My general understanding of retail behavior is best described by a metaphoric store.
I think that a large component of retail is the sheer satisfaction of making choices. Making a final choice for most people.
To test this vision I imagined a tiny store on a heavily traveled, tourist related, walking street.
In this store would be more than a dozen trays with black velvet and on each tray would be several dozen pebbles. Behind each tray would be a photograph of a beach from which the pebbles were collected. Each tray would also have a postcard photo of that beach and a small velvet bag to put the pebble in.
It was my view that for a dollar a pebble people would happily choose from among the beaches the specific pebble they wanted to own.
If my thesis about retail behavior was correct the store would always be crowded and people would love to buy pebbles.
I never created the store. I have always been certain of my hypothesis.
You can create the store if you wish to prove me wrong.