Consumers want choice. At least, that’s what they claim. But, strangely, when they’re given more choices, they’re less likely to pick one. Researchers refer to it as the paradox of choice.
For instance, when researchers offered an extensive range of jams (24) to customers at an upscale grocery store, they only sold four. By contrast, when the researchers repeated the experiment with only six jams, 31 people purchased one. This despite the fact that 41 more people stopped at the first display than the second.
It turns out that when you give people too many choices, they become overwhelmed. While a wide range of options is certainly appealing, weighing their comparative benefits is cognitively draining.
Eventually, people give up and walk away, like the customers in the grocery store. Or, if they power through, they often wind up dissatisfied, uncertain whether they made the right choice. This sense of buyer’s remorse colors their future perception, making it doubtful they’ll do business with you again.
This doesn’t mean you need to scale back your products and services, however. Extensive options make it more likely your customers will find one that suits them. But it does mean that in order to market your products, you’ll need to understand how people make choices and how to manage them.
Streamline Your Homepage
An effective homepage directs visitors to the products and services they’re looking for. But the more choices they have to sort through, the more likely it is they’ll become frustrated and leave. Ask yourself: what’s the message I want to send visitors? What do I need to keep and what can I get rid of?
Moving non-essential content to subsequent pages helps customers find what they want, the more likely they are to stay and make a purchase.
Organize Products & Services into Categories
Grouping items together helps customers narrow their choices. Highlighting popular items in each category is another way to speed decision making. If they’re interested in buying, presenting a small range of options makes it easier for customers to navigate the process, preventing choice paralysis.
Ask Customers About Their Intentions
One of the most effective ways to direct customers to the right choice is to ask them what they’re looking for. Most people who visit your website won’t be experts. Rarely will they have enough understanding to sort through the available selection on their own.
Asking people lets you direct them to the appropriate page or category. This cuts the number of pain points in the decision process, leading to higher sales and more customer satisfaction.
Display Dissimilar Products
Using a customer’s purchase history is one of the most effective ways to promote sales. However, when the products are too similar, it becomes harder for customers to weigh the benefits of each one. What’s more, because each product has so much in common, customers often feel that choosing one means they’re giving up something.
Offering products with clear differences has the opposite effect. Customers spend less time evaluating their choices and are more confident with their final decision.
Limit Share Options
Though it seems counterintuitive, one of the best ways to encourage people to share your content is to limit the number of social media buttons embedded in your blogs and videos.
Most people maintain multiple social media accounts but deciding which one is most appropriate often leads to indecision. Embedding only 2-3 buttons simplifies the process and makes it easier for people to decide how to share your content.
Organize Content
Only displaying blogs and videos in the order published makes it harder for viewers to scroll through and find subjects they’re interested in. Grouping content into categories lets viewers sort through it faster and explore the material most relevant to them.
