Essay 2-Guitar Center

     Everyone has at least one store that they enjoy going to.  As a musician, a music store is my favorite type of store. Observing the Guitar Center in Attleboro is something I was interested in doing.  At first, it was awkward just walking around the store, but I soon noticed a lot of ways the store was like the article, “The Science of Shopping” by Malcolm Gladwell.  However, there were also ways the store ran differently. The experience of this assignment was very eye-opening to read about all the science in shopping, and then see it in real life.

     When I walked into the store I noticed one thing right away.  The entrance of the store only had a few promotional signs, but there was no merchandise in the first 15 paces of the store.  When I walked in, I had time to adjust to the environment and I wasn’t overwhelmed with products. This was a strategy Underhill had talked about.  He called it the decompression zone and explained how it is the area of the store right when you walk in. Nothing should be placed there because customers are going through the decompression factor which is adjusting to the environment.  Guitar Center did this really well because when I walked in I had time to adjust to the environment without being bombarded with products. The empty floor space at the entrance gives customers enough time to observe and adjust to their surroundings.

     After I was comfortable in the new environment, I noticed I was drawn towards the right of the store. The right side of the store had a wall of flashy new guitars that spanned the whole store and huge sets of drums that glistened in the studio lighting.  I realized this was another one of Underhill’s observations. It was the Invariant Right which is peoples instinct to take a right after entering the store. Even though I only glanced at the variety of guitars as I moved farther into the store, they were definitely the centerpiece of the store.  Guitar Center accounted for Underhill’s aspect of the Invariant Right. The Invariant Right is a customers instinct to turn right after they walk in. The wall of guitars is a big centerpiece in the store and it is placed to the right at about a forty-five-degree angle to the entrance. The shiny new products are put where everyone can see them which creates a great place for customers to start shopping at.

     Guitar Center had an environment that I don’t see in many stores.  It was very comfortable and laid back. Throughout the store, there was a variety of instruments that customers were able to play and try out.  Most shoppers in the store sat down at least once played around with one of the many instruments available to try out. Also, all of the products were hung on shelves and walls that were easy to access and try out.  Headphones were hung expertly on racks that can be listened to and cymbals were carefully stacked on the walls for easy access. This environment created the feeling of being over a friends house and trying out all of their cool instruments.  I felt comfortable while I was there and it wasn’t very awkward. Underhill talks about an environment should represent a store. It should showcase their products while making shoppers feel comfortable and like they belong there. Guitar Center does a good job with this.  All the vastly different products are hung on a wall or set up around the store to create an open and comfortable environment. The ability to try out instruments and other products makes the environments feel personal and laid back just like playing an instrument usually is.   

     When I was observing the clientele I noticed how the average shopper differed from what Underhill had observed.  He has said that purchasers spent around eleven minutes in the store and non-purchasers spent around two minutes.  In Guitar Center, I observed the opposite. A buyer would spend a quick five minutes in the store while a non-buyers would take their time and spend up to thirty minutes in the store.  Buyers seem to exactly what they needed going right to the product they wanted and then paying. However, non-buyers took their time looking around and playing with obscure instruments that they have no intention of buying.  I believe this clientele is the opposite of Underhill’s observation mainly because of Guitar Center’s environment. Being able to go in and just play instruments makes customers more likely to just try out instruments that they might dream to someday own.  The relaxed and comfortable feeling doesn’t push shoppers to find what they want and leave. They can try out new products and find what they want to buy.

     Almost every worker in Guitar Center acts the same.  They casually stroll around the store and try to make conversation with shoppers.  They all know everything that anyone would ever need know about music. They talk about all the new instruments, musicians, brands, and products.  According to Underhill, every one of them would be Market Mavens. Mavens are employees that know everything about all the products the store sells.  They go up to shoppers and initiate conversation. Mavens will tell the customers what they should buy. Every time I go to Guitar Center there is always at least one employee that comes up and talks to me.  Every conversation involves them asking me what instrument I play and bands I like. Then they ask a bunch of questions about what I’m looking for. My answers always conveniently lead them to the most expensive and newest models that they sell.  These employees all embody what it means to be a Maven which helps the store sell a lot more products.

     I walked around Guitar Center for awhile.  I paid a lot of attention to how the store was set up.  In Gladwell’s article, Underhill said how every store has four main zones.  Zone four is the back where stores want customers to go. In Guitar Center zone one was very bare with very little product for people to look at.  Zone four in the way back is where all of the brand new drums and shiny new cymbals are. For me as a drummer, I gravitate towards zone four. However, all of the other products are in zones two and three.  The products are clearly sectioned off into drums, audio, guitars, and accessories. Audio is a narrow area almost like a hallway, but the walls are filled with cables and boxes of headphones are stacked into the unused corners.  The guitar section is the biggest with a full wall of guitars and amplifiers stacked so high they act as small walls. The accessories section is just a small corner of the store with earplugs, guitar straps, instrument cases and other miscellaneous products.  This sectioned idea is great for finding products easily, but many people will overlook sections and miss a big chunk of their products. I observed that many shoppers were very narrow sighted just stayed in one section the whole time. This isn’t a good strategy because Underhill talked about how stores should get customers to see as many products as possible.  The sectioned off layout of Guitar Center makes that difficult.

     Near the end of my observation, I noticed something.  The store had walls after wall of brand new guitars and every type of drums you can find stacked around the store.  They even had rack after rack of keyboards, but that’s all they had. There was no saxophones, trumpets, or flutes. Guitar Center only had drums, keyboards, and guitars.  This stood out to me because of something Underhill had talked about. He explained how stores should appeal to a certain type of customer, but not at the expense of other customers. Guitar Center has a customer base of musicians.  The store only focuses on three of the many instruments that exist. I have a lot of friends that play instruments like the trumpet tuba, clarinet, and even violin. None of these musicians go to guitar center because they don’t sell their instrument or accessories for it.   If Guitar Center sold more of a variety of instruments, they would get more customers into their stores.

     I was looking at products that Guitar Center sold and noticed how everything was positioned.  Guitars sat right next to amplifiers and snare drums were sitting on a shelf that snare stands were leaning up against.  The setup of cymbals was surrounded by cymbal bags and keyboards were laid out right next to racks headphones. These products were cleverly put next to each other because they would compliment each other well as products.  Underhill talked about how accessories like belts should go next to jeans and socks should go next to shoes. This increases the odds of a customer buying multiple items. Guitar Center did an excellent job a this because almost every product had another item next to it that could accompany it.  When you buy a Guitar Center you will be tempted to buy an amplifier with it because they would go so well together

     After going through this assignment, I now see shopping in a whole new light.  Every day when I go to any store I now see observations Paco Underhill made. Shopping is a completely different experience after learning about the science behind it.  At first, I wasn’t too excited about this assignment, but after getting into it I really enjoyed it. It opened my eyes to how Guitar Center and any other store functions.

Sources: Gladwell, Malcolm, “The Science Of Shopping”