In ‘The Science Of Shopping,' Kate Hardcastle Digs Into What Influences Our Purchasing Decisions

Forbes

24-06-2025

Kate Hardcastle holding a copy of her book.
There is a science behind modern shopping habits—both online and offline—according to global consumer expert and business consultant Kate Hardcastle, who argues that understanding the science of shopping is critical in the ever-evolving landscape of retail.
In her new book The Science of Shopping: How Psychology and Innovation Create a Winning Retail Strategy, Hardcastle explores the aspects of consumers' decision-making journey to help retailers find the perfect price point, harness the power of storytelling and create a shopping experience that drives revenue.
'We do shop emotionally—so many of our purchases are driven that way,' Hardcastle tells me on Zoom. 'Everything can really be triggered one way or the other.'
According to Hardcastle, when it comes to retail success, 'a lot of it is about psychology. It's the meet cute between psychology and technology.' Embracing technology, she says, but also understanding that 'the human touch is really important, because so many purchases are still made emotionally to this very second, and we are still human in the way that we behave, we act, we expect, we listen. So I think it's really important to make sure that The Science of Shopping speaks to both the psychology, the technology and the blend of the two together. The science is the balancing act between the two.'
Hardcastle is from the U.K., and I speak to her on what she calls a 'gloriously sunny day' in early April. After a gray winter, on this particular early spring day, Hardcastle has seen purchases like 'lots of people buying ice cream, lots of people buying summer clothes, lots of retailers putting up some outfits in the window.'
'The Science of Shopping' is available to buy on June 24.
'The weather dictated that purchase,' Hardcastle tells me, explaining that colors—even a gray, cloudy day—can influence the way we shop. 'It was an emotional reaction to the weather. The way that we feel—like I have personally, and I don't think I'm alone—we buy because we feel sad, or we buy because we feel happy, or we want to celebrate or we want to commiserate. We buy because we want to feel better.' She adds that 'Of course we buy for needs and essentials like food, but a lot of it is still swayed with where we stimulate our emotions, where they come from and how that impacts us and how we feel that the outcome of getting what we want is going to make us feel.' Knowing this, Hardcastle says, will help drive sales.
In the book, Hardcastle digs into why we buy what we buy, and why we buy when we buy.
If you think that Hardcastle is only on the side of the seller—you're wrong. She's buyer-focused, too, as knowing The Science of Shopping can help a consumer make smarter purchases. She calls it her 'north star' to ensure that a customer 'gets a better deal, because they deserve to be in respectful and authentic relationships with brands.'
'This is work that is very important to me,' she says, adding that it's imperative 'just to have a really more transparent way of doing business, and that the customers feel educated and feel good about their choices. I think that's just a really beautiful place to be.'
The book covers the history of shopping—from superstores and shopping malls shifting the retail industry in the 1980s and 1990s to online shopping in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She argues in the book that 'Retail is no longer just about selling products; it is about creating a holistic experience that resonates with the consumer. It is about understanding their needs, desires and behaviors and using that knowledge to deliver value.' She talks about why we buy when we buy, introduced me to what she calls the 'buyerarchy of needs' (clearly a play on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs framework) and why it's important for brands to build relationships beyond transactions.
Hardcastle says many factors impact the purchases we make.
Ultimately, Hardcastle says of the book, 'I wrote it for me.' If she had a book like The Science of Shopping when she was beginning her career, 'I'm not saying it would give me all the answers, but it would help me have a much more rounded experience.'
'The whole picture, the whole piece, the psychology of everything really could help you build something that's incredible,' she adds. 'I've kind of written it for me to say, look, this is everything I've picked up along the way and the balance out of it—here's the lessons.' It's a book that tells 'what I need to know and that reminder and that reassurance that it is very much about emotion when it comes to sale, no matter what your channel is.'
Hardcastle's interest in retail goes all the way back to her roots, she tells me—she is the grandchild of four shopkeepers, 'and I saw them do great business on their floors, which were very different,' she says. One was an upmarket department store where one set of grandparents worked; the other was a local corner shop that Hardcastle compared to a 7-Eleven in the United States. 'They really loved their customers and supported them in different ways,' she says of both sets of her grandparents. 'So I was born into retail in a way.'
Hardcastle has a wealth of experience in her area of expertise.
What she's learned? 'Brand loyalty is everything,' Hardcastle says. We are living in exciting times in retail, she explains, 'because we're seeing these evolvements and changes that mean there's more democratization of becoming a retailer. There's more opportunity to sell, and therefore there's more opportunity to buy. Knowledge is power—that's really important. But I'm excited by it. I think it's such an incredible route for us to see a much wider and diverse marketplace.'
If readers of The Science of Shopping are sellers, she says, Hardcastle hopes 'it's given them some hope, some opportunity in what are very challenging tough times on maybe how they get more sales and how they can do it, feeling good about their business and their brand, too.' For consumers, Hardcastle hopes they can read it and learn ways to be smarter shoppers.
'The Science of Shopping' aims to make consumers smarter shoppers.
In writing the book—which is out June 24—she's looking for something balanced, she says. 'I think sometimes we do get a lot of business books where it's just about the business,' Hardcastle says. 'I hope this finds a really beautiful place between doing the right thing for the customer and meeting a really great opportunity with retailers and businesses of the future.'