Faster Shopping: 11 Tips To Grocery Shop In Less Time
For most of us, grocery shopping is a chore and not a fun activity that we look forward to. Imagine spending a lot of time pushing a heavy grocery shopping cart and scanning isle after isle of grocery items which are not really fun and beautiful to look at.We also have to consider that grocery stores are usually packed full of people and parking can be terrible. It’s no wonder that there are now people who grocery shop online rather than physically going to a grocery store.
This especially becomes important if you have a big family or resell grocery items. You would likely have to grocery shop more than once a week. Surely, cutting down on your grocery shopping time would be an improvement in your life.
Here are some tips on how to cut down on your grocery shopping time:
Note: This information was taken from my actual experience in bulk grocery shopping and from various small business sources online.
Table of Contents:
1. Have a Grocery Shopping List
2. Organize Your Grocery List by Category
3. Check Out the Items on Sale Beforehand
4. Get Serious
5. Familiarize Yourself with the Store
6. Familiarize Yourself with the Store Employees
7. Skip the Cart as Much as Possible
8. Do Perimeter Shopping
9. Standardize Your Brands
10. Bulk Shop
11. Analyze The Checkout Line
Final Words
The Details:
1. Have a Grocery Shopping List
Grocery Shopping Lists are a “Must” for every grocery shopper, but you’ll be surprised by just how many grocery shoppers fail to do so.
Many grocery shoppers walk blindly at grocery shops without grocery shopping lists and still wonder why they seem to be spending so much time in grocery stores.
If we liken grocery shopping to a war, then you’ll be going into a war without a plan of victory, your plan of victory being your grocery shopping list.
Without a grocery shopping list, you’ll tend to wander around the grocery store looking at all the grocery items on display and wondering whether you need to buy them or not. The bigger the grocery store, the more time you waste wandering in it.
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2. Organize Your Grocery List by Category
Grocery stores usually arrange their grocery items by category to make their operations more efficient. So why shouldn’t you do the same?
But usually, grocery shoppers make their grocery shopping list in a random order. Specifically, which grocery items comes first in their mind, that’s what they jot down in their grocery list.
A more efficient grocery list preparation would be to first make a random list of the grocery items that comes to your mind and then making a second list where you categorize the grocery items in your first grocery shopping list.
It is highly suggested that you use the text editor or spreadsheet in your smartphone as it is faster to redo your digital grocery shopping list as compared to a paper based grocery shopping list.
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3. Check Out the Items on Sale Beforehand
Grocery stores usually tempt us to stop and possibly to buy the grocery items they have on sale. The more the items on sale on the grocery store, the more time we tend to spend checking them out.
You can reduce the time you spend checking out on sale items in the grocery store by checking them out online even before you step in the grocery store.
Most grocery stores usually have a website where they display all the grocery items available in their store together with the grocery items on sale.
Also, there are grocery stores that hand out flyers informing you which of their grocery items are on sale. If you ever come across such flyers, keep them and use them as a reference next time you do your grocery shopping.
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4. Get Serious
Often, it’s all about your attitude. If you have a lax attitude toward grocery shopping, you’ll surely find yourself spending much more time in the grocery store than you need to.
For example, if you’re shopping with a loved one or a friend, get serious and concentrate about shopping only. Make sure that almost all your conversation are related toward shopping.
This especially becomes apparent if you have a companion who loves to talk or even gossip. Instead of quickly doing your grocery shopping chores together, you’ll likely spend each other’s time idly talking to each other.
If you can, shop alone. This would remove all people distractions from your grocery shopping chore. This especially applies if you have small kids. They have a way of keeping you busy which is time better spent on grocery shopping quickly.
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5. Familiarize Yourself with the Store
Grocery stores don’t hand out maps for you to navigate them, so make sure you familiarize yourself with the layout of your grocery store. This would speed up your grocery shopping.
But you shouldn’t only memorize the layout of the grocery store. If you can, memorize even the isles of your grocery store.
This means knowing which grocery items go together so you don’t always have to scan the grocery isles whenever you go grocery shopping.
This especially applies if you go to a big grocery store where the entrance/exit might not be immediately apparent and the grocery isles are almost identical. You might end up spending a lot of time looking for a grocery item because you don’t know the layout of the grocery store.
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6. Familiarize Yourself with the Store Employees
Grocery store employees can greatly improve and shorten your grocery shopping experience. This is because there are employees who are so knowledgeable with the grocery store that they can basically give you all the information you want in an instant.
For example, if you find yourself endlessly looking for a grocery item that you can’t find because the grocery store changed its location, the right grocery store employee can basically tell its new location in an instant.
It pays to know the familiar grocery store employees in your grocery store. Between choosing a grocery store employee you’re familiar with to another you’re not, choose the grocery store employee you’re familiar with.
They likely know more about the grocery store than the grocery store employee you’re not familiar with.
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7. Skip the Cart as Much as Possible
The larger our grocery shopping cart, the more we tend to grocery shop. This is because of the psychological effect brought about by a big but near empty shopping cart.
When we see a big shopping cart which is near empty with grocery items, our brain usually fools us into thinking that we haven’t shopped enough. This is because despite the number of grocery items in our cart, we can’t seem to fill it.
The solution to this is to choose a grocery shopping cart that’s just right for your grocery shopping list. A small grocery shopping cart that is almost filled with grocery items fools us into thinking that we have already grocery shopped a lot.
If you can, choose a shopping basket only. Not only is a shopping basket filled faster, but the weight of the shopping basket fools us into thinking that we have already grocery shopped a lot.
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8. Do Perimeter Shopping
Grocery stores usually locate their most basic items in their perimeters. This is because they like to remind grocery shoppers of the grocery items they have in their perimeter.
This is also a way for grocery stores to keep the density of people in their store in check. Too much crowding in the isles can actually dissuade grocery shoppers from shopping, and grocery stores want to prevent this as much as they can.
Analyze the isle layout of your grocery stores. Usually, the most sold items in a grocery store are located near the perimeters of the isles as well. The most sold items are usually the items that most grocers need or buy on a regular basis.
Are the meat, vegetables, fruits, frozen items, dairy, bread, and so on located in the perimeters of your grocery store? These grocery items are essential items that’s why they are located in the perimeters of the grocery store.
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9. Standardize Your Brands
Usually, once we’ve settled on a certain grocery item brand, we stick to it for a very long time, even forever.
But there are times when grocery stores introduce new grocery item brands. Most often, these new grocery item brands have little differentiating factors from the grocery item brands we are buying already.
While there is nothing wrong with trying out something new, there is a great benefit with sticking with something that is tried and tested already. Usually, the grocery brands we buy continue to survive because they are the best.
If you have time to spare, you can compare the new grocery item brands to the ones you’re buying already. But for the most part, you’re better off sticking to the ones you’re already buying.
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10. Bulk Shop
If your finances, pantry and refrigerator can handle it, it is suggested that you buy non-perishable and long lasting grocery items in bulk. The more you stock up on groceries, the less need you have to grocery shop.
But before buying in bulk, check the expiry labels on the grocery items you are buying. Grocery stores usually tempt grocery shoppers to buy grocery items that are near expiration by offering them steep discounts for bulk sales.
For example, sodas in dozen packs are usually offered on a buy one take one basis by grocery stores. But if you look at the expiry dates of these soda packs, you’ll usually see that they are about to expire within a month or even less.
Also, when you bulk buy foods and even other grocery items, you have a tendency to consume or use them excessively because you have a lot of them in stock. Make sure that when you bulk buy, you’re just buying the right amount in bulk of the grocery items you need.
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11. Analyze The Checkout Line
Grocery shoppers don’t usually give a thought about the checkout line. However, if you’re not careful, you can spend a lot of time in the checkout line, especially if there are other grocery shoppers who are way ahead of you in the checkout line.
Check the grocery items in the cart of the grocery shoppers ahead of you. Are their carts full of similar items which can be checked out in bulk and therefore quickly?
Is the cashier quick? Cashiers don’t perform the same way everyday. There would be days when they would be off their game and as a result, they work slower. Select cashiers whom you think are efficient and fast workers.
The same is true with bag boys. See if the bag boy in the checkout counter is a fast worker. This is especially important if the checkout counter has a long line of grocery shoppers awaiting for their groceries to be checked out.
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Final Words
Since grocery shopping is usually done once or twice a week by households, not much thought is given to how much time you spend grocery shopping.
But if you’re a busy person or household and grocery shopping seems more like a chore than a fun family activity, you should definitely take the time to try to shorten the time you grocery shop.
From the “Must Have” creation of an efficient grocery shopping list, changing your attitude, knowing the grocery store layout, employees & grocery item brands, and so on; you can do a lot to minimize the time you spend grocery shopping.
But most of all, bear in mind that the grocery store perimeters, grocery store isles, checkout line, parking and other grocery store facilities can lengthen or shorten your grocery shopping time depending on how you utilize them. Take them seriously and make efficient use of them.
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