A Hidden Tool to Help You Grocery Shop
Hand held baskets are very friendly for grocery shoppers on a budget. Normally the second or third shopping trip that I take to the store requires very few items. When this is the scenario I use a hand held basket unless I need milk or something heavy.
Hand held carts normally mean you are shopping for only a few items. That is why they are hard to find at grocery stores. They want you to use a cart so you can buy more. I like these baskets when I only need to buy some produce, fruit and a couple more items. Trying to buy $20 or more worth of food may fit in a basket but it is so heavy that you naturally take the items you don’t need out. It is similar to walking to the grocery store. If you have to carry everything you purchased home via walking you tend to buy less.
The shopping basket will allow you to get in and out so much more quickly. You can navigate small openings in the flow of people and their large carts. Reaching for items around other people’s carts is a simple task, so simple you may not even have to stop walking to grab what you need.
I find baskets have not evolved the way shopping carts have evolved. They tend to have straight handles that are not comfortable when any weight is added to the basket. The new basket styles with wheels and the kind with a pull handle are built for people under the height of 5′ 6″. Tall people can not walk upright while pulling the basket.
Unlike the shopping cart, I do not vertically stack my groceries. I tend to follow my list, throw what I need in and head directly to the checkout before the strategically placed other stuff becomes suggestive to me.
The best part about using these small basket is the ability to maneuver at the checkout lines. Changing direction to get the shortest express line is so much easier than with a large heavy cart. The seldom used self checkout line is a breeze when you only have a few items to scan.
If you can not find a basket in the same section as the large shopping carts no need to worry. The grocery store has a small number of them compared to carts but I normally find them nicely stacked by express lanes or in the self checkout isles. Take a peak next time you are shopping to see if you can find them.