Is too much choice an issue and how do you decide what to buy?

Posted by: looklively

22nd Mar 2017 11:05am

Coles and Woolies are following Aldi's lead and cutting the number of product lines they stock as a result of customers finding that too much choice is stressful. So what do you think? - How do you feel about having less choice in the supermarket? What would you do if your usual brand was no longer available? Would you prefer more or fewer brands to choose from? Does having too many brands to choose from make it harder to decide? When you are faced with a wide range of products to choose from, how you make your decision?

pjohnw

23rd Mar 2017 11:23pm

I'm what is called an Aldi convert, Aldi is now my number 1 supermarket , near all my shopping these days is from them , at first it was a little strange shopping there with so little choice in products , but the great prices and quality kept me returning week after week. Now knowing that Aldi offer mostly their own brands does not faze me one bit , I'm yet to buy a product from them that i have not liked , their brand names might be unfamiliar but once you try them any doubt goes away.
With their refurbished stores focus on fresh produce i find less and less reason to visit Woolworths or Coles ,and i can understand people being stressed when confronted with the choice of say 10 to 12 different options on some products , as i know with Aldi if i want to buy say pasta sauce , they have their brand only , no problems to me , i like it .
Coles and to a lesser extent Woolworths are trying to compete with Aldi by reducing the number of choices and concentrating on the better sellers or more profitable brands , and i can see the reasoning in this as more and more people switch to Aldi.
Perhaps being on a budget clouds my thinking on this topic , but as more and more shoppers are looking to save and buy quality the future looks clear to me.
Looking to the future we hear of the pending arrival of Lidl and Amazon , with Lidl's aggressive approach to grocery retailing i can see Coles and woolworths struggling to maintain the top 2 positions in Australian grocery shopping.
As to when Lidl will begin their Australian campaign i don't know but it will be interesting to say the least.

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