Can you offer too many choices?

[lucycat]

I think how many choices is dependent on how you sell. I do craft fairs and my booth is known for the fun of choosing from a wide variety. I usually have two booths can have 4-6 people at the booth picking up bars to compare with others. I think it is considered a fun "activity" at a fair and in the process, I have sales. I usually have 29 scents. If you sell on-line, then having a nice web site selection is needed which could probably be less. I knew a wholesaler who made only 6 scents. Also, do you want to have something for everyone or a niche? We are all different and we learn what fits you as time goes on.

 

[Ephemerella]

I have a wide variety of choices that fit a theme that my target market is familiar with, which creates a curiosity factor once they understand the concept. Having said that though, sometimes too much can be too much.

I currently only wholesale to physical locations. Some locations do really well with a big variety, and some do better with fewer. It seems that retailers who have targeted traffic — coming in for a specific thing — are generally not inclined to want to spend a lot of time browsing. But locations that a geared more towards Saturday afternoon shoppers who spend the day strolling in and out of shops, tend to linger and get excited by a variety of options.

It's only been a couple of months for me, but I am finding wildly different buying patterns at all of my retailers, and its utterly fascinating. We're all currently putting together our holiday game plans.

 

[Savage Daughter]

At the moment, I have 3 differently colored / scented essential oil soaps which are 'themed' to go along with my brand, including the natural colorants I use, and the designs. These are a constant & never change.

I then have milk soaps, 2 scents per different type of milk soap, for a total of 4, including unscented. These I change up from time to time with natural colorants & essential oils

I then have my pull-through soaps, 2 scents at the moment, which I change up when I feel like it.
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NON SOAP:

I have a skin care product which has 2 scents & one unscented.

Another personal care product which has 2 scents with one unscented.

Lip balms I have 3 scented, 1 unscented.

Herbal salves, at the moment doing 2, to be expanded to 4 to 6. Still deciding.

And so on....
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I do not target customers based on divisive ideology eg. 'vegan and 'non-vegan'.

I also don't label for that purpose. People can read the ingredients if they're trying to avoid specific ingredients.

I intentionally choose my scents, herbs & colorants to target different portions of the market. If somebody wishes for something different, they have the option of ordering a custom batch of whatever it is. I'm not making a 16 pound batch of anything unless I have had MANY people ask for it.

I observe what sells & what doesn't sell so much, then make modifications based on my observations.

EDIT: forgot to mention that I don't do markets. I did them years ago & don't miss them, at all LOL My products are in local, independently owned retail stores frequented by locals & non-locals. That's the way I wish to keep things at the moment. This also adds to the 'exclusivity' of my products & brand, which is based partly in where I wish to sell, as well as in marketing.

I've seen other soap makers go the opposite route, making 30 scents & colors (albeit one 'design'), making their soap as cheaply / crappily as possible in order to be more palatable to corporately owned stores who want each bar at a dirt cheap price so they have more room for markup / profit. For every soap makers who I have seen go this route in my & outlying areas, their brand ends up cheapened, the quality of their products compromised, and their products looking like exactly what they are - CHEAP - on store shelves.

No spank you, that is NOT for me

DISCLAIMER: Please don't read in to what I'm saying. There is no underlying 'message'. I am simply speaking of my own intentions, wishes, observations, goals & experiences.