A strange thing happens when we have too many choices: often we make no decision at all. A growing body of consumer research shows that providing too much choice will reduce sales.

In an often cited example from a psychologist at Columbia University, a display table of jams was setup at a gourmet food shop. On Day 1, six flavors were displayed; on Day 2, 30 different flavors. Although the display of 30 flavors attracted more attention, shoppers were only one-tenth as likely to make a purchase. More choice, less sales.

Your spa menu might be doing the same thing, particularly in the eye of the holiday gift-giver. A large portion of your holiday gift certificate sales are to men, many (most!) unfamiliar with the spa experience, who just want to make their wife, mom or sister happy.

Make their lives easy! Simplify your spa packages to reduce choice, and increase sales. If you just can't part with your extensive spa menu, consider creating a new services category of Holidays Spa Packages. Create three packages designed for gift-giving, and move them to the top of your services menu. When that male buyer goes to Instant Gift Certificates, the first thing they'll see are the perfect gift-giving options.

Posted in Spa Marketing, Spa Gift Certificates • Share • Trackback

One Response to “More choices means less sales”

1. Jasmine Says:
   December 11th, 2006 at 11:02 am

   Larry,

   Susie (President of SpaFinder) took a look at this idea and loved it! Me too!

Leave a Reply