Less is More

Terrific post by Dan Pink

Ah, choices. For shoppers in Tokyo, they're endless. So how does a smart retail deigner respond to consumers' ocean of options? By restricting those choices. Radically.
Welcome to Ranking RanQueen -- a store that carries only the one, three, five, or ten most popular products in given category.
Here's how it works. Suppose you're shopping for an ear cleaner. Go to a drug store and you'll find dozens. Go to RanQueen and you'll find only the three most popular ones -- ranked in order. Looking for bust care products? The day I visited the Ranqueen that's stuffed into about 60-square meter space the Shibuya train station, the top seller, denoted with a crown surrounding the number 1, was "Beauty Bust-Up Gel." You'll find the top 3 Wii games, the top 3 mobile phone straps, the top 5 American snacks, the top 10 J-Pop singles, and the top 5 "lady's fragrances to find true love." (The shelf with the top 3 "after bath products" is pictured to the right.) The rankings are based on sales at other stores around Tokyo and they can change week to week.
In a world of abundance, Ranqueen imposes scarcity. "Curated consumption," my virtual pal Reinier Evans calls this new kind of retail. Or as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe told us last century, "less is more."

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