Would you rather wait in a long line of people waiting for their own groceries to be scanned by a Bluetooth barcode scanner Malaysia? Don’t you hate it when you buy something that is quite expensive when there are cheaper variants that are now in promotion? How about the time when you had to carry your groceries by hand because the supermarket is running out of plastic bags at the moment?
Grocery shopping isn’t really something that requires an elaborate plan before you go on, but it can still be a nuisance when things don’t often go your way. Lucky for you, there are tidbits that you can follow so at the very least, you are saving time and effort in buying your groceries.
Avoid peak hours or holidays
Even if the supermarket is probably bigger than the nearest around your home area, crowds can still be an issue, especially when festivities are approaching, there is panic buying due to an unfavorable news or rumor, or a fire sale is ongoing. You may worry about the diminishing stocks of certain products, but it is better to worry about having to wait in lines among a sea of people and, with Covid-19 still considered as a visible threat, the close proximity between yourself and everybody else.
For your own safety and the sake of your time, avoid grocery shopping during peak hours or when the holidays are approaching. You might go to other supermarkets instead of the usual, but it is easier to just wait for the right hour to go instead. If this location is crowded, then there is a chance that the other will also be crowded.
As an extra advice, wear your mask even if there are only a few others. Protect yourself and don’t go home only to be affected by the symptoms of Covid because you bumped into somebody who is currently infected but for some reason chose to ignore it and go about their business. Sounds silly, but it can happen.
Bring your own bags
If you have your own reusable grocery or shopping bags at home, or when you bought them, use them often when shopping. You are not only saving the environment by contributing to the reduction of plastic bag use, but you will also save money from buying one at the cashier to keep your items.
Some locations may even offer discounts to anyone using their reusable bags, so should it happen in supermarkets that you regularly visit, take this advantage.
Use self-checkouts
Self-checkouts are essentially kiosks or terminals that allow you to scan barcodes of your items and pay to the machine. This is great when you have a few items in your hand, you want to skip the line and you want to quicken the transactional process by doing it at your own pace.
If you have a trolley or basket full to the brim with items, however, then skip the self-checkouts as it would be faster to let the cashiers scan them for you while you also pack them up at the other end into your shopping bag.