It was mid-2009, after living in India for almost three decades, I got my maiden opportunity to travel abroad. As providence decided, my first international exposure was destined to be United States, the land of options! We were a team of six from my company for a project and the trip was to last three months.
A few days after we arrived
in Atlanta, a friend took me to an Indian store which was the best option available
to buy Indian stuff. I stepped into the store keeping in mind the super market
visits I had till date back home. It’ll be an understatement if I say, I was overwhelmed
with a brand new shopping experience altogether!
Every aisle had neatly
arranged and labelled items which clearly told you what the product and the
price was. But what really struck me was when I reached the aisle for coffee. I
was an ocean of coffee boxes. Brands and types of coffee were aplenty! What seemed
to be a never ending row of options presented itself to me.
I was obviously taken back to
the super market shelf in India where I picked up coffee. Those days, packaged
coffee for a middle class family meant only one brand, Bru. Though Nescafe was
around, it was quite an expensive affair. The next best option was to get
locally grounded coffee from Indian Coffee House, but somehow we never opted for
it.
With so many options
presented to me out-of-the-blue I was obviously confused. Nevertheless I did
some comparison with respect to the factors that I was capable of understanding
which were just two, price and weight. The beans coming from Brazil or Beijing
didn’t matter! Neither did the percentage of decaf mentioned on the label.
These absolutely didn’t make any difference to me then! Finally I picked up a
bottle that I was convinced was good for me and returned home. Coffee was good.
The whole episode taught me
one of fundamentals of Economics. The value of options! When you are in a
market where a product enjoys monopoly, you obviously have no choice but to buy
that. On the other hand when you are presented with more than one option to
choose from, you definitely need to apply certain criteria before choosing the
best for you.
I’ve met a few people who
totally believe in impulse buying. These folks take quick decisions without
weighing the pros and cons. Then there are others who love to evaluate in depth,
all possible options presented and then take a decision.
We now live in a world where
a lot of markets, both local and international, are open for us to explore. I
may be making a bold statement when I say majority of the consumer goods off
late do present us with choices in all the developed countries and most of the
developing economies. The story may not be the same in the not so fortunate
economies.
Nevertheless the question is
when you are planning to buy something and if you have more than one choice, do
you spend time enough to explore the options and make an informed decision? If
your answer is yes, then you love your wallet. Else you either don’t care for
your money or you are not prudent enough to realize the mistake you commit.
Hence next time you decide to
buy something, ask if you have explored all possible options before zeroing in
on the item. The only caution that we need to keep in mind with options is the
fact that, not to get drowned in the sea of options. Else your decision may
never be made!
Al the best to make an
informed and timely decision next time!
