Location Is (still) Everything: The Surprising Influence of the Real World on How We Search, Shop, and Sell in the Virtual One – The GRAVITY Framework for Behavioral Economics and Commerce

by David R. Bell

Conventional wisdom holds that the Internet makes the world flat and reduces friction by erasing the impact of the physical world on our buying habits. But Wharton professor and marketing expert David R. Bell argues that the way we use the Internet is still largely shaped by the physical world we inhabit. Anyone can go online and buy a pair of jeans—but the likelihood that we will do so depends to a significant degree on where we live. The presence of stores nearby, trendy and friendly neighbors, and local sales taxes, among other factors, play a critical role in our decision making when it comes to buying online. Our willingness to search for and consume information also depends on where we live and whom we live next to. In Location Is (Still) Everything , Bell offers a fascinating, in-depth look at online commerce and retailing through his years of research, investing, and advising experience. His unique GRAVITY framework is a powerful and practical tool that uses fundamental human behaviors and location-based conditions to explain how the real and virtual worlds intersect — and what Internet sellers must do in order to succeed. Entrepreneurs, managers, students, and investors will all benefit from understanding how and why we use the Internet to search, shop, and sell.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Technology

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2014

Reviews

[Camille Fabre · Rating 4 out of 5]

First (fun) fact: David Bell, the writer, is a pure blood Kiwi; he succeeds from the first pages of his book to mix references from the All Blacks, Lorde, and Invercargill, his home town. If you dream about the Southern hemisphere, buy the book. Yes, even if you do not care about e-commerce and/or Internet and/or academic research. New Zealand inhabitants are so few that Location is (still) everything is a rare way to enjoy Kiwi humor and culture.

Second (serious) fact: if you are interested by e-commerce, Internet, academic research, then familiarize yourself with GRAVITY. This is the key concept which organizes David's book
G... Geography - Where we live determine to a great extent our preferences and the way we use Internet
R...Resistance - Internet is used to remove search frictions (in big cities) or geographic frictions (smaller locations)
A...Adjacency - We are similar to our neighbors which induces geographic contagion
V...Vicinity - initial sales arise from proximity, later sales from similarity
I...Isolation - local sellers cater to the majority so the preference minority buys online
T...Topography - tax rates, delivery time, shopping environment is different in each place
Y... You - if you want to become rich then follow Warby Parker's example
David's main theory is to show that the way you shop online depends actually a lot of where you currently leave (the "real" world).

Third (fun) fact: if you are the kind of person who likes Trivial Pursuit or brainteasers, this book is a gold mine. Location is (still) everything will allow you to know why most American consumers of pornography get it from Canada and not from England; what is a TapouXT routine; where to shop for Vegemite (an awful paste adored by the UK and its ex-colonial Empire); and the very useful sheep-to-person ratio in Invercargill

Location is (still) everything makes for a fun and an instructive read, a combination that is rarely achieved in business oriented literature.

[Chris D · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book Location is (Still) Everything written by Warton school of business professor David R. Bell is a book that looks into the new era of online searching, shopping, and selling. His book is all about how even in the new age of e-commerce where every item imaginable is just one click away, “It’s still all about “location, location, location” (Bell) for these companies when it comes to all aspects of their businesses. The key topics Bell covers are customer location, typography, and market resistance.
One of the main points the author indicates is that online shopping needs to be mindful of customer location. A major advantage of online retailers is that they can reach areas that physical stores would not be able to. An example of this is when Bell says he, “... found that diapers.com, a seller of baby products, had a dramatically higher demand for its services in locations where there were proportionally fewer households … with young children” (Bell). Bell mentions that physical stores don’t bother in these small markets because it would be much harder to turn a profit.
In addition, Bell talks about the importance of typography in e-commerce. Bell makes a point that as the world enters the new age of technology and online shopping the core concepts of marketing are still in place. “We don't have to throw away demographics, just because the Internet has come along," Bell states. This is a very true point shown throughout the publication as Bell talks about how physical locations and virtual stores are not as different from each other as people first thought. The rules of marketing have adapted to the virtual world but that does not mean that they have changed.
Another key point made by Bell about e-commerce is the role market resistance plays in the success or failure of a virtual company. An example of this is that in most instances, the real-world transmission of recommendations drives electronic retailers’ sales. Bell states his findings saying, “within real-world communities with high levels of trust and interaction, information about a virtual world seller … shared by existing customers was more believable to potential customers” (Bell).
Bell very successfully informs the reader of how the physical location of companies and consumers are still very relevant even in the digital world we live in today. He auspiciously answers every point he intended to touch on, leaving the reader with a firm knowledge of the various topics he set out to cover. His ability to break down e-commerce marketing and present it in a way that was broken down and simplified made sure the reader was able to understand the marketing principles discussed along with their applications made it understandable to the reader even if they did not have extensive knowledge of marketing.
One critique I had about this book was the way Bell tried to break down the content into chapters while the chapters were still very broad. At times the focus seemed far from the exact topic Bell was talking about, but other times he would find it again along the way. On top of this, there are times when Bell shifts from personal anecdotes from studies and real-world experiences he has had, to large portions of lecturing that would take away from the interest of the book if it were not for the gripping incredibly relevant topic of the literature. All in all, though, the cons of this book are heavily outweighed by the pros.
In conclusion, this book was an informative, enjoyable read that I would recommend if you are interested in the ways e-commerce companies, such as Amazon, advertise and market their products and services without having a physical location for customers to enter. This topic is becoming more relevant every day as more companies look to have virtual stores compared to physical locations. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. The author gripped my interest right away and was able to keep me interested and satisfied throughout. However, there were parts of the book that, in my opinion, did not flow well. Along with this, parts of the book that felt as if it were from a textbook were slightly confusing and harder to read. The book was very good but not perfect, but it is definitely worth the read.

[Romael · Rating 4 out of 5]

O mundo real afeta muito forte nosso comportamento virtual.
Nossas preferencias em relação a produtos indiferenciados são influenciados pelas circunstancias físicas do lugar onde moramos( tipo de cerveja, de café e etc)
Homofilia - agrupamento por características culturais e étnicas.
" passaros de mesma plumagem voam juntos"
- vantagem do primeiro proponente: as marcas que entram primeiro tem oportunidade de moldar a preferência do consumidor e promover relacionamentos. Isto tem forte viés geográfico.
- geografia : onde vivemos influência como utilizamos a web pois a força das opções físicas impacta a maneira como usamos e nossas preferências são influenciada por nossa localização.
Em cidades menores a web serve como substituto p/ lojas físicas e nas grandes cidades serve como complemento de informação .
- conceito de capital social local: interação e troca entre vizinhos possibilita boca boca e recomendações para produtos, a info circula mais rápido.
- conceito de atração gravitacional ( a proximidade atrai) do varejo ou TLC - teoria do lugar central de william reilly.
- tudo que fazemos na web complementa ou substitui o que fazemos no mundo real.
Atritos do mundo real - dificuldade de busca( encontrar info) - a tirania da localização( atributo geográfico) nas pequenas cidades cidades a oferta é limitada e falta disponibilidade para necessidades muito especificas.
A web soluciona os 2 atritos pois oferece sortimento anywere e da busca provendo filtros.
- Compra online e retira loja - só aumenta a venda fisica pois as pessoas pesquisam preço e disponibilidade on mais querem tocar. Virou pesquisa on e compra off.
- contágio social como, quem, onde e pq - a web reduz o atrito da resistência.
- proximidade é primeiro geográfica e em seguida demográfica( caract em comum) está deve ser a estratégia de expansão na web. A proximidade fisica estimula o efeito boca a boca e depois imitação, isto esgotado tem que partir pra os lugares com semelhança demográfica ( cauda linga espacial).
- no smartphone os atritos de busca e geografia aumentam em relação ao desktop em função de tamanho de tela e predisposição da distância a percorrer.
- em locais onde o capita social é elevado aumentam as possibilidades de venda on line.
G- geografia - o fisico influencia o digital
R- resistência - eliminar os atritos de busca e geografia.
A- adjacência - somos iguais a nossos vizinhos e isto gera contágio.
V- vizinhança - começa na proximidade e depois expande para a similaridade
I - isolamento - n existe acesso a compra no off
T - topografia - barreiras de impostos e prazos de entrega
Y - you - voce.

[Mustafa Alhubail · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very well organized and rich of examples, the way the author explained the connection between the topics of each chapters and the way he delivered the content was very easy to take a grasp of. Most of the examples and the researches Bell used took place in the United State, nonetheless, he excellently elaborate them for the readers to adjust them to their own situations and place of living.

My only critique about the book is that author frequent use of his own personal experiences, while it does delivery the point, it would be more appropriate and fitting to include the experiences of other more, as it carry more credibility toward what it tries to achieve, while personal experiences can be more biased. In addition, if I would add anything to the book, it will be to include more studies and examples outside of the United States.

Other than that, it was an enjoyable read, the author grabbed my attention and kept me interested in moving from one chapter to another without the use of the “hanging” method, but simply highlight the connection between the topics to keep you continuously eager for more. I highly recommend this book to everyone, as our world is getting integrated more and more each day with the virtual one, in every possible aspect of our lives.

[Henry Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Location is (Still) Everything was a very well-researched book with an insightful thesis: that online sales are driven by factors. Yet despite that, I think it is lacking as a book. While there were tons of references to studies and interesting articles, the book itself was not that gripping of a read. There were a ton of mentions to previous sections that felt like the book was just over-explaining what was to come. There were few anecdotes that typically accompany nonfiction books, and while that can sometimes be nice for the sake of brevity, in this case, it meant that the book felt like an extended MBA lecture. Some of the points were relatively obvious, but it was nice to see the research behind them. Frustratingly, the book feels slightly out of date 8 years after its publication, given how much ecommerce has grown since then. As is, the book may be better off condensed into a very content-rich blog post. However, the author may benefit from writing a more reader-friendly, updated second edition in the coming years.

[Stephen Kreeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chocked with insights about relationship b/n online and offline behaviors

A very useful work for ecommerce entrepreneurs. The relationship between physical location of customers and online offers is explored. A list of lessons learned is presented. Only criticism is that this 3-star book strikes one as a 5-star journal article that ran on too long. Information presented could have been artfully served up with 60% of the pages.

[Ed Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Physical and the Virtual

The book is absolutely full of information and thoughtful analysis around how offline impacts online behavior. There’s an important element of understanding that anyone attempting to merchandise online needs to also understand the offline environment of the customer base. The book itself sometimes bogs down a bit from a readability perspective, but is a vital read for online marketers.

[Alex Dincovici · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most useful books I have read, business wise. Real insights, well written, unlikely so many other. If you're involved with retail, whether brick and mortar, online, or both, this is definitely a must read.

[Macy Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book could probably be summed up in the section summaries. The writer has made an effort to provide explanation into his examples, but the summaries seemed to be the most useful in explaining his framework.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

David provided a great framework on Ecommerce. Anyone interested in startups should consider reading this book. A leverage of real-world customers' geographic location can quickly help you building your customers base.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

David provides a useful framework for what internet businesses need to know about consumer behaviour. But demonstrating that physical location is still a driver of behaviour even in the virtual realms is just the tip of he iceberg. The book stops short of drawing the bigger picture implications that consumer behaviour has a profound impact on: exacerbating the digital divide, the use of search algorithms to reinforce possibly harmful consumer preferences creating a sort of "groupthink" in purchasing terms, the continual disruption of large multinational corporations due to smart and savvy startups who are leveraging the physical location principles online, the adaptability of these insights on other cultures.

In short, the book serves as a simple reminder that as long as physical locations dictate online consumer behaviour, the globalizing effect of the internet will be limited.

[Ning, Rui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real world vs. Virtual world

A must-read book for marketers, especially those who use digital tools supporting their business. I am an MBA/Marketing student and so lucky to get introduced to this book by the author, David Bell's recent graduated PhD student - my current digital marketing professor. We actually use this book to introduce digital marketing foundations in our class. Though I've watched Wharton's marketing course on Coursera taught by Bell and other two professors, I strongly prefer reading this book. It gives more insights and explorations of digital marketing concepts than the video course. This book did a good job explaining how the virtual world interacts with the physical world. It completely changed my understanding and respects towards the real world. Thank you, professor Bell for such a wonderful job!

[Charissa Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads program for a fair review.

This book has a lot of interesting information concerning why, and where successful online retailers gained the majority of their customers. The examples were more vast than I thought they would be, considering Amazon is behind the publishing.

If you don’t have a background - any at all - in economy, you will have a hard time understanding this book. Several places went over my head.

It’ll be a good reference book as well as a learning experience for those heading for the economist and accounting professions. Keep this in mind if you want to be an entrepreneur.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a very informative book on how the real world is influence the search,sell and shop in the virtual one.
i feel that this book would be suitable for the high schools and college age adults and shows them how life and the internet comes together with everyday living.i thank the author and goodreads first reads for this opportunity to win this copy.

[Mary Whisner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is a marketing professor and his primary audience is business people who want to succeed in the market, but this is also interesting for someone who uses the Web for shopping, recreation, and research—like a lot of us.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for every one who has an online business. This book is very informative.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

well, i like the statistics, but mostly its not originally from the author, many research came from another books by various authors, so this is hardly anything new for me. but yes, the idea of location still matter cant be denied.