In the video below, Freakonomics co-author Stephen Dubner addresses the National Retail Federation’s BIG Show audience and talks about “The Paradox of Choice” at retail. “People say they want more,” says Dubner, “but what they really want is what they want.” He means that endless variety in a retail store may be dazzling, and consumers may ask for it, but it won’t translate into sales. With an economy that discourages high inventories, this is good news–but the trick for retailers is how to find what their customers really want.
Watch more footage from the NRF’s BIG Show at their YouTube channel.
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mrketshare
Thats great for jam, but what about the stores that have multiple customers and want to offer a wide selection so they can have choices? People want choices in their wardrobe and want to be different. Why do we have to offer a discount? I thought the industry was trying to promote regular price retail.
Retail 101 is know your customer. The reason the custom clothing business has been so good and will continue to grow is because you must know your customer and then provide the goods. Hanging hundreds of suits etc. doesn’t really offer customers anything when for hardly any more money they can get exactly what they want by having it made expressly for them. Quality over quantity and it does not have to be marked down. Too many retailers think it’s the brand when it’s the attention to the customer that really counts.