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December 30, 2004
Disruptive jam
Last night I was listening to Barry Schwartz' talk from Pop!Tech on how "Less is more". In the talk, Barry provides some examples of how adding more choices (e.g. more jam variations in a supermarket) actually may not increase the sales of jam. In fact - the more choice that is provided, the more likely it is that the sales figure will actually go down - as people become reluctant to actually make a decision. He also talked about a speed-dating example that shows the same effect (the more choice - the less dates).
Each additional choice you add provides less gain in the actual outcome - until you reach the point where people are overwhelmed with choice and actually become unable to choose. So, the vendor side overshoots the customer side.
This reminded me of the same notion, Clayton Christensen puts forward in The Innovator's Dilemma related to vendors adding feature after feature to a software or hardware product up to the point where the buying side loses interest. That is a time when the disruptive vendor can move in and offer something different - with less choice.
So if you are in the salad-dressing or jam business then I guess you too could introduce the concepts of disruptive technology into your jam offering. Produce a "simple" new line of jam that only comes in 3 flavors - and not in 250.
Posted by Matthew at December 30, 2004 10:38 AM