Why do shopping sites keep telling you what items are most popular?

...and do I like it?

I actually can find this most popular thing really helpful if l am in a rush.

Also if l need something l.hsve not bought before and have no idea about. It can save time and effort visiting different sites and scrolling through endless boring screens

I agree, Monica, if I am shopping for myself, but when shopping for presents for friends or relatives with quite different tastes to mine, it can be helpful to be told what is in fashion right now.

Obviously, this cannot apply to cup-hooks and the like.

If it was most popular and everyone had it, I certainly wouldn’t want it. Just for that reason alone .

having been in selling all my life i cannot believe what they do. we were always told that you must push the lowest selling line rather than the best selling

What really gets me is the M&S website where, whenever you put something in your basket and whatever it is, you get a message saying "you have great taste"...
Honestly! Am I supposed to be flattered into buying more stuff?

A Variation of confirmation bias.

AuntieE

I agree, Monica, if I am shopping for myself, but when shopping for presents for friends or relatives with quite different tastes to mine, it can be helpful to be told what is in fashion right now.

Obviously, this cannot apply to cup-hooks and the like.

I can understand these messages with clothes and consumer goods.

It is when they are attached to car parts, and DIY materials and the like, it defeats me. Going back to my L shaped white hooks. Am I really going to suddenly change my mind and order the wrong size hook because I have been told that anothe size is more popular?

I started an online order for a top I liked but the postage for it made it a bit too expensive so I decided against it. I didn't delete from my basket and it said 'only a few left' or something similar. Weeks later I still get reminders it is still in my basket! So much for almost sold out! I think 'most popular' means that they are desperate to get rid of the stock!

skate

What really gets me is the M&S website where, whenever you put something in your basket and whatever it is, you get a message saying "you have great taste"...
Honestly! Am I supposed to be flattered into buying more stuff?

Yes, just like the self- checkout tills at Morrisons where you get a message on the screen telling you that it is looking forward to seeing you soon. For goodness' sake!

So you think they are going to sell out and prompt you to buy...NOW! Marketing ploy....

I always change the sorting order to Price Order. Sometimes I use it on Higher to Lower where there are only a few choices at the top end and vice versa when it is the other way round. I find it a quicker way to find what I want.

I suspect it's just a feature of the website - probably originally intended to promote their best selling clothes - and has to be turned on for the whole website. Someone's brain child years ago for the first websites that everyone else latched on to.

Slightly different, but still relating to popularity - I was annoyed yet again searching the rail in M & S for the trousers that I wanted in a size 10, when an assistant came to tidy the goods. I said how annoying it was to so often not be able to find
sizes 10 and 12, adding that the company must see that, and perhaps might add more of these sizes to the stock. She replied that as these sizes are at the front of the rails, they are always chosen first! So don’t customers actually look for the size they actually need?

AmberGran

I suspect it's just a feature of the website - probably originally intended to promote their best selling clothes - and has to be turned on for the whole website. Someone's brain child years ago for the first websites that everyone else latched on to.

I'm not convinced on that. I think they put items that they want to offload or are more expensive. Amazon definitely do the more expensive first. An article the other day on Apple News (I think) explained that around the 8th row normally shows the lower price. I am sure that they also remove things when you want low to high in the Prime filtered search. It drives me batty...although that's not far to go!