Why People Continue to Shop

A lot of people say that retailing is dead. Why go to a store when you can compare
and shop on the internet, get it paid for and delivered without leaving home?

Despite its growth and acceptance, internet sales are still less than five percent of all

purchases. I predict it will never reach fifteen percent? Why? Because people need to
shop. They need to get out and connect with the world,

In my experience at Target I saw nine reasons why people came into our stores. Do
you fit any of these?

1. They want to be in a crowd. It’s somewhere to go, to be with human beings.
They can’t stand to be alone. They need sporting events, restaurants, or just
walking through the city.

2. The opposite—to be alone. In other words, to be lost in a crowd. When they
get stressed out they relax by shopping. Somehow they recharge their
batteries there. They can still be anonymous while making human contact.

3. They want companionship. They come in pairs. “Hey, let’s get together---we
can go shopping!” Some couples develop strong bonds---they are facing the
world as a team.

4. They want to see what’s new. It’s a better way to be with it and not rely on
what they read in the paper or see on TV.

5. They need a challenge. It’s a competitive sport. Compulsive shoppers are
very competitive. They can sniff out a bargain from a hundred yards away.
They bag their stuff as trophies, and come home victorious.

6. They need to pamper themselves. They need to spend in order to affirm their
beauty and worth. It’s an award they bestow on their egos. It makes them
feel better than a workout at the gym.

7. They need to dream. They need to see how the upper class lives. They envy
wealth. Women try on stuff that there’s no way they can buy.

8. They need to brag. These are the worst kind. They have to show how smart
and rich they are.

9. They need something. Duh. This applies mostly to men. Shopping is a
problem for them to be solved---go out and find it, shoot it, and bring it home.

My Dad hated shopping: he waited in the car for Mom and smoked his pipe.
My daughter was told by her mother, “Clean your room or I’ll make you go
shop with your father!”

Of course people will switch from one reason to another, day to day. Sometimes
from store to store.

But can you imagine what it would be like if there were no shopping? How else
could you satisfy the basic need to be connected?