Why you'll see a lot fewer options on the shelves while shopping in 2024

• Get used to seeing fewer options on the shelves in 2024.
• New items made up 2% of products in stores in 2023, down from 5% in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Get used to seeing fewer options on store shelves in 2024.

New items made up about 2% of products in stores in 2023 in categories including beauty, footwear and toys, a decline from 5% of items in 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing the market-research firm Circana.

Meanwhile, large grocery stores have reduced fresh-food offerings such as fruit, dairy products, and deli meats by 15% to 20%, the WSJ reported, citing grocery tech company Shelf Engine.

Coca-Cola, Oreo-maker Mondelez, Nestle, and Dove parent Unilever are among the packaged goods makers that have trimmed their product lines in recent years to ease the stress on their supply chains during the pandemic.

It's not just packaged goods. Both Mattel and PVH (the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein) put their product lines on a diet.

It's a reversal of companies' earlier moves to ramp up choices as the internet trained shoppers to expect endless options. They're also looking to trim costs as people spend less on discretionary items in inflationary times.

Executives at consumer products companies said shoppers didn't miss many of the variations that went missing during the pandemic. They say many of the reductions have been in lines that people won't notice, such as items in special packaging and assortments for individual big-box retailers, the Journal reported.

Items that have either been discontinued or are in the process of winding down include Newell Brands' lines of Yankee candles, Unilever's Sir Kensington's dressing, Coke's Odwalla juice, and regional brands like Northern Neck Ginger Ale.

More variety doesn't necessarily boost growth. Nestlé has said it had more than 100,000 versions of its products, with a third of them contributing just 1% of sales.

And research has shown that consumers are more likely to buy when faced with fewer choices.

But some industry experts warn that just focusing on bestsellers hurts innovation and smaller brands that rely on retailers to get exposure on the shelf. Companies also are giving up shelf space that could be hard to regain once companies are feeling flush again.

Companies have a history of expanding product versions when they're trying to grow market share — so if you're looking for novelty in the grocery aisle, the answer might be just to wait.