ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the behaviour of customers and potential customers. Customers are individualistic, self-willed and have their own preferences and motives. If customers buy something this is not a process of successive transactions, but an intrinsic feeling of being given pleasure and feeling comfortable in the shop. Rational purchases are made on the basis of necessity. Many food purchases are rational; people look at the product on the shelf, the price and perhaps the ingredients. Customers often also prefer to make purchases in shops that are local to them, offer parking facilities or services that appeal. Loyalty on emotional grounds is stronger than loyalty on financial grounds. Loyalty also demonstrates a preference for brands, products or shops that represent extra value for the customer. Customers buy on emotional as well as rational grounds. Functional shopping takes place in stores where it is easy to get around the shop fast and with few hold-ups.
