practical recommendations for store layout, merchandising, product placement, signage, checkout design and the management of shopper time. He discusses the importance of making it easier for shoppers to find what they want, and draws lessons from successful retailers around the world, comparing approaches such as self-service and assisted selling.

The book combines scientific rigor with clear, accessible explanations and real-world examples.

Insightful and practical, Inside the Mind of the Shopper is a valuable read for retailers, marketers, brand managers, store designers and anyone interested in consumer behavior.