I understand the point, but how do we reconcile this with Amazon and the new economics of long tail distribution?

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Sahil,

I think the key issue is not to compare ourselves with success stories. They face a different set of rules to us. They have revenue, trust, loyal members and momentum. And so there is greater flexibility in their execution than a startup or small business has. Their attention base is so large their ratio browsers/ piurchases has a smaller impact on them.

Steve.

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Amazon and other big companies have obvious advantages, but I think choice on pricing is very different to choice of products. Offering multiple prices for a product is where things get complicated.

I think Webjet and Expedia do a great job of offering extra purchase choices without distracting the customer from their core purchase. You’re booking a flight or hotel, but you also get offered insurance, car hire, etc. But these are largely separate, ancillary purchase decisions rather than altering/complicating the core purchase decision.

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Great point. So glad you said it.

It comes down to consumer decision making. We love a short cut.
Effective packaging that portrays product benefits effectively is a short cut. Indeed placing products for easy access and convenience is another short cut.

Harbouring over a long array of product choices is a dilemma and likely to induce procrastination in many instances.

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Is this why the vast majority of consumers around the world shop in supermarkets? Consumer behaviour has not changed – we just want departments. A way of editing and organising. Fresh food to the left, dairy down the back……..that’s design.

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This rings very true – i just heard about a study here in the US that confirms this too. WalMart is testing this by reducing choices in each department. A well known crafts store is removing the stuff they think they must have even though hardly anyone wants it. And sales sizes are up; plus customers are more satisfied with their choice when there is less to choose from.

And these findings coincide perfectly with work i've been going in the web world – microsites. I did a microsite for a client this past year in which we pulled a niche group of products out from his existing stock, and developed a new brand, a new site, etc. that was heavily targeting this niche. There is still great selection but nothing that's irrelevant to that niche.

Because visitors see more of what they want and less of what they don't want, the number of pages visited is almost twice as many as on their bigger site, and the customers are more loyal and more dedicated, with email open rates higher than their main site. People get to see specifically what they want and they get in, shop and get out without distraction. I'd bet there are a lower percentage of abandoned shipping carts, too.

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