government issue
August 4th, 2006 Filed Under projects
A friend sent me a link to Seth Godin’s recent posting entitled “Good enough“. I too have been struck by the so-called Paradox of Choice, when shopping for consumer goods that I just don’t need to be feature-laden; for example, toothpaste and toasters. I would love to “shop” for these goods at a store that’s committed to delivering reasonable quality at reasonable prices, with minimum choices. My pet name for this store/brand is either “Government Issue” (which gets the point across but hasn’t tested well), or “Reasonable [Goods]” (which needs a major marketing campaign to develop the brand).
Really, it’s the Consumer Reports store, with simple choices being made for the average consumer of the product being purchased. Trader Joe’s does a good job in the food space; now we need a similar retail outlet for small appliances, electronics, and who knows what else.
Cost, Quality, Convenience, Choice. Reasonable Goods would all but eliminate Choice, to maximize Convenience and deliver the most reasonable Cost/Quality ratio. I think there’s a significant market for this “service”, and I wish I had the capital and skills to implement it.
Stumble it!