How to make grocery shopping take 3x as long

[Exterous]

Our store is going through a minor remodel. So 98% of the general appearance is the same but they're moving all the products around and not all the new sings are up. Went to look for the canned vegetables and found stationary. Cereal? Thats foil and plastic containers now. We've been going there for 2.5 years now and knew exactly where things were so it was kinda funny. "It looks the same but i have no idea where anything is anymore"

On the positive side they had lots of significant added sales. Im assuming its so they have less product to have to move around. Kroger is apparently rolling out Scan Bag and Go so no more scanning at the register if you do that. Should be a good thing overall

 

[madoka]

Or you could do your shopping at Walmart and spend your time in line wondering why they have 35 checkout lanes when they only keep two open.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Or you could do your shopping at Walmart and spend your time in line wondering why they have 35 checkout lanes when they only keep two open.

Holy crap is is that like a normal day, or is that like Black Friday or something? That's insane lol. I would leave my cart there and say FTS and leave if it was that bad. Whatever it is I'm buying I don't need it bad enough to put up with that much people and wait time.

 

[Ns1]

Or you could do your shopping at Walmart and spend your time in line wondering why they have 35 checkout lanes when they only keep two open.

This is why I will keep paying for prime.

 

[lxskllr]

Holy crap is is that like a normal day, or is that like Black Friday or something? That's insane lol. I would leave my cart there and say FTS and leave if it was that bad. Whatever it is I'm buying I don't need it bad enough to put up with that much people and wait time.

It isn't that bad on "normal" days. It only feels like it.

 

[nOOky]

Walmart is closing 147 stores in 2018, thankfully only 6 cashiers will be out of work

 

[KMFJD]

Or you could do your shopping at Walmart and spend your time in line wondering why they have 35 checkout lanes when they only keep two open.

nothing is worth waiting through that...

 

[ImpulsE69]

Everyone jokes, but our Walmart has pretty much went all self checkout and only has express open usually. I have a feeling they'll get rid of most if not all the other checkouts soon.

 

[Kaido]

Our store is going through a minor remodel. So 98% of the general appearance is the same but they're moving all the products around and not all the new sings are up. Went to look for the canned vegetables and found stationary. Cereal? Thats foil and plastic containers now. We've been going there for 2.5 years now and knew exactly where things were so it was kinda funny. "It looks the same but i have no idea where anything is anymore"

On the positive side they had lots of significant added sales. Im assuming its so they have less product to have to move around. Kroger is apparently rolling out Scan Bag and Go so no more scanning at the register if you do that. Should be a good thing overall

Yeah, mine just did a remodel, I can't find anything lol. I have a pretty simple procedure overall though:

1. I ALWAYS grab a shopping cart, because half the time I think I don't need one and then I do, lol.

2. I work off a shopping list, and grab extra stuff as needed (like whatever new flavor Oreo is out, haha).

3. I literally walk up & down every aisle. That makes sure you get 100% coverage for everything on your list & every aisle in the store. Start on the right in the cold stuff, work my way to the far left to produce, and then once around the outside where the meat is, back to the cold stuff to get frozen items last, and then checkout. Bonus, counts as a mini-workout!

4. As much as possible, go on non-peak days during non-peak hours. Like 6am on a Tuesday. Hardly anyone there & no wait on anything like checkout.

I've tried grocery delivery, and I think it's cool, but I still like wandering around the store. Same thing as Spotify - I use Spotify for 95% of my music, but sometimes I listen to the radio just to see what's new & cool without having to troll through Spotify's various lists.

 

[Billb2]

Mam, that will be $68.57.

So she opens her purse and starts rummaging around for a checkbook, then when she finds that she rummages around for a pen and finally begins filling out the check.....what the heck were you doing while you were waiting in line, counting the dead cells in you brain?

 

[Carson Dyle]

3. I literally walk up & down every aisle. That makes sure you get 100% coverage for everything on your list & every aisle in the store.

That sure as hell isn't the way to get your grocery shopping done any faster. Look at the canned peas. Do we need those? Nope, not today. Canned wax beans? No, I think we still have two cans. Canned beets? Maybe some sliced ones, but I'm not sure.

Bonus, counts as a mini-workout!

Hardly. Walk all the aisles in a Super Walmart and I doubt it would be the equivalent to a 20 minute walk through the neighborhood.

 

[Mai72]

Or you could do your shopping at Walmart and spend your time in line wondering why they have 35 checkout lanes when they only keep two open.

Looks like Black Friday.

My time is valuable. In fact, OUR time is valuable. We get one life. I'm not going to spend it in a check out line. I have more important things to do like cure cancer, develop a means to time travel, or post on ATOT.

 

[Kaido]

That sure isn't the way to get your grocery shopping done any faster. Look at the canned peas. Do we need those? Nope, not today. Canned wax beans? No, I think we still have two cans. Canned beets? Maybe some sliced ones, but I'm not sure.

It's actually pretty efficient because you don't have to double-back because you missed anything, which is handy if you're grocery shopping for a full week (or month) & not just popping in to get a few things. You also don't have to look at everything on the shelves. Just keep up the walking pace so that you buzz through each aisle quickly instead of randomly wandering. Plus, it's nice to stretch your legs a bit, haha.

 

[highland145]

3 times as long? I just take the wife....

Everyone jokes, but our Walmart has pretty much went all self checkout and only has express open usually. I have a feeling they'll get rid of most if not all the other checkouts soon.

Love the self checkout until I bought a TV for my Mom. "You have to go to customer service to get the security tag remove." 30 min later...Eff me.

 

[KB]

Grocery stores seem to do this alot as a way to manipulate the customer. Having you in the store longer is actually a clever way of getting you to see and buy more things. And if they can keep you long enough until you get hungry, then you are more likely to buy their higher margin prepared items.

 

[RLGL]

How to make grocery shopping take 3x as long, I send my wife. She disappears in the store and I have NO idea why it takes her an hour and one half to grab $20.00 worth of stuff.

 

[NoCreativity]

My Kroger did this a short while back. Mine had paper lists of the new locations for most items. They were usually hung at the end of each aisle.

 

[clamum]

Holy crap is is that like a normal day, or is that like Black Friday or something? That's insane lol. I would leave my cart there and say FTS and leave if it was that bad. Whatever it is I'm buying I don't need it bad enough to put up with that much people and wait time.

That's no where near a normal day. That's Black Friday or something like that; whatever it is, it's not normal. I'm sure some Walmart haters will tell you it is, though.

 

[Nashemon]

How to make grocery shopping take 3x as long, I send my wife. She disappears in the store and I have NO idea why it takes her an hour and one half to grab $20.00 worth of stuff.

I WISH she could only spend $20! Grocery shopping when I was single was like $30 every two weeks. I'd go the day I ran out of food. Took 15 minutes tops! She goes waaay before we run out of food, takes an hour or more, and she comes home with like $150 in stuff every week! And the amount of food she throws away! Then she complains that I don't ever pay for groceries...

 

[dud]

They kept you in the store longer ... mission accomplished.

Our local store pull this type of "renovation" every 10 years or so. Quite annoying ...

 

[madoka]

The last time I was at Walmart, I took this picture of the line to remind myself of why I shouldn't ever shop there. It was taken after I'd already waited in line 10 minutes!

There were several people ahead of the lady with the cart way ahead of me, but that's where you could at least see the cashier. There were at least a dozen people waiting behind me, but since they were snaked around the aisle, I couldn't see them all.

So she opens her purse and starts rummaging around for a checkbook, then when she finds that she rummages around for a pen and finally begins filling out the check.....what the heck were you doing while you were waiting in line, counting the dead cells in you brain?

Don't even get me started on the people of Walmart. I was once checking out with three containers of ice cream. The obese woman ahead of me had her entire cart filled with items. She looks at the three ice cream items I have in my arms and the cash I have in my hand. Then she looks at the 50+ items she had in her cart. I thought for sure she would do the decent thing and let me go first, but of course she didn't. Plus she separated the items by what she could pay via EBT and what she would write a check for. And then when the coupons came out, I about lost it.

 

[Kaido]

The last time I was at Walmart, I took this picture of the line to remind myself of why I shouldn't ever shop there. It was taken after I'd already waited in line 10 minutes!

At the Walmart by my in-laws, they do trunk delivery. You order online, drive up, and they load it in your trunk for you. It's pretty awesome actually!

Walmart is the same everywhere...18 checkout lines, 2 people working them lol.

 

[nakedfrog]

At the Walmart by my in-laws, they do trunk delivery. You order online, drive up, and they load it in your trunk for you. It's pretty awesome actually!

Walmart is the same everywhere...18 checkout lines, 2 people working them lol.

They do that here too.

But I don't know that I've ever experienced a line like Madoka has there at the Walmart here. Maybe ours is just exceptionally well-run, but I'm not sure how likely that is.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Grocery stores seem to do this alot as a way to manipulate the customer. Having you in the store longer is actually a clever way of getting you to see and buy more things. And if they can keep you long enough until you get hungry, then you are more likely to buy their higher margin prepared items.

Replace the tinfoil in your hat, the paranoia waves are still getting through. It's about the customer alright, but it's not to manipulate them. The market keeps changing, new categories are added, others have to grow, others shrink according to demand. There used to be no prepared foods, no salad bars, no natural or health foods, no bottled water, etc etc etc. The space is constantly reallocated to provide room for what the customers want to buy. Every retail store does stuff like that every day. Most of the time that takes place almost invisibly within the existing layout and old items are tossed out and new ones can be added into that space. Sometimes it requires a major overhaul. It pisses people off in the short term, so it's never done on a whim. But it makes the store better in the long run.

 

[pauldun170]

We have Stop and shops and the ones out by me are pretty damn good.
I actually enjoy spending a little extra time there.
I'll go for 3 things and still go up and down every aisle.