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

Pete

There's a plethora of choice in our supermarkets these days. Is it too much? Good question. I think it largely depends on the type of shopper you are. It's far too much choice for my needs, 'cos my shopping decisions are largely made on price & my usual buying patterns. Generally speaking we buy the same products regularly & look for the cheapest item in each product line which is still quality enough to be usable. For example, today I shopped for, among other things, baked beans. The Woolies home brand was the cheapest, but we've bought it before & it's awful, so I bought something slightly dearer which at least is edible. The range, though, is incrdible. Apart from God knows how many brands, there's baked beans in tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, several other sauces, maybe next week they'll have a baked beans with creamy custard or something. To me, all this choice does is slow down the process, & you've got to wonder if supplying so much choice actually causes the supermarkets to sell at higher prices than they otrherwise would to cover the cost of carrying all these brands & varieties. It's not only baked beans, have a look around the stores! For example, you need a program & a map to navigate the cereal aisle!