Comments on: Consumer Choice: Give Small Business Customers Simple Choices

By: Zach

Zach — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:04:34 +0000

There is definitely a sweet spot. I have a business that had thousands of options for my customers. In the beginning it seemed like a good idea to have so many options. A one stop shop kindof idea. However, it was way to overwhelming. It made my customers question too much. Since I have narrowed down our product line sales have increased significantly.

By: Truck Driver Jobs

Truck Driver Jobs — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:10:58 +0000

I sure like having choices, but probably moreso if there are only 2-3 choices. Any more can make things difficult to decide.
-Jack

By: patient assistance program

patient assistance program — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:03:56 +0000

It makes so much sense that too many choices leave people unhappy. There is always the potential for disappointment if there are too many choices.

By: train horn kits

train horn kits — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:59:57 +0000

As a consumer I like to have options but not a huge range of choice. When people buy they are subconsious taking in the information and analysiing the cost to benifit ratio.

If they are looking at to many products they might say screw it and not buy the product.

On the flip if there is no choice your customers my leave and go somewhere else for more options

Fickle, very fickle

By: admin

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:44:30 +0000

Tommy,
I think choices are confusing – especially if you’re interested in trying something new.

Bluetooth,
Who selects those brands?

Colleen,
I can understand that. We’re going to be in the house market ourselves in the near future. And after owning our first house together, we certainly have an idea of what we want, and don’t want, in our next home.

Yet I also think we have a ‘perfect house’ in our mind that we’re just not going to find. That plays directly into Barry’s point.

Kerstin,
But what makes it hard?

By: Kerstin

Kerstin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:17:20 +0000

A very nice and interesting article. You are right in you points. To many options for buyers, thats realy hard.

By: Should Customers have Choices?

Should Customers have Choices? — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:06:51 +0000

[...] Miracle posted an interesting article last week entitled Are Your Customers Sick & Tired of Choice? In his article he submits the theory that people get tired of choices and that too many choices [...]

By: Why choices for WNY Buyers can be overwhelming... | Buffalo Niagara Falls Real Estate & Home Sales in WNY

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:00:56 +0000

[...] Estate. Buyers want to search on-line for a home, but in doing so they can easily be overwhelmed. Are Your Customers Sick & Tired of Choice? brought up an exceptional point. In it he pointed out: “Yet, according to Barry Schwartz, choice [...]

By: Colleen Kulikowski

Colleen Kulikowski — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:32:15 +0000

Great article! I see this every day in my Real Estate business. There is so much information, so many opinions that buyers and sellers get lost in the details. Buyers want to see every home available and then are afraid to make a decision. Sellers too get overwhelmed by the news.

By: Bluetooth

Bluetooth — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:56:34 +0000

Oh yes choice infact leads to confusion in most of the times. Indeed a conundrum but I have a solution. Only selected brands must be stocked by any supermarket or whatever the case may be as this will result in an optimum situation for both consumers as well the businessmen.

By: Tommy

Tommy — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:46:37 +0000

This is an incredibly interesting approach to the concept of expansion. When people think of expansion, they think of adding new products and services; more choices. But choices can be confusing and only inhibit one’s decision. Quite a conundrum.

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:20:10 +0000

Niche,
Exactly. Don’t overwhelm people. Rather do the work as the business owner to refine your offering so that it’s meeting the specific need of that page/post.

Michael,
How?

Marcel,
And they do it all the time, don’t they?

Nicole,
If you decide to offer fewer choices, let me know how it works.

Purity,
Always?

By: Purity Rings

Purity Rings — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:21:03 +0000

@Marcel: That episode was hilarious.

I think choice is great but having 5 options of essentially the same thing drives me crazy. Ultimately I’m going to choose the one with the lower price.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:45:47 +0000

Interesting. I was wondering if I was giving too many choices on my services page and whether I should pare them down. Hmmm…food for thought. Thanks for that! I guess the question is how you know if you have too many or not?

By: Marcel

Marcel — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:42:22 +0000

This reminds me somehow bout the southpark episode with wa**mart, i dont like it wehn big companies try to confuse us with what we should buy.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:22:30 +0000

Yes! very true Niche! I can say that because it happens to me.

By: Niche

Niche — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:54:47 +0000

Too much choice for your visitors on one page equals too many distractions for your visitors on one page

Firm believer in having a limited number of pitches per webpage of blog post

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:15:19 +0000

Sales Trainer,
First off….”death rattle from the collapsing body of many a lost sale” – I’ve never heard that put better. Okay if I use that in a future post?

I’m right with you on choice…it is a delicate balance. You want your customers to feel empowered as though they’ve make the ‘right decision.’ Yet, doing so is more about marketing and less about actual choice, don’t you think?

Yura,
Yeah, I wasn’t even thinking about blogs and other websites when I was writing this post, but you’re right. I redesigned my own blog months back so that I could offer fewer choices on my site. Great point that I missed. Thanks.

Easton,
True. One site I think does this really well is FreelanceSwitch. There’s a lot in their sidebar, yet it’s organized and displayed in a digestible manner.

Trucker ID,
That’s the real crux, it’s it. How do we offer choice for greater competition – and hence better products and services – while not overwhelming the marketplace?

Affiliate,
Personally and professionally, I think it’s better to only have a few products and then market the hell out of ‘em. Depth is so much more effectively than breadth, don’t you think?

Ayo,
I think this is one of the major reasons we’re seeing such a shift to highly refined niche marketing. That way it becomes about offering a specific solution to a specific problem and those with that specific problem can find exactly what they need.

By: Ayo Ijidakinro

Ayo Ijidakinro — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:13:09 +0000

Hey Dawud,

I kind of did a double take when I read this ; I’ve been thinking along the same lines of this article.

I actually wrote a post about it here: http://www.ayoswebdesign.com/2.....other.html

The similar problem I was focusing on is that, ‘A good website needs to do more than just offer yet more choices.’ A good website or a good business in general needs to help a customer narrow down his choices and hone in on one product or service. Otherwise, the customer may not buy anything out of analysis paralysis.

Ideally that product or service you help the customer choose is your own, but if you really want to build trust, you’ll tell the customer the truth even if that points him to someone else’s product or service.

We’re just overwhelmed with choices, and sometimes we want a company to help us make a decision instead of just giving us yet another option.

Again, thanks for your thoughts. This is a great post!

By: Affiliate Marketing Guide

Affiliate Marketing Guide — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:33:10 +0000

I think you have hit the nail on the head. Promoting only a maximum of a couple of products on each page is such a better option than packing the page with ‘choice’