There you stand in the bread aisle — thinking, looking, reading the description of each item and trying to figure out which choice will be best for your family for the price and amount you’re getting. The kids don’t like wheat, but it’s best for them, right? So which brand will they like better if they eat it at all? (And loaves seem to be getting smaller and smaller these days, don’t they?)

You’re feeling anxious, confused. You’ve got to get to your next errand and you’re only a few items into your shopping list, with a lot more to go — but you don’t want to buy the wrong bread!

Grocery shopping is something people try to spend as little time as possible doing, Nielsen reports.

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More and more, people are finding that quick errands are turning into all-day excursions — at least in part because there’s so much to choose from. And in order to offer consumers the most choices, stores have gotten bigger in an effort to offer a huge, overwhelming selection.

It’s a bit counter-intuitive to think that having choices as a consumer is a bad thing — but studies have shown that too many selections may lead consumers to not buy anything at all. People are looking for that “perfect choice,” versus any choice that could work just as well. The pure volume and time commitment is leading to increased anxiety and frustration.

“For the first time in my life, since my husband passed, I actually don’t enjoy shopping. It’s overwhelming, exhausting, and confusing,” said 76-year-old Phyllis McKedy of Colorado. “I may need something as simple as shampoo and I become dazed and confused. All I can think is, ‘Why so many choices?’ Many times I just cut my shopping short and go home.”

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Nearly half of global respondents in a recent Nielsen survey said grocery shopping is something they try to spend as little time as possible doing.

The same survey reveals that two niche retailers that appeal to very different customer bases — discounters and natural/gourmet supermarket chains — are expanding store counts and grabbing share from mainstream supermarkets. Between 2015 and 2020, growth in these small markets is expected to outpace that of mainstream supermarkets and put pressure on big-box retailers.

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Growth of the Grocery Market” source=”http://www.consumerreports.com”]Between 1975 and 2008, the number of products in the average supermarket swelled from an average of 8,948 to almost 47,000, according to the Food Marketing Institute, a trade group.[/lz_bulleted_list]

“Imagine a grocery store where you can receive personal recommendations and offers the moment you step in the store, where checkout takes seconds and you can pay for groceries without taking out your wallet. Sound far-fetched? It’s closer than you think,” Nielsen stated in “The Future of Grocery,” a 2015 report.

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Things could look very different in the future: Gone from the aisles could be the 621 types of shampoo and 585 types of conditioners one major discount retailer claims to carry, or the 380 different types of cereal that are available, according to a business.com report. The specialty grocery store of the future might look a little bit more like times past.

“More is not better,” Barry Schwartz, a psychologist, wrote in “The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less.”

“There’s a point where all of this choice starts to be not only unproductive, but counterproductive — a source of pain, regret, worry about missed opportunities, and unrealistically high expectations.”

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Gene Beresin, M.D., executive director of the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, agrees.

“Back in the old day — with cereal — we only had Wheaties, Cheerios, and Corn Flakes. We weren’t reading labels and we weren’t worried about trans fats, saturated fats, and fiber. The good news today is, there are a lot of choices. The bad news is — you have a lot of choices and you can get really bogged down with making the right choices. Families feel pressured to have the newest, latest, and greatest,” Beresin told LifeZette.

His best advice is to keep it simple.

“Life is a balancing act and we’re all pressed for time with our careers,  jobs, and taking care of kids. Know your limitations and use the digital world to get reviews,” said Beresin. “Do research before you go to the store and make choices before you go to take the anxiety out of shopping.”