LESS IS MORE: THE POWER OF CURATION IN THE AGE OF AMAZON

I never watched Frasier when it was on TV in the 90s - Seinfeld was my must-see-TV - but in the age of streaming I’ve been able to rediscover the genius that was Frasier. One particular episode always stands out to me because of a single line of dialogue. In this particular scene, Frasier has taken it upon himself to compose a theme song for his radio show, but things quickly spiral out of control as his grand ambitions take over. Standing in front of a full orchestra and choir holding the conductor’s baton, Frasier is asked by Niles, “Whatever happened to the concept ‘less is more’?” Frasier aptly responds, “Ah, but if less is more then just think how much more ‘more’ would be!”

I can’t help but think of this twisted maxim every time I’m browsing Amazon or Wayfair. A simple search for an item like “coffee table” reveals they’ve clearly taken Frasier’s philosophy to heart. Over 14,000 search results (along with ads and sponsored listings) appear and the task of refining and filtering begins. More search results, more scrolling, more comparing, more reviews to read, and ultimately, more time spent trying to make the right choice.

14,958 coffee tables are available on Wayfair…

I have Amazon prime - I know how incredibly convenient it is and as someone who lives in a rural area, 2-day shipping is a must-have. But convenience is more than just shipping speed - the total decision tree from product research to final purchase represents a chunk of time that a consumer will never get back. Often that time drain doesn’t amount to much, especially for low-risk products that we use frequently like household essentials. But for more infrequent, higher-cost items like furniture, the time spent researching and comparing product increases. Moreover, research has shown that fewer choices can actually lead to more sales. There’s a famous so-called jam study from the mid-90s that showed that, even for a simple product like jam, consumers were 10 times more likely to purchase when given fewer choices. This idea of curation - fewer, but carefully selected options - stands out as one way brands and retailers are differentiating their experiences from Amazon. Let’s take a look at a few places where this is playing out.

ALDI: THE LOW PRICE CURATOR

Aldi’s low low low prices and focused assortment make for a quick shopping experience.

ALDI is a unique experience. There are no cart attendants so you need a quarter to unlock your own cart. Bags are not free so BYOBag is a must. And the checkout experience is like the slow climb up the first big hill of a roller coaster: nervous anticipation as your items approach the cashier and then - BAM! - your items are whipped across the scanner and into the cart faster faster than you can say tossed salads and scrambled eggs. You then shuffle away to bag your own groceries, not realizing until it’s too late that you should’ve put the canned goods on the bottom.

One of the biggest things that sets Aldi apart, though, is its highly curated and stripped-down product assortment. The vast majority of items are Aldi private labels and are often limited to 2-3 choices for a given category. You will find very few national brands here. This philosophy allows their stores to have a significantly smaller footprint and it also means as a consumer, I can get in and out much faster than in a traditional grocer because I don’t have to spend time hunting down items or deciding between 10 different brands of jam. So far it seems to be working. Aldi just opened their 2000th store and has plans to reach 2500 by the end of 2022.

DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER BRANDS: HYPER CURATORS

The last several years have seen an explosion in the number of so-called DTC brands, aka Direct-To-Consumer brands. Some of the early players in the DTC space found traction in product categories that were dominated by huge traditional consumer brands.

Harry’s offers just one shaving platform.

Men’s shaving was, and to a large degree still is, dominated by Gillette and Schick. It seemed for much of the late 90s and early 2000s the marketing strategy for these brands was to see who could be the first to cram enough blades into a disposable razor so one could theoretically shave their face in a single, epidermis-shearing swipe. Fast forward to today and two of the most successful DTC brands - Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s - were actually acquired by Unilever and Edgewell, respectively, in a bid to tap into the growing DTC subscription segment.

Mattresses were long viewed as a product category associated with pushy salesmen, confusing marketing-speak and moving guys scratching your floors when it finally gets delivered two weeks later. Along came Casper and the traditional model of mattress sales was upended. No salesmen. Clear product benefits. And most importantly, a delivery experience that redefines the term “unboxing”.

As DTC brands have multiplied and spread into every product category imaginable, many of them all have one thing in common: a highly curated product assortment. Harry’s, for example, sells one razor platform. Casper began with a single mattress and today still focuses on just three options.

The Article Experience aims to remove all the middlemen in the traditional furniture sourcing model.

Let’s take the coffee table example again. A cursory review of the options available from Article, a digitally-native furniture DTC, reveals a much more digestible 34 options. DTC brands are inherently curated because they often carve out specific white spaces - in this case Article focuses on “modern furniture at nice prices.” As a brand this might place a cap on future growth but for the consumer it means I can easily find a great product that fits my style without endlessly comparing items on Amazon or Wayfair.

BIG BOX PRIVATE LABELS: ISLANDS OF CURATION

Private labels have been around for a long time but only in recent years have they evolved beyond their historical role as value-focused essentials. Target was one of the pioneers in elevating private labels as a means of differentiation. As one of my former leaders at Target used to say, owned brands are no longer something guests buy while they shop, they are now a reason why guests shop at Target. Walk around a Target today and you will find islands of carefully curated owned brands in virtually every product category.

From my time developing products for many of these brands at Target, I can tell you the process of curating the assortment is a key element in getting these items on the shelf. In developing a recent closet collection we conducted wide-ranging ethnographic research to understand exactly what solutions guests were craving. This data informed not only the design process but also which items to move forward with and how to merchandise them. Returning again to the coffee table example one can see how Target’s owned brands are used to filter the assortment by style, quality and price (granted, the online experience still requires some work on the consumer’s part). With six different furniture brands, there are curated assortments for multiple tastes and needs.

Within furniture, owned brands at Target play a key role in providing carefully curated assortments based on style, quality and price.

As a business strategy, private labels seem to be working: in recent years Target has added dozens of new private brands to its stable and they account for over 1/3 of their total skus. Competitors are increasingly trying to mimic this success. Bed Bath and Beyond went so far as to hire away Target’s former head merchant, Mark Tritton, as it tries to revamp its strategy, of which private labels have already been announced as playing a key role.

Final Notes from Frasier

In closing, here’s Frasier’s “more is more” theme song, which coincidentally, now plays in my head every time I search for coffee tables online.