If you feel like there’s less variety in stores now compared to just a few years ago, you’d be correct. If you think this was caused by COVID, you’d be correct there, too. But you might not realize the reason behind it. Let’s take a look at that, and what it may mean for the future of your options.
Here are Five Fast Facts about declining consumer choice:
- 💡 The Trigger - It was happening before the pandemic settled in, but the logistics of navigating the supply chain through social distancing and shutdowns meant lots of shortages on lots of products and accelerated the process. Companies slashed their offerings out of necessity, focusing on the things that actually made them enough money to stay in business. But now that the pandemic and supply chain issues are long gone, those choices aren’t coming back. In 2019 5% of items on store shelves were new products; last year it was only 2%.
- 📉 For Example - Coca-Cola went from 400 brands to 200. Yankee Candle went from 200 scents down to 150. The owner of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, PVH, cut out more than 20% of its offerings. Home paper products giant Kimberly-Clark reduced its toilet paper and tissue products by more than 70% in a single weekend in 2020!
- 🤷 The Rationale - The funny thing is that consumers don’t seem to mind. It appears most people would rather lose some of their choices than pay more for those choices. This has been demonstrated across lots of industries, from groceries to health to beauty to furniture, and more.
- 🎯 The Concern - Some experts think this focus on only the best selling items will reduce innovation and hurt smaller brands that need all those retail outlets that provide everything under the sun.
- ⁉️ The Silver Lining - Many companies have been pleasantly surprised at how well this has worked out. It has allowed them to reduce product lines that aren’t profitable or that only cater to niche groups, helping their bottom lines and allowing for more efficient production. It’s pruning to allow the healthiest branches to thrive. And people tend to get paralyzed with too many options, so this is an example of less being more.
🔥Bottom line: The bottom line is that choices ARE fewer than a few years ago, and that’s probably not going to change anytime soon. It seems like a lot of people are cool with that.
Are you?
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