I can't really back this up with a source but I read somewhere that this is similar to how traditional Japanese merchants used to operate. They would show a cus

I can't really back this up with a source but I read somewhere that this is similar to how traditional Japanese merchants used to operate. They would show a customer a single item, which he could either accept or refuse. Then another item was brought in and so on. By restricting access to the entire catalogue the merchant was able to get better deals out of the customer.