Don't Get Me Started On Butter

I had to chuckle when Len Goodman put ‘choice’ into Room 101.

Using examples such as butter and jeans, and then quoting all supermarkets could become corner shops again if we didn’t have so much choice.

I especially loved the research stats that followed from Frank Skinner, “Tesco sell 352 types of bread” and “M&S have 77 types of men’s white shirts”.

Sometimes I am shocked by the amount of choice that we face everyday, and more evident when I go supermarket shopping. Although it’s always nice to have at least a couple of options, I do wonder if choice can sometimes overwhelm consumers, so much so, that they always chose their favourite or trusted brand instead of trying something different.

However, for the retail sector (clothing) choice is a good thing – right? 

Or can this also become a little overwhelming too, more so when we are shopping online for clothes and become slightly overwhelmed again, where we can still face an abundance of the same products here too.

I don’t get too amazed by the amount of choice that faces me every time I want to buy a new item of clothing, one thing for certain is, when it comes to choice in clothes, the more choice there is - the less likely you are to see someone else wearing the same thing.

Does this mean clothing is different to food when it comes to consumer appetite?

I guess that depends on the actual product, the specific clothes or food item. But in relation to bread, do we really need 352 types to choose from? Maybe the research tells us we actually do, and this choice is consumer driven.

Next time you take a trolley for a spin round the supermarket, have a look and see if you can spot any other categories where the amount of choice outweighs the needs for you.

Why do we need so much choice?

Well I don’t know about you but I found it a good argument from Len and understood why he put ‘choice’ into Room 101.