Book excerpt: Demonstrating how retailers can tap into shoppers’ needs for variety without increasing complexity and stress, this innovative book combines cutting-edge research with hands-on, practical frameworks. Experts in the retail sector have long been convinced that small assortments are more appealing to shoppers than large selections of products; in other words, less is more. However, the human brain has an innate need for variety. Addressing this challenge Constant Berkhout offers practical merchandising guidelines both for stores and online retailers. Indeed, studies show that it is not the actual size of assortment that drives traffic to online stores, but the perception of assortment variety. The author illustrates how decisions around assortment and visual merchandising must be made in conjunction with each other, rather than separately, and provides a step-by-step plan to do so. Grounded on shopper needs, emotions and behaviours that apply to both online and brick-and-mortar stores, this book integrates assortment and merchandise thinking and takes a human and shopper perspective. With practical frameworks that can easily be implemented in real-life situations along with examples from a number of retail sectors, Assortment and Merchandising Strategy provides a deeper and much-needed understanding of how shoppers process information, and the strategies that retailers must adopt in order to satisfy and retain their customers.