Retail Anthropology Research Paper

In the U.S, many public organizations are highly influenced by its connection between its outlooks about sex and its use of space. Within these gendered places, men and women act out masculine and feminine characteristics and gendered actions. In this ethnographic research paper, I will establish how a normal department store strengthens the gender and space association through its use of space, products within those spaces and customer use of these spaces.

The prompt is "In an argumentative essay, support, refute, or complicate the claim that the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical." Retail anthropologists track customers through separate cameras, tracking systems that sometimes incorporate the loss prevention cameras, loyalty cards, and surveys. These are not typically the same systems that prevent crime. Please feel free to re-review the Gladwell article and the supplemental videos for more information. If appropriate, please reconsider your stance and supporting points with this information in mind.

In the modern world of business, it’s possible for a business to cater for both its best interest and that of the consumer conjointly. The best interests of most companies, for example those in the fast food industry, include maximizing profitability by increasing sales (Forschler, 2013). However, it’s possible for them to cater for the best interest of the consumers, such as increasing consumer satisfaction, only if they utilize state-of-the-art

A sociological perspective is a framework for thinking about, describing, or explaining how human activities are organized and how people relate to one another and respond to their surroundings.

However, with ease of purchase and easier returns people are less interested in the experience in a store but the convenience of the transaction and in the end satisfaction. “Retail stores used to be places where merchants would assemble an array of product they've selected for their consumers. That was important because consumers had nowhere else where they could see such a broad array of products” (Kestenbaum 2017). No longer do we care about the sale of an item and how well someone can talk about it. We can easily use the internet to find all of the reviews we could want without ever stepping out of our own homes let alone into a retail store. The consumer wants different things now. They are focused on unique items that are often locally made. The customer wants something that will create a moment or specific emotion whereas generations past have been more focused on a name brand and what may have been main stream or the best of the

I have one question regarding the retail merchandising minor. Am I not eligible to pick up a retail merchandising minor since I am a student in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences? If not, is there a possible reason for an exception since I know I can potentially see myself in a retail merchandising career after

A famous writer for the New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell has written an article, “The Science of Shopping”, which is based on Paco Underhill’s study of retail anthropology. The intention of a retail store is obvious- that is to attract customers and convince them to perchance as much as they can. There is so much knowledge that we can study, such that how the environment affects people’s thinking. These are tiny details that we don’t usually think about. The reason of how Paco Underhill success is because he notices these details. Details determine success or failure. Paco Undnerhill—a talent and passion environmental psychologist, provides us a new point of view of the science of displaying products,

When entering a grocery store, most people don’t take the time to stop and observe their surroundings, for their soul purpose at that instant is to purchase what very food they may need for that day or maybe even for that week. However, through all the haste of wanting to go in and out of grocery stores as fast as one can, most are unaware of the very culture that they too are now apart of, the interactions, both verbal and through people’s body language that they are experiencing, how people look and dress, even what is considered appropriate behavior although not specifically written down. Culture is all around us, and we all contribute to it, whether it is through our norms, values, symbols, or mental maps of reality (Guest 2014, 38-43). That is why through this assignment, I took the time to observe the culture experienced in the American grocery store Stater Brothers, the ethnical Filipino grocery store Seafood City, while also taking the time to reflect on my own personal views of what I thought was “normal” through my experience working in Northgate Gonzalez Market, a Mexican grocery store for three years.

I don’t think a real authentic community could ever be found on a virtual church site. According to Chapter 6: The Internet and Christian and Muslim Communities, “The internet has become one of the most important resources for information as well as misinformation, playing important roles as both shaper and reflection of the world’s culture.”(Peterson, 124). A distraught person seeking spiritual assistance online could receive false information about a religion and join a cult. The chapter also stated that “…such websites are plentiful, but they tend to be static and infrequently updated.”(Peterson, 130) From my own experiences a church community is rarely static unlike virtual churches.

Prior to the 20th century, the American economy was fueled by manufacturing; production was vital in the advancement of the nation. Retailers were generally small-scale, specialized niches, located within the largest cities throughout the United States. A change in how one would typically consume occurred during the 1870’s with the rise of A.T. Stewart’s Marble Palace, one of the nation’s largest stores in New York at the time. Featuring four stories of Tuckahoe marble, the Marble Palace would be an innovation that would change consumption in the United States forever. Stewart paved the way for competing retailers in that he understood the idea of

Inditex ensures that its fashion is fast through its supply chain efforts. They have created new methods to enable store managers to order and display merchandise faster and added cargo routes for shipping goods. The company ships clothing straight from the factory to stores and makes two-thirds of its goods in Spain and nearby countries, compared to most competitors who manufacture most of their clothing in Asia. Inditex has their sales managers monitoring computers, which are reporting sales at every store around the world. When a garment does well or fails, they are able to quickly tell designers if they need to come up with new ideas. They also have generated

Customer satisfaction is the customer’s evaluation of a good or service in terms of whether it has met their needs and expectations (Vander Schee, 2016). The culture of the organization is to focus on delighting customers rather than on selling products (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2017). An example of a highly satisfied customer would be Nicole Snow, who owns a small business in Maine. One day she reached out to FedEx on social networks and asked for help in getting her supply chain set up. The team responded immediately and helped her solve the problem (“FedEx,” 2015). Here customer satisfaction is greatly shown the customers’ needs and expectations have been met by

Industry: American Retailing Industry, for example, Target Corporation is an American retailing industry company, founded in 1902 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart.

Switching Cost: If there is anything that can go in favor of a new entrant is switching cost of the buyer. Only loyalty buyers typically have these days is to value. If a new entrant can offer better value, buyers can switch to the new entrant with no switching cost. Better value can only come from sacrificing profits which might deter new entrants as a low profit margin does not promises long term growth.

It is imperative to satisfy customers and give them an amazing experience at the company. While it cost less to sell to existing customers and companies can increase profit by selling to the same customers; if customers are satisfied, there is more chance they will come back for more services or products. Satisfied customers are a free marketing for the company. However, it is the opposite if customers are dissatisfied. Dissatisfied customer will tell 8 to 10 people about his or her experience (O’Brien, A & Marakas, G. 2004). If by any reason, representatives see that the customer is not satisfy, they should act fast and fix the problem. Furthermore, there is more chance for sale representatives to sell to an existing customer that to a new customer. A good strategy for customer retention is to reward good customers. Companies can easily do