Marketing i Zarządzanie

The objective of the paper it the analysis of the appropriateness of the using of the overt observation method in the study of customer’ behaviour at the point of sale. The usage of observation is justified in the case of routine and short-term behaviour, which is highly dependent on both marketing and non-marketing determinants, and where we can expect gaps between the declarations and the accuracy of the memory and the real behaviour. The paper is based on the analysis of the available literature of the subject and own research conducted among customers of large area shops, with the use of the method of personal observation in the natural environment. The research concerned the general aspects of behaviour in a store (planning and organization of purchases). Researched customers were diversified in terms of shopping arrangements and most of them, despite their general knowledge about organization of space of store, had to look for the right alleys. All this has influenced the time spent by individual customers in the store.