There is this great soft pretzel shop in our neighborhood. We moved to this neighborhood during the height of the pandemic when I was still in full hermit mode and was very cautious about going anywhere. The first few times we ordered pretzels, we called and ordered and then walked over and picked them up so we wouldn’t have to go in. The first time I actually went in and ordered there was to get some of their pretzel nuggets and dip to bring to a party. The shop was more crowded than I was expecting and I honestly hadn’t purchased anything in person in probably a year so I was a bit nervous. It wasn’t like it was my first time ever buying something, but in a way it felt like it.
While waiting in line, I looked at their menu overhead. There was an option for 25 nuggets or 100 nuggets. I knew 100 was too many for the small number of people who would be at the party, but 25 didn’t seem to be enough. As I debated this, it was my turn at the counter. I panicked and ordered the 100 nuggets.
As I walked home, arms full of warm paper bags filled with fresh pretzel nuggets, I realized I could have just ordered 2 orders of 25 nuggets instead. In the moment, though, it didn’t occur to me to combine their menu options in this way. I felt kind of silly.
This happened several years ago, but I still think about this situation. It makes a great story and is kind of funny in retrospect, but what really stands out to me is that the pretzel shop had an opportunity to create a new product offering just by bundling their current products in a different way. Had there been a menu item for 50 nuggets, that would have stood out as just what I needed and I would have bought that. (They have since added a 50 and 75 nugget menu item.)
In this particular case, I did end up spending much more than I was intending to, but often when your customers are confused or don’t see exactly what they are looking for, they just won’t buy anything.
Is there an opportunity for you to bundle, repackage, or sell your existing products in a new way? Maybe certain items are frequently bought together and you can offer them as a set. Maybe you can tweak the title or description of a product on your site to better speak to the exact situation your customers often find themselves in.
You don’t want to overwhelm people with too many options, but you do want to clearly present the right options that fit them. The easier you can make it for your customers to buy exactly what – and how much – they came for, the more likely they are to make the purchase.