Analysis Paralysis: Choice Often Hurts Conversions

As marketers we assume giving more choice is always better. Sometimes it is but many times it isn’t. Especially if the choices are hard to choose between.

Fragrancenet.com is a huge online retailer. Huge. They have a very sophisticated marketing team.

On their homepage they give 2 options: 30% OFF sitewide -or- Free Express Shipping.

Now, without actually knowing the dollar value of what I’m buying or the cost of shipping it’s impossible to pick the best option. So my mind plays a mental ping pong game. Quite exhausting and frustrating.

In the end, I simply can’t decide. Do you know what shoppers do when they can’t decide? They defer judgment. Which is a nice way of saying they don’t buy.