Shoppers have too much choice, from chocolate bars to jeans._ What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of having many things to choose from?

Have you ever been to a supermarket to buy daily necessities, but wasted too much

considering which product to choose from after scanning through the entire shelf of goods that tower way above you? I am sure that many of us have experienced

symptom at least once, as

shoppers have simply too much choice, from chocolate bars to jeans. Having a wide selection of goods to choose from is a double-edged sword for all consumers. Definitely, as consumers, we may think

benefits us,

as allowing us to purchase items according to our personal preferences and allowing us to obtain savings through buying cheaply-priced items.

,

is not entirely the case as some disadvantages include overspending and wasting

what to choose.

advantage of having many choices is that we can

according to our personal preferences. Each of us has our different perception and perspective of the world around us, including places, objects and people. Naturally, we

possess a taste for things unique to ourselves.

, we may not necessarily find a product

our cup of tea if there are only a limited

or two products.

the contrary, if there is a wider selection of products offered, we are more likely to find something which adheres to our tastes.

, NTUC Fairprice supermarket outlets display a generous array of

products on its shelves within a lane, ranging from Nescafe, Goldkili to Old Town White

etc. Even within a specific brand

as Nescafe, there are plenty of types of

,

as the “Gold” selection, which uses Arabia

beans, and the 3-in-1 white

series. Recently, they have released a new series of

products, which is called the

Gao Siew Dai with less sugar, in order to pertain to the consumers_ needs,

as people who prefer to have a lower sugar intake for their health_s sake or people without a sweet tooth.

, with a wide array of goods available in the market, companies would more often than not improve their products to better attract the consumers to whip their wallets out of their pockets to purchase their goods, enabling consumers to

more easily according to their preferences.
With so many products available in a

, what is

way to certainly boost the sales of a product? As consumers ourselves, we are undoubtedly seeking for the “treasures” during our shopping trips, which are the best buys for us. We are constantly on the lookout for discounted items, even if we only save up ten cents. We are using our sharp eyes to spot any offer that will benefit our wallets more when we compare various items.

, to stand out among the sea of things to choose from, brands have to cut down largely on their prices so as to remain competitive and relevant to the market, which makes prices more affordable, cheaper and wallet-friendly,

passing down these savings to the consumers.

<-Good point] Let us take Uniqlo as an example. It is a large-chain shopping outlet, which has more than twenty clothing branches throughout Singapore. In order to compete against strong competitors

as H&M

Topshop and

and appeal to the public, it has reduced its prices for shorts, winter wear and other products significantly.

, its chain has since

expanded throughout Singapore at a rapid rate and is gaining recognition among shoppers for value-for-money goods.

, the shoppers will certainly benefit by saving up money through purchasing cheaper goods, especially in the long term.

, as having too many choices is a double-edged sword, there are disadvantages as well.

disadvantage is overspending. With higher purchasing power in developed countries

as Singapore, Australia and Japan, and the rise of the middle class in countries

as China, people may be more willing to fork out that bit of money to buy whatever appeals to them, especially since there is simply so much to choose. As the phrase goes ”

till you drop”, quite a number of people often do not control their spending wisely and buy goods uncontrollably, even buying unnecessary items which they do not need.

swipe, two swipes and three swipes of the credit card… They unknowingly overspend, given that they have too many things to choose from. In a study conducted by a local bank, it is reported that up to thirty percent of Singaporeans cannot pay their bills on

and about ten percent

exceed their credit limit in a month. These statistics show that people may spend too much money when they cannot

wisely given a large variety of goods. There are even cases of overspending that resulted in bankruptcy.

, many women in

for luxury goods and there were quite a number of cases of women shopping for

, Prada and Kate Spade bags excessively, till the extent of bankruptcy.

, we can tell that people may overspend when they are offered a wide variety of items, especially when they cannot resist the urge to

.

, having too much

is detrimental, especially for indecisive individuals because we spend too much

on shopping. As there are too many choices for each kind of item,

as chocolates

as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Ferrero Rocher, Lindt and countless of other brands, we spend a lot of

hesitating or contemplating about

question whilst scratching our heads, “Should I get

or that? Which chocolate brand would my family like better?”

the

accumulates, we may spend close to thirty minutes of plain hesitation while shopping. Since

is finite and so valuable, shouldn_t we conserve our precious resource of

on hesitating about what to buy

?
In conclusion, the advantages of having many things to choose from include purchasing items according to our own preferences and saving costs, while the disadvantages are overspending and wasting too much

on contemplating what should we pick.

being informed

these, we should be wiser consumers who take advantage of the

choices offered to us shoppers.