The science of shopping

Through the many hours I've spent at Barnes and Noble, I have passed over Malcolm Gladwell's books (The tipping point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw) and never shown the interest they deserved. My Marketing professor is a huge fan and as a part of the class, we are reading a lot of his articles related to Marketing. Needless to say, at this point, I'm hooked on Gladwell's articles and have picked up his latest book, "What the Dog Saw". It's a collection of some of his articles from the New Yorker.

I'll share one of the first articles we read because it's definitely an article everybody can relate to. It was written in 1996 and details a company that sets up video cameras in stores and highlights the habits all shoppers have in stores. As a result, the stores lay out the products according to the habits so that they can sell as much as they can. For example, have you ever noticed that when you walk into a store, you almost always walk to the right? While the article is a little long, I assure you it is worth reading...

http://www.gladwell.com/1996/1996_11_04_a_shopping.htm