Don't Get Me Started On Butter

I had to chuckle when Len Goodman put ‘choice’ into Room 101.

Using examples such as butter and jeans, and then quoting all supermarkets could become corner shops again if we didn’t have so much choice.

I especially loved the research stats that followed from Frank Skinner, “Tesco sell 352 types of bread” and “M&S have 77 types of men’s white shirts”.

Sometimes I am shocked by the amount of choice that we face everyday, and more evident when I go supermarket shopping. Although it’s always nice to have at least a couple of options, I do wonder if choice can sometimes overwhelm consumers, so much so, that they always chose their favourite or trusted brand instead of trying something different.

However, for the retail sector (clothing) choice is a good thing – right? 

Or can this also become a little overwhelming too, more so when we are shopping online for clothes and become slightly overwhelmed again, where we can still face an abundance of the same products here too.

I don’t get too amazed by the amount of choice that faces me every time I want to buy a new item of clothing, one thing for certain is, when it comes to choice in clothes, the more choice there is - the less likely you are to see someone else wearing the same thing.

Does this mean clothing is different to food when it comes to consumer appetite?

I guess that depends on the actual product, the specific clothes or food item. But in relation to bread, do we really need 352 types to choose from? Maybe the research tells us we actually do, and this choice is consumer driven.

Next time you take a trolley for a spin round the supermarket, have a look and see if you can spot any other categories where the amount of choice outweighs the needs for you.

Why do we need so much choice?

Well I don’t know about you but I found it a good argument from Len and understood why he put ‘choice’ into Room 101.

Hello summer, Hello Wimbledon

It’s that time of year again… Wimbledon.

Lawn tennis, line calls, strawberries and cream, optimism and maybe a British winner. Our natural obsession about the weather; will it be sunny for the next fortnight or will we see rain and scramble for cover. Will we get a nice long summer at all?

Like the tennis, a British summer can also be unpredictable at times and we shouldn’t be too shocked at a surprise over the next few weeks. Will it, won’t it? Will they go all the way or not?

In many ways, this could be similar to a new business launch. Uncertainty surrounding any new launch - will it be a success, will people like it, or more importantly buy it! And that’s why we strongly believe any investment of research is key to gaining the maximum return.

At Hello Research, our team like tennis, we like strawberries, even the sunny weather, but what we really love is helping our clients and partners succeed. We love speaking to consumers, to trades people, to retailers, to anybody that will talk to us… because we value their insights, knowing that it will help our clients/partners succeed.

In any marketplace it pays to invest in quality research. Not only will it give you the immediate need to know insights now, it will also provide ‘over and above’ findings that will help shape future marketing and strategies too. A ‘value add’ to making sure you are prepared for today and tomorrow, you have your strawberries ‘and’ cream!

 If only picking a Wimbledon winner was as fruitful…

 Hello we think it is, Game, Set and Match!