Did you know that if you offer your customers too many options that it decreases the chances that they make a purchase?   

A lot of food businesses we work with want to have 20+ varieties of the value-added food product that they are making.  The problem: having too many choices in a food category causes our brain to go a little haywire.   

Research consistently shows there is a limit to how many choices make a person more likely to buy an item.  In a classic experiment, customers were offered jams to sample and purchase.  In one scenario, there were 24 varieties of jam.  In the other scenario, there were just 6 varieties of jam.  What was the effect?  When 24 varieties were on display, customers bought jam at just a tenth of the rate they bought it when 6 varieties were on display. 

Why?   

As a recent Wall Street Journal columnist put it, “When faced with too many choices, people worry about regretting a decision that isn’t perfect – and not making any decision is the simplest way to avoid making the wrong one.”  (Ariely, Dan, “When Too Many Choices Lead to None,” WSJ, December 18-19, 2021). 

So, what can you do? 

1. Take a hard look at your product offerings.  Which ones are your top profit-makers and which ones are you just making because you always have?   

2. Survey your customers on the products they really want and then focus on just those items. 

3. Keep your display of products clean and attractive.  Here’s the rub from the research: Customers were more likely to come over to the booth with 24 varieties, but less likely to make a purchase.  You still need to have a way to attract customers to what you are selling. 

4. Keep in mind that variety can be good, and consumers are fickle and love new things.  You may want to introduce a new variety or run a limited-time offering every six months to give people something new to buy, but there is no need to introduce 6 new varieties at once! 

5. If you have an online store, make sure these principles apply to the offerings and display there as well! 

Choice overload is real, and it has an impact on your bottom line.  We have seen food producers spend a lot of time developing lots of products and just not see the return on that investment.  If they can narrow down their options, they may find their sales actually increase. 

If you want to look at the costs of your value-added food product – made with Kentucky grown ingredients, of course – contact us at (859) 550-3972 or kcard@kcard.info and we can help you with the decision-making associated with narrowing down your product options.