Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture

Rating:
Summary: Gotta Go, There's a Sale at the Mall
Review: Professor Zukin explores why we shop and how it affects us, individually and as a society. She looks at the history of shopping, from a brief look at ancient Roman olive oil shops in Pompeii to a more elaborate history of department stores in New York. All that is interesting, but I found the sections on current shopping the most intriguing.

Zukin explores superstores and warehouse stores, then moves on to internet shopping. She discusses Amazon.com and eBay, even examining the merit of allowing customers to review the products for sale. It seems even negative reviews are good for sales, since more time spent on the site yields more sales. Who knew?

One of the most gripping sections of Point of Purchase is the interview with a young Hispanic New Yorker who describes his venture into Tiffany's to buy his girlfriend an expensive gift. The interactions between him and the security guards, the sales clerks, the other customers, as well as the way he tells his story and the interviewer retells it are material for a myriad of analyses.