HOW necessary is shopping to daily life? "Completely", would be the response of many females in Bolton.

But, according to one retail expert, we could live the rest of our lives on pasta, fruit, veg, wine, olive oil and maybe the occasional yearly doses of underwear and socks.

While this theory will most likely receive the thumbs up from the majority of men, it will send legions of women screaming and running to the nearest shopping centre, waving their credit cards in a frantic bid to shop till they drop.

Because, with the allure of glamour and the promise of attainable designer lifestyles on our doorstep, we can all succumb to retail therapy.

So many of us shop for so much yet, according to retail anthropologist, Paco Underhill, we need so little to survive.

However, a trip around Middlebrook at Horwich or The Market Place in Bolton town centre, for example, or even the Trafford Centre will reveal the nation's obsession with shopping -- as well as the marketing ploys used to lure us into the stores.

Everything from the salesperson to the shop layout is geared to attract and excite. The onus is on persuading us to buy things we do not need but want anyway -- attractive colours, lifestyle aspirations and glamour can all go some way to doing this.

The basis seems to be to intrigue a shopper inside then, having done that, they are seduced into buying.

David Cameron, Crompton Place Shopping Centre manager, said: "I think all this so called 'shopping psychology' is pure rubbish.

"I've been in the retail business for 20 years and in shopping centres for 15 and I've come to realise that if you have the right shops in the right area, a clean and safe environment, then people will come and spend their money.

"People will only shop if they want to and it is up to the retailer to provide what the customer wants.

"Some stores believe playing different kinds of music will encourage people to shop in a certain manner, but I really don't think that's the case at all."

Eric Kuhne, retail architect behind some of the world's most modern shopping malls, believes there is a backlash against packaged and sanitised products.

He said: "What everyone is discovering in contemporary retailing is if you don't excite the senses you have lost it. This is where retailing is going to have to go back to."

However conflicting ideas of shopping are, all the experts agree,that customer care is paramount.

"Absolutely," says George Coleman, manager of The Market Place. "Customer care is the most important thing on our agenda.

"It's easy to get someone to buy something from a shop, but to get that customer to return again and again is another matter entirely.

"That's where the customer care comes in."

Business consultant, Geoff Birch agrees. He trains salespeople and promotes the Attention, Interest, Desire, Action approach.

He said: "There are two ways to make money out of sheep. You can either beat the sheep to death, skin them, sell the skin, the meat, sell the bone and the bits.

"You make the money. But how often can you skin a sheep? Only once.

"But, if you have a sheep and you cuddle it and love it, look after it, you can shear a sheep for the whole of its life and make money from that.

"That is an excellent example," says Mr Coleman, "that's the thing with customers.

"The customer has to be nurtured and the real judge of success is if you see them again?"

Yet there are still some shopping "experts" who truly believe the shopper can be "made" to buy.

Stores are introducing new areas to encourage people to stay in their shops.

Some stores have a pamper area for girls and a seating area for the boyfriends. The larger malls employ entertainers to keep shoppers amused while they shop and, although we have adopted the American belief in customer care, we have not yet resorted to cabaret acts and roller coaster rides in our centres.

Yes, the Trafford Centre has its giant video screens and the occasional singing group or fashion show and Bolton's shopping centres have their visiting promotions but, as David Cameron points out "these things very rarely make people spend money".

He said: "An example is when Father Christmas arrives.The centre is incredibly busy that night because everyone wants to see Santa, but the shops and stores don't necessarily make more money.

"Very little is spent by the mums that night, they have simply brought their children in to see Father Christmas."

So, although the so called shopping experts claim that shoppers go through a journey of orientation on their trips -- chores, rest and recuperation and refreshment -- it seems the old fashioned tactic of the "customer is always right" rules in Bolton.

"Absolutely," says George Coleman. "Good salespeople should never contradict a customer.

"They should listen patiently to their needs."