Practically every adult or person who runs a household makes regular trips to the grocery store to get necessary food items, household maintenance, and cleaning items among other things. The year 2020, in particular, has revealed just how important the grocery store is to the normal functioning of households around the world as millions flocked to their local grocery store to stock up in light of global lockdown measures.

 

This year has also brought about discussion on grocery store etiquette and the proper way to conduct oneself when shopping for the benefit of themselves and others. Here are some grocery store etiquette 1010 tips:

 

1. Put back: We’ve all seen those people in grocery stores who take an item from a specific aisle, decide against it at the last minute and place it somewhere else callously. It even happens at times that people decide against taking chilled or frozen items and leave them to thaw out on shelves in other sections of the store.

This is highly inappropriate because it can lead to the groceries becoming damaged and unusable such as in the case of frozen foods. It also inconveniences store workers who have to clean up or return the items as well as your fellow shoppers. Proper etiquette dictates that you return an item to its original place if you decide not to buy it for any reason.

2. Respect queues: This does not apply strictly to grocery stores but everywhere with people lining up to conduct transactions. It is highly inappropriate to cut lines when waiting to pay for items in a grocery store as it is disrespectful to your fellow shoppers. Additionally, you should not join lines that are designated as being ‘10 items or less’ if you do not qualify to use them. At best, this is poor behavior and at worst, you could get removed from the grocery store depending on the store’s business practices.

3. Keep aisles clear: Always keep in mind that you are not the only one who is shopping at your grocery store and thus, you have to be considerate of your fellow shoppers. This means taking note of where your shopping cart is kept during your visit. More specifically, it is making sure that your cart is not obstructing the shopping aisles and inconveniencing your fellow shoppers.

Always make sure that your cart is out of the middle of the aisle where other shoppers will need to walk.

4. Avoid hoarding: This was heavily discussed this year as many people were found to have bought several months’ worth of supplies like toilet paper, making it difficult for others to get essential items. Some stores were even forced to place a limit on how many units of some items could be bought by a single customer,

When shopping, try not to buy up the entire stock of a single product out of consideration for other store users or visit wholesale stores for that specific purpose.

 

The above tips, if well applied, will help you become a better grocery store user. Take note of them and you’ll be on your way to being the best customer you can be