Well, I wouldn't say it's mostly eye candy. I'm a hobbyist reviewer and a very visual person. 90% of my ebooks are sent as "review requests" by new authors. I *do* recognize the covers by sight, but I guarantee I don't remember the author names when I'm digging through my library. I'm lucky to remember the title names. But pictures? I can remember those.
I know shelf view gets a lot of grief as being "pwetty" but for me it's an essential library management tool.