Spoilt for choice

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Posted at 12:30PM, 11 September 2008 by Carol Wilson - Food writer

When I was very young, my granny used to take me food shopping with her sometimes and what a treat it was. Granny didn't hold with supermarkets - she patronised the small shops she'd used for years and what an exciting outing it was for an inquisitive little girl like me! I could identify each shop by its particular smell and I can still remember those distinctive odours today. The grocer's smelled of freshly ground coffee, bacon, ham and cheese, all mingled together in an inimitable aroma. The butcher's white-tiled shop smelled of bloody, raw meat and the greengrocer had a fruity aroma with a whiff of cabbage and earthy potatoes.

Granny knew all the shopkeepers - they greeted her with a cheery 'good morning' and enjoyed a friendly chat about what was new in that week, as her goods were carefully wrapped. I felt proud to be included and the grocer never forgot to give me a chocolate wafer biscuit and the greengrocer a shiny apple.

We grab a trolley and wheel it round the supermarket aisles accompanied by piped music and the smell of baking pumped through the store

What a contrast to our shopping habits today - we grab a trolley and wheel it round the supermarket aisles accompanied by piped music and the smell of baking pumped through the store; no one stops to chat as we try to get our shopping finished as quickly as possible. It's a soulless experience.

But surely supermarkets offer us a phenomenal selection of foods, which would have astonished my granny? Yes, they do, but that's another problem - we're all bewildered and confused by such a huge variety of choice.

Shoppers become completely overwhelmed when confronted with aisles of the same product. Who needs a choice of 163 pasta sauces or 19 types of fresh pasta? A typical supermarket offers 38 different types of milk, almost 200 flavours of jam, and a mind-boggling selection of teas and coffees. My local supermarket has two long aisles of different breakfast cereals with 12 types of cornflakes and 13 types of porridge oats alone! Yet research shows that when we're confused by a seemingly endless choice of products, we tend to feel helpless and intimidated and tire of being confronted with new products, so we buy the same brands and foods week after week. Professor Mark Lepper of Stanford University found that consumers who sampled six jams bought more and felt happier than those offered 24 jams to taste.

The smaller German and Danish supermarket chains, quite recently opened in the UK, offer a limited range and much less choice, but it seems that this is no bad thing, as their popularity is steadily increasing. With fewer foods to choose from, we buy what's on display and as a result feel happier and more satisfied with our shopping.

Do you prefer a limited choice or are you happy to ponder over an enormous selection?

Comments

James

12 September 2008, 4:52PM
James

Try it you might like it. Variety rules. In trying each of those 13 types of porridge oats you might find the one you really like. Large variety suits affluent times since it offers a different product for all levels of spending power through from bargain basement, middle range to premium range. This maximises the number of customers a supermarket attracts, with a higher volume of sales they can keep the prices as low as possible. The German & Danish supermarkets achieve that with less choice, hence less space & less fancy presentation and less overheads. As the economy recovers people will trade up again to the supermarkets, larger & better quality choice. If they're selling 38 varieties of milk, there's people wanting to buy them.

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robert

13 September 2008, 4:53PM
robert

As a man I find all the choices bewildering and confusing. I've no idea which type of rice, say, is the best value - or why some brands are much more expensive - are they really better or am I just paying for the name?

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PoshPaws

14 September 2008, 5:58PM
PoshPaws

I don't find a large choice bewildering or confusing, but I do find it annoying! Three choices would suit me - a lower price, mid priced and top quality. However, if supermarkets insist on running so many different choices, the only way I'm going to change from my regular tried and tested brands (which fit both taste and budget) is if the "new" brands are on special offer. If my Nanna were to be summoned back to earth and find herself needing to shop at a supermarket, I think she would like finding everything in the one place, but I think she would hate the impersonality of it - and the choice would flummox her completely.

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vicki

16 September 2008, 9:34PM
vicki

i'm all for variety & choice in the supermarket as a mother of 4 young children age 2 to 10 my children would probably not have the varied diet they had to day with out such a vast range of products available at the local superstore take rice for example a local 'corner ' shop may sell long grain rice yet in the past month alone we have eaten Paella, rissotto, basmati (with curry) Nasi goreng and good old rice pudding!!. As for the soulessness to the weekly shop i'm allways greeted by friendly cashier who are happy to chat whilst helping me pack my goodies & grabbing me that extra trolley i allways seem to need when i discover that what just seemed to fit in the one going round manage's to fill two by the the end of the check out!!

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smitty

17 September 2008, 4:40PM
smitty

My nearest supermarket is a vast superstore that takes me ages to get round. I don't know any of the staff and the products are always being moved around so I never know where anything is! Apparently this is to get customers to walk round the store instead of going straight to what they want.

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