here has been a Attention webshop lot of experimentation in recent years with the size of the number of products within a product category. Sometimes it is better to keep the number of products in a product category small if you have a (web)shop. I share my experiences in this article, so that you have a handle on your assortment.
Introducing a new product category often leads to additional sales and profit, but for some categories we noticed at DeMassageWinkel.com that the more products we added, this did not immediately lead to additional sales and/or profit. This was particularly noticeable in categories where:
The purchase price is high
Products only need to be purchased once
In this article I will give three reasons, from my own experience, why it is sometimes better to keep the number of products in a product category small if you have a (web)shop .
Reason 1. Choice stress
Too much choice leads to lower conversion and more returns. We noticed this with our massage table category. For example, we initially only had tables with a width of 71cm (the most common size). Later, we also added massage tables with a width of 63.5cm.
And it turned out that where previously people never hesitated between 71cm and 63.5cm, because we only offered 71cm wide massage tables, we increasingly received questions about the different widths.
People wanted to see the tables in real life first. Since we don’t have a showroom, we lost these customers. We also noticed that the return percentage of the 63.5cm wide table was significantly higher than the 71cm wide table. It turned out that people preferred a wide table after all.
We have now decided to focus solely on the 71cm wide massage tables again. In this way we make the choice for our customers, because we have noticed that this is the best size for them. Of course we will lose some customers this way, but for the majority of our customers we do not give unnecessary choice stress. This works out well for our conversion and return percentage!
The same applies to, for example, the colours of fitted list of san marino consumer email sheets that we offer. If it is not immediately clear online what the difference is between two different colours, we again create unnecessary choice stress for our customers.
Sneakers on asphalt
Reason 2. Better customer service
If the range within a category is just large enough to clearly show the differences between products, it is also easier for (new) customer service employees to gain product knowledge and advise customers.
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For example, we noticed that a larger range of massage tables led to more confusion among (starting) customer service employees. It was not always clear in which cases we recommended which massage table. Also, the differences became smaller and smaller. If I am completely honest, I think that these small things would not make a difference for the customer in the end. By focusing on a small range of massage tables where the differences between the models are large, it is easier for a new employee to gain product knowledge. And to give advice to new customers.
Headset on desk
Reason 3. More profit
By keeping the assortment per product category small, it is ao lists easier to manage inventory, create scale and reduce marketing costs for photos and videos.